The Denver Broncos have an awful lot to accomplish this offseason, but until Peyton Manning makes his decision, John Elway and company are stuck in a holding pattern.
With Manning’s $19 million on the books, Denver’s spending power is significantly limited. And while it may be a bit of a nuisance, there’s no question that Manning deserves as much time as he needs, and the Broncos will give it to him.
“Nothing has changed from that standpoint,” Kubiak said at the NFL Scouting Combine on Wednesday. “That plan continues to be in place. I think he and [Executive Vice President of Football Operations/General Manager] John [Elway] have had some conversations. I had a brief one with him yesterday. We will be talking probably today or I know this week. We want him to take his time and we’ll work from there. Nothing has changed.”
But does there come a point when the Broncos simply have to make a decision for him? According to reports last week, the organization will refrain from contract talks with Brock Osweiler until Manning’s decision, but that could give another franchise just enough leverage to pry him away from the Broncos’ grasp.
Kubiak admitted that the Broncos already know what they’re going to do, but will they even get the chance?
“I think the bottom line is we made a decision of how we’re going to go about it,” Kubiak said. “Once again it’s about him taking his time to work through things and think through things. There is no hurry here. I want him to enjoy what just took place. We’ll go from there.”
That said, the Broncos are very aware of the position they’re in, and they’d like a decision sooner rather than later. While there may not be an exact due date, all parties realize that free agency can’t truly begin in Denver until Manning decides, one way or another.
“I think it’s free agency and all of those things leading up to it,” Kubiak said on a possible timetable. “There are obviously time frames in our business, but I think we kind of went through this last year and we’re going to stick to it exactly how we did it last year.”
Until then, it’s a waiting game for the Denver Broncos and their fans.
