John Elway has made it clear that he’s not willing to break the bank for an unproven quarterback, and it doesn’t look as if he’s changing his mind now.
After talking with free agent quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick and his agent, Elway ended conversations, citing the price as being too high.
Broncos-Ryan Fitzpatrick had initial conversation, price more than Denver wants to spend at this time, and they could revisit talks later.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 13, 2016
Fitzpatrick was arguably the best quarterback to reach the open market this offseason, and between Brock Osweiler and Sam Bradford, his contemporaries all made upwards of $18 million per year. That’s the number Fitzpatrick is undoubtedly asking for, and that’s the number no one, including the Jets and Broncos, appears to be willing to give him.
The question, though, is who will be willing to revisit talks first? Will Fitzpatrick be willing to come down from his asking price, or will the Broncos get so desperate for a quarterback that they offer him what he wants, or close?
Either way, talks likely won’t restart until the Colin Kaepernick Jenga piece falls. According to reports, Kaepernick has been Elway’s backup plan all along.Talk about other options really only started heating up after Kaepernick said he wanted to go play for the Cleveland Browns.
According to Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee, though, Kaepernick may be reconsidering that stance.
“Kaepernick is willing to restructure his contract and take less money to get out of San Francisco,” Barrows writes. “But after getting sacked 80 times in the last 1-1/2 seasons and having three surgeries since December, he’s wary of taking a lower-money deal on a bad team that is losing talent and that may also use its first-round pick, No. 2 overall, on a quarterback.”
Time will tell if the Broncos are a more appealing option to Kaepernick.
