ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The Denver Broncos, time and time again, have tried to find the answer to the question they still have about the quarterback position after the painful financial decision to release Russell Wilson on Monday after two seasons.
Since Peyton Manning hoisted the Lombardi Trophy after Super Bowl 50 on his way to retirement, the Broncos have seen every move they've made to replace him shatter postseason dreams into tiny pieces.
They've used a first-round pick, Paxton Lynch, they've used Day 2 picks (Brock Osweiler and Drew Lock), and they've used a late-round pick (Trevor Siemian). They have signed veteran free agents hoping to squeeze in a little more, such as Case Keenum, Joe Flacco and Teddy Bridgewater.
They have had injury replacements in Brandon Allen, Jeff Driskel and Brett Rypien.
And they made the total move, this time, we really mean it, to trade for Wilson. The Broncos gambled on draft picks (five in total, including two first-round picks and two second-round picks) and gambled cash on the five-year, $242.6 million contract.
They are betting on the health of their salary cap, their playbook and at least part of the future. And they lost.
Again.
Let's consider that Siemian, with 13 wins in his time as a starter for the Broncos, leads the group in that category.
The Broncos are on a list of only five NFL teams that have been to at least eight Super Bowls. Hall of Fame owner Pat Bowlen saw his team have more title game appearances than losing seasons during his three decades atop the league's flowchart.
But the Broncos are no longer that team. Instead, they are on an eight-year streak without making the playoffs, the team's longest since it was a struggling AFL franchise.
They reside in the same division as the 28-year-old alpha that is Patrick Mahomes. The quarterback just led the Kansas City Chiefs to their fourth Super Bowl (and third win) in a five-year span with a starting lineup largely created in the draft. Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, Justin Herbert, Tua Tagovailoa and newly crowned Rookie of the Year CJ Stroud are leading teams in the AFC.
In short, the notion that the Broncos are going to fix everything when they find a quarterback who is equal to or better than some, or all, of those passers seems like a risky proposition at best and a path to madness at worst.
With their salary cap tightening and their ability to add free agents limited, their ability to find a quarterback in free agency who plays even at the level Wilson was at when coach Sean Payton benched him is a gamble. of maybe/maybe not.
Sure, not much gets done in the NFL without a guy behind center who can handle all facets of the job, including crunch time, huddle time, locker room time and prime time.
But the Broncos need a plan, an adjustment and some patience. Mahomes hasn't even reached his best years as a player if he stays healthy, and the Broncos have changed coaches, playmakers, quarterbacks and management like a dry cleaner.
They signed players like Wilson, Randy Gregory and Frank Clark and then sent them away (dead money be damned) in two or fewer seasons.
The Broncos need to dig in, pick a lane and stay in it: at quarterback, in the draft and in free agency. And that's not up to Sean Payton, George Paton or even the next quarterback to open a season behind center. He reports to owner and CEO Greg Penner.
As the Broncos evolve under the ownership of the Walton-Penner group, Penner's challenge is to make sure the salary cap remains manageable, that the draft is being used as it should be and that those who report to him have good answers. He has to make sure the new guys don't keep getting rid of the players the old guys had.
The Broncos have led the league in trades for the past eight years. Quarterback changes, roster changes, coaching changes, general manager changes and even the ownership change.
And change almost always follows failure in the NFL, an annual rite of passage when the public demands heads turn after the inability to even get a sniff of the postseason. But the trade hasn't worked for the Broncos… at all.
The Broncos had two paths with Wilson. Make the blockbuster trade to sign the mega deal and commit to making it work for three to five years. Or just not close the deal in the first place and take another fork in the road.
The Broncos did neither. They made the deal and didn't commit to it. Because of change, because of impatience, because these days they don't stick to anything.
With one of the tightest salary caps in the league, a thin roster with three of their own first-round picks and a four-year span during which they've picked in the top 45 three times, the Broncos are set for a painful 2024 . .
And what they do from now on, not only as a quarterback, but with the roster around him, will determine whether they can regain franchise glory. You might also determine if they'll be another lost soul staring at a crystal on the last call in remember-when mode, talking about past victories while wondering, again, where it all went.
