Gray Beard Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 I kind of wish he would retire. I think he is one of the greats, but he looks weak, old, and tired. Cincinnati did a great job of shifting multiple times during his chicken dance. He ended up calling plays right into the waiting arms of the defense. When he threw, there was nowhere near the zip on the ball that I was expecting to see. It was interesting, but kind of sad if you are a Peyton fan. That said, I think he will try to come back one more time. I think Denver will start looking hard for his replacement. Indianapolis had the "suck for Luck" season when they decided to part ways with him. Denver doesn't seem like the kind of organization that would start a season with no reasonable back-up plan in case their starting QB doesn't work out (cough cough). I will be keeping an eye on them to see if they make any moves that hint what their plan will be going forward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pneumonic Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 And he is still a top 8 QB and a team loaded with talent. Anything can happen in this league and the Broncos will leverage their farm this offseason to give another push. They leveraged it this past season. The well is empty which means cuts and saying goodbye to both Thomas' and Welker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boyst Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 They leveraged it this past season. The well is empty which means cuts and saying goodbye to both Thomas' and Welker. They don't need Welker, they've shown that. Thomas will stay on a hugely backloaded contract if necessary and they're going to do anything they can to get more talent. This is where we truly see how good Elway is at scouting talent and not just being a bobble head. If he can find talent like Chris Hogan (who is a FA) and others to come in and pitch in - that's going to do a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pneumonic Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 They don't need Welker, they've shown that. Thomas will stay on a hugely backloaded contract if necessary and they're going to do anything they can to get more talent. This is where we truly see how good Elway is at scouting talent and not just being a bobble head. If he can find talent like Chris Hogan (who is a FA) and others to come in and pitch in - that's going to do a lot. The Broncos went "all in" this offseason and blew their wad. There is nothing left to spend for free agents and they have plenty upcoming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prickly Pete Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 And he is still a top 8 QB and a team loaded with talent. Anything can happen in this league and the Broncos will leverage their farm this offseason to give another push. I'm just pointing out that he no doubt worked his ass coming into this season, so it isn't a matter of "working harder". It's true, he may continue to play for 2 more seasons, but he is old and it's showing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoSaint Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 The Broncos went "all in" this offseason and blew their wad. There is nothing left to spend for free agents and they have plenty upcoming. fans say that a lot, and its rarely as true as they think. im no expert in the broncos cap, but theres a lot of creative accounting that can buy some time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheFunPolice Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 It's sad but what sucks even more is that Brady never gets old Montana, Elway, Marino, Young, Kelly, all were eventually not the same. Even Brees today. But Brady? He'll be around forever! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boyst Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 The Broncos went "all in" this offseason and blew their wad. There is nothing left to spend for free agents and they have plenty upcoming. Take a look at the Saints They will find a way. Welker walks, Thomas stays. They'll get a bunch of their FA's to sign. They're almost $10mm under their cap right now. fans say that a lot, and its rarely as true as they think. im no expert in the broncos cap, but theres a lot of creative accounting that can buy some time. The Saints are going to finally feel their cap hell but that is going to be after 6 years or more of cap hell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st pete gogolak Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 Hey, if he does retire, I think we just found our new offensive coordinator! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pneumonic Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 fans say that a lot, and its rarely as true as they think. im no expert in the broncos cap, but theres a lot of creative accounting that can buy some time. Well, the Broncos did cheat the cap before so anything is possible I suppose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pneumonic Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 They will find a way. Welker walks, Thomas stays. They'll get a bunch of their FA's to sign. They're almost $10mm under their cap right now. Take a look at the starters who are free agents. They might be able to sign a couple .... that's it. Their OL is in shambles and they have no $ to fix it! They better hope for a once in a lifetime draft class with guys who start and produce immediately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoSaint Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 Take a look at the starters who are free agents. They might be able to sign a couple .... that's it. Their OL is in shambles and they have no $ to fix it! They better hope for a once in a lifetime draft class with guys who start and produce immediately. you re-work some salaries into signing bonuses, cut a few guys, let a few guys walk and suddenly your back in the FA game and adding some cheap draft picks in round 1-2 to help close that gap in talent you had to let walk. if you draft well and hit on some mid tier free agents you can put off cap hell easily (or even avoid it totally). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheFunPolice Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 Would a player take a fully guaranteed contract that would be more cap friendly? