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iknowftbll
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It is no secret John Elway created a winning culture out of a team that was in the aftermath of a dismal 4-12 season. At this point you cannot with a straight face argue against him being one of the top-3, if not the top GM in the NFL and easily one of the top-10 executives in all of America's 4 professional sports.
We've sung his praises for creating a winning culture, but we've not really taken the time to flesh that out into what it means to the players.
Think about the deals that Wolfe and CHJ signed with the Broncos. For what these guys bring they are being under paid. But not to hear them tell it. Much was made about Oz and Jackson leaving Denver for big money elsewhere. And to be honest, I don't blame them and feel no slight whatsoever against either of them. Jackson was a monster and Oz kept the team afloat while Manning recovered and both of these guys helped this team win its third Super Bowl. The narrative from a lot of spectators was that Elway thinks players will just take less to stay with the Broncos and further alleges he's wrong. For proof of this narrative, consider this piece from my favorite hack at Arrowhead Addict