Denver A.M.

[Manning2Harrison]

DENVER A.M.

The Broncos After Peyton Manning

Peyton Manning’s four year stint with Denver brought the Broncos four division titles, three appearances in the AFC championship game, two trips to the Big Dance, and a victory in Super Bowl XLIX.

After the humiliating loss to the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLVIII, the Broncos did not fall prey to the “Super Bowl Loser Jinx”. Instead, 2014 was a year of redemption for Denver and Manning. Despite an 88.8 quarterback rating that was Manning’s lowest since 2002, the Broncos went 12-4 won their fourth straight AFC west title, and earned a first round bye. Manning’s 4,835 passing yards were second in the league behind MVP Aaron Rodgers’ 4,885, and his 28 touchdowns were third behind Rodgers’ 38 and E.J. Manuel’s 32. But Peyton was also 3rd-highest in the league in interceptions with 18, and it was said his mind was still making throws that his arm couldn’t anymore. Playoff wins over the Bills and Texans made the Broncos repeat champions of AFC, and this time they came out out the other side of a lopsided score. Winning the game’s MVP award, Manning threw for 5 TD’s while completing 35 of 45 passes for 429 yards as Denver rolled over Green Bay, 38-17.

* * *

2014 Playoffs

Home field: Ravens, 49ers

Wild Card Weekend

Dolphins (9-6-1) 13
Bills (12-4) 45

Seahawks (10-6) 3
Falcons (11-5) 28

Chargers (11-5) 17
Texans (12-4) 18

Packers (12-4) 43
Giants (11-5) 0

Divisional Weekend

Texans (12-4) 36
Ravens (13-3) 17

Packers (12-4) 20
49ers (13-3) 11

Bills (12-4) 24
Broncos (12-4) 45

Falcons (11-5) 25
Vikings (12-4) 18

Conference Championships

Texans 13
Broncos 27

Packers 38
Falcons 34

Super Bowl XLIX

Broncos 38
Packers 17

* * *

At the conclusion of the 2014 season, Tomy Brady, Drew Brees and Tony Romo all retired, but after passing his contractually-mandated neck exam, Manning elected to return for 2015. That decision left the Broncos with a cap crunch, and John Elway briefly contemplated releasing Manning in order to keep other, younger players, but could not bring himself to do it on the heels of a Super Bowl victory. With Manning sticking around, the Broncos slapped the franchise tag on Demyarius Thomas, but that left the team with only $7.2 million in cap space remaining and led to the loss of left tackle Ryan Clady (Lions), right tackle Orlando Franklin (Colts), Wes Welker (Raiders), Von Miller (Dolphins), middle linebacker Joe Mays (Bengals), Terrance Knighton, tight ends Jacob Tamme (Lions) and Joel Dreessen (Bills), and cornerback Tony Carter (Dolphins). With the paucity of cap space, the Broncos refrained from signing any free agents prior to the 2015 draft, where they selected left tackle Korey Louis-Jean and right tackle and right tackle Cordell Lowery with their first two picks. After the draft the Broncos signed Randy Moss, guard Kasey Studdard, defensive tackle Sealver Siliga and middle linebacker Jerrell Freeman.

The massive loss of talent showed on the field in 2015. Manning’s QBR declined for the second year in a row, to 87.2. While he lead the league in passing yards with 5,063 (almost 600 more than second-place Joe Flacco), his 21 TD’s were fewer than those of 8 other quarterbacks, but he did cut the interceptions down to 12. Denver’s record plummeted to 7-8-1, but that was still somehow good enough to win the division in what turned out to be a woeful AFC West. As the no. 6 seed in the playoffs, the Broncos were expected to be one and done, but they managed to pull off road upsets of the Texans and the home field-holding Jaguars to reach another AFC title game. Denver’s bid for an AFC three-peat ended with the Bills avenging the previous year’s playoff loss. On the following Monday afternoon, Peyton Manning announced his retirement.

***

2015
AFC WEST	W	L	T
DENVER	7	8	1
OAKLAND	7	9	0
KANSAS CITY	6	10	0
SAN DIEGO	4	12	0

2015 Playoffs

Home field: Jaguars, Giants

Wild Card Weekend

Colts (10-6) 10
Bills (10-6) 31

Seahawks (10-6) 20
Falcons (10-6) 13

Texans (11-5) 9
Broncos (7-8-1) 16

Redskins (10-6) 17
Lions (9-7) 6

Divisional Weekend

Broncos (7-8-1) 23
Jaguars (11-5) 14

Seahawks (10-6) 24
Giants (13-3) 6

Bills (10-6) 23
Steelers (11-4-1) 17

Redskins (10-6) 16
49ers (12-4) 14

Conference Championships

Broncos 21
Bills 31

Peyton Manning’s last game: 37/59, 397 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT

Seahawks 28
Redskins 3

Super Bowl L

Seahawks 38
Bills 14

(Buffalo is now 0-5 in the SB)

***

2015 MVP: Colin Kaepernick

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Re: Denver A.M.

YEARLY RECAPS

2016

11-5, 1st in AFC West
Playoffs: Defeated Raiders 28-14 in Wild Card, defeated Jaguars 13-6 in Divisional, lost 25-37 to Browns in AFC Championship

2017

8-8, second in AFC West, wild card

Playoffs: Lost 31-28 to Jets in wild card

[Manning2Harrison]

Re: Denver A.M.

AWARD WINNERS AND PRO-BOWLERS

2016 Player Awards

Offensive Rookie: QB Zac Piper
Running Back: Montee Ball
Defensive Back: Aqib Talib
Kicker: Matt Prater

2016 Pro Bowl

QB Zac Piper
RB Montee Ball
FB Lex Hilliard
TE Virgil Green
RT Cordell Lowry
RG Ricky Wagner
CB Aqib Talib

2017 Player Awards

Defensive Back: Aqib Talib
Kicker: Matt Prater

2017 Pro Bowl

FB Trevor Austin (R)
WR Justin Hunter
DE Quanterus Smith
CB Aqib Talib
SS Taylor Mays

[Manning2Harrison]

Re: Denver A.M.

FIRST ROUND PICKS, 2016-

2016: QB Zac Piper
2017: No pick

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Re: Denver A.M.

Reserved 1

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Re: Denver A.M.

Reserved 2

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Re: Denver A.M.

OK to post now.

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Re: Denver A.M.

Eli Follows Peyton Into Retirement

He's foregoing a chance to best big brother with a third Super Bowl ring and he's played for six fewer seasons, but Eli Manning has also decided that 2015 was his final year in the NFL. In the G-Men's first year after John Harbaugh bolted from Baltimore to the Big Apple to become their head coach, they achieved a 13-3 record and were the favorite to represent the NFC in Super Bowl L before getting derailed by eventual winner Seattle. That makes the timing of Eli's decision all the more puzzling. "I just don't have enough passion for the game anymore," Manning said at his retirement announcement.

After Peyton and Big Ben Roethlisberger, Eli is the third big name QB to retire this offseason, and makes the G-Men another QB-needy team picking ahead of the Broncos in their AFC championship loser spot- not something Denver GM John Elway was wanting to see.

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SHOCKER!!! Danger-Russ Hits Free Agency!!!

With the Seattle Seahawks winning two Super Bowls in three years, Russel Wilson and his agent rightfully place a very high value on the quarterback's services. So high, in fact, that the Seahawks were unable to meet the asking price and stay under the cap. As a third round pick, Wilson's original rookie contract was for four years and was never extended- shame on Seattle management for not getting that done. With Wilson unwilling to sign a cap-friendly deal and with the Seahawks not feeling like shedding other salaries to make room for a new Wilson contract, "Why Not Me?" will very likely be plying his trade elsewhere in 2016. "We're not going to deconstruct a championship team for the sake of one player, no matter who he is," Said Seattle GM Paul Allen.

The bad news: Denver's cap situation precludes it from pursuing Wilson.

The good news: Wilson may end up with a team that was looking to draft a quarterback in the first round of the 2016 draft.

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Osweiler Won't Succeed Manning, Broncos Can't Afford Thomas

Despite the Denver Broncos heavily scouting quarterbacks who will be in the 2016 NFL draft, Brock Osweiler was going to be given a fair shot to be Peyton Manning's successor- as long as he was willing to play for what the Broncos were willing to pay. The team balked at his demand for a four year, $22 million contract and he refused the counter-offer, so he'll be in a different uniform in 2016. A much bigger hit will be the loss of wide receiver Demyarius Thomas. The team simply cannot afford to pay him his market value without avoiding another large outflow of other players, and his tag salary would be over $16 million. Whoever Peyton Manning's successor ends up being, he's not going to enjoy the receiving corps that Manning did- Thomas, Wes Welker, Eric Decker and Julius Thomas are all gone.

Players Re-signed

MLB Jerrell Freeman - 3 years
TE Virgil Green - 3 years
FB Lex Hilliard - 1 year
LG Kasey Studdard - 2 years
FS Eric Hagg - 2 years
DT Sealver Siliga- 1 year
LT Chris Clark - 1 year

Players Lost

WR Demyarius Thomas - not enough cap to re-sign
RG Chris Kuper- declined team's offer
QB Brock Osweiler - contract impasse
LE Derek Wolfe - contract impasse (demanded 4 years, $8.8 million)
SS David Bruton - not offered new contract
CB Omar Bolden - not offered new contract
C Philip Blake - declined team's offer
WR Danny Coale - not offered new contract
LG Manny Ramirez - not offered new contract
DE Malik Jackson - not offered new contract
RB Ronnie Hillman - not offered new contract

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Re: Denver A.M.

Broncos Acquire Alshon Jeffery

Broncos fans, meet your new no. 1 wide receiver.

He's no Demyarius Thomas, but he'll have to do. At least Tavarres King has been bumped from the top of the wide receiver depth chart. After hitting the open market, former Chicago Bear Alshon Jeffery was seeking contract worth $14.3 million over four years. The Denver Broncos put a 4-year, $10 million offer on the table and ended up signing the former University of South Carolina standout.

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Re: Denver A.M.

Locker'd And Loaded?

Backup plan? Jake Locker arrives in Denver hoping to revive his career, but knowing he's Plan B.

The Denver Broncos have signed former Tennessee Titans quarterback Jake Locker to a four-year, $12 million contract. Locker, who lost his job to Andy Dalton in 2015, was seeking a 4-year, $16 million deal. While's he's hoping being with a better team might help him resurrect his career, he comes in knowing that's not the scenario the Broncos are currently envisioning. His starting experience may be insurance against the draft going amiss in some way, but hopefully he'll simply be taking Brock Osweiler's no. 2 spot on the depth chart.

Additional Broncos FA Signings

SS Winston Guy- 1 year
LE Cory Wootton - 1 year

Other FA Signings of Note

QB Russell Wilson- Jaguars
OT Michael Oher - Bengals
RB Marshawn Lynch - Saints
ILB A.J. Hawk - Eagles
SS Eric Berry - Chiefs
WR Demyarius Thomas - Bears
CB Leon Hall - Chiefs
ILB DeMeco Ryans - Texans
QB Nick Foles - Chiefs
QB Ryan Tannehill - Seahawks
QB Brock Osweiler - Bengals

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Re: Denver A.M.

Broncos Zeroing In On QB Prospects As Draft Approaches

It's a foregone conclusion that the Denver Broncos are going to (at least try to) draft a quarterback with their first selection in the 2016 NFL draft, having failed to already draft/develop Peyton Manning's successor. It's also a foregone conclusion that they'll have to trade up from the 29th overall pick to get one of the signal callers at the top of their board. What remains to be seen is when, how far and who the trading partner will be. GM John Elway has said that the team's first pick in 2017 will be on the table. If the Broncos are a sub-.500 team again in 2016, they're not likely to get away with it again with another AFC West title, and that pick will be significantly higher than 29. Elway is banking on other teams seeing the Broncos as not even going 7-8-1 as a team without Peyton Manning throwing to Demyarius Thomas and the retired Randy Moss.

At the beginning of the 2015 college football season, four quarterbacks were projected to be first round draft picks in 2016: Wade Hancock of Kansas (6-4/217), Georgia's T.R. Stewart (6-2/228), Wisconsin Badger Dillon Lukehart (6-4/231) and Zac Piper of Marshall (6-4/238). It's been said Hancock could be the first player selected this year, and with the Cardinals holding the no. 1 pick, quarterback is certainly a possibility there. Stewart is a Top 5 prospect as well, Lukehart has a Top 15 grade and Piper a Top 25 one. Although Piper is the lowest-graded of the four, John Elway is said to have fallen in love with him at Marshall's pro day and may be willing to let Hancock and Stewart go off the board before making a move up in draft position. That's a roll of the dice that could see a costly miscalculation. Going after Peyton Manning was a no-brainer. It is this draft which may determine Elway's legacy as the Broncos' general manager.

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Re: Denver A.M.

2016 NFL DRAFT

The Arizona Cardinals are on the clock...

The Cardinals signed Blaine Gabbert this year, but we all know he's a career journeyman. Will they stick with second year man Bishop Kassem or would they rather have their pick of this year's quarterback crop?

[Manning2Harrison]

Re: Denver A.M.

2016 NFL DRAFT

With the first pick in the 2016 NFL draft, the Arizona Cardinals select T.R. Stewart, quarterback, Georgia.


One pick in, one quarterback gone. While it's a mild surprise that Stewart went ahead of Wade Hancock, it's no surprise the Cards went with a QB. Bishop Kassem is a small-school (Carroll College) guy who is a project. Stewart competed in the toughest conference in the country.