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boyst Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 you re-work some salaries into signing bonuses, cut a few guys, let a few guys walk and suddenly your back in the FA game and adding some cheap draft picks in round 1-2 to help close that gap in talent you had to let walk. if you draft well and hit on some mid tier free agents you can put off cap hell easily (or even avoid it totally). The problem is that at some point someone like New Orleans tries to pull off a big run and ends up committing to a few guys like Byrd and totally end up biting the bullet. Take a look at the starters who are free agents. They might be able to sign a couple .... that's it. Their OL is in shambles and they have no $ to fix it! They better hope for a once in a lifetime draft class with guys who start and produce immediately. You watch. They'll be just fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prickly Pete Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 You watch. They'll be just fine. Is he your idol or something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoSaint Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 The problem is that at some point someone like New Orleans tries to pull off a big run and ends up committing to a few guys like Byrd and totally end up biting the bullet. You watch. They'll be just fine. thats of course the risk - when you swing big and miss with a guy, it hurts bad. but that is never a good situation, cap hell or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pneumonic Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 you re-work some salaries into signing bonuses, cut a few guys, let a few guys walk and suddenly your back in the FA game and adding some cheap draft picks in round 1-2 to help close that gap in talent you had to let walk. if you draft well and hit on some mid tier free agents you can put off cap hell easily (or even avoid it totally). The problem is 8 of their 22 starters are FA's who already need to be replaced. Cut a few more and you are now at 1/2 this years starters ..... with very limited sal cap situation. To free-up more $, you could re-do a few contracts of older players but that'll mean putting off into the future some dead years for Manning or Ware or Talib or Ward and that'll just bankrupt the team for when they need to rebuild .... after Manning goes. I doubt Bowlen will allow Elway to do this. The Broncos spent wildly the last 2 off-seasons banking on winning the SB in either season. it didn't work out and now they have to pay the Piper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boyst Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 Is he your idol or something? i can't stand manning The problem is 8 of their 22 starters are FA's who already need to be replaced. Cut a few more and you are now at 1/2 this years starters ..... with very limited sal cap situation. To free-up more $, you could re-do a few contracts of older players but that'll mean putting off into the future some dead years for Manning or Ware or Talib or Ward and that'll just bankrupt the team for when they need to rebuild .... after Manning goes. I doubt Bowlen will allow Elway to do this. The Broncos spent wildly the last 2 off-seasons banking on winning the SB in either season. it didn't work out and now they have to pay the Piper. most of those starters are not irreplaceable. they're hardly above average. that's many of the reasons the broncos have struggled. everyone said they'd struggle without moreno and losing that LB. they're doing just fine, though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoSaint Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 The problem is 8 of their 22 starters are FA's who already need to be replaced. Cut a few more and you are now at 1/2 this years starters ..... with very limited sal cap situation. To free-up more $, you could re-do a few contracts of older players but that'll mean putting off into the future some dead years for Manning or Ware or Talib or Ward and that'll just bankrupt the team for when they need to rebuild .... after Manning goes. I doubt Bowlen will allow Elway to do this. The Broncos spent wildly the last 2 off-seasons banking on winning the SB in either season. it didn't work out and now they have to pay the Piper. the thing is, they can give those starters big signing bonuses and small salaries. get them a bunch of money in year one that only counts at a 20% hit. plus, the cap just keeps on growing. teams do it all the time. then let guys like welker and tamme walk. then hopefully get 2 starters out of the draft plus 1-2 rotational role players... especially if they think they have a 1-2 year window, its an easy choice. im not saying overpay like crazy for anything. but be smart and efficient with your moves, and aggressive with your accounting and you can do a lot still. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Frankish Reich Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 I kind of wish he would retire. I think he is one of the greats, but he looks weak, old, and tired. Cincinnati did a great job of shifting multiple times during his chicken dance. He ended up calling plays right into the waiting arms of the defense. When he threw, there was nowhere near the zip on the ball that I was expecting to see. It was interesting, but kind of sad if you are a Peyton fan. That said, I think he will try to come back one more time. I think Denver will start looking hard for his replacement. Indianapolis had the "suck for Luck" season when they decided to part ways with him. Denver doesn't seem like the kind of organization that would start a season with no reasonable back-up plan in case their starting QB doesn't work out (cough cough). I will be keeping an eye on them to see if they make any moves that hint what their plan will be going forward. Cincy did a very good job early on. Then the Broncos solved them for a bit. Then the weather turned rotten. So we saw the Broncos strengths and weaknesses all in one game. To me, Peyton looks fine. But he has always been a really bad in poor weather, and the route to the Super Bowl will most likely involve some of that. And his O line is the weakness of this team, only made worse by the loss of Knowshon (the only RB who seemed capable of assisting in protection). This reminds me of what we were saying about Brady before the Pats played the Bills and all of a sudden all was well in Boston. I think Peyton has a couple years left, but as others have pointed out, the team is best positioned to win this year, not in 2016 or 17, and the worst news of all for the Broncos is that the route to the trophy appears to involve (1) beating NE in Foxboro; (2) beating Seattle in Arizona. Those are the two matches they were hoping to avoid all season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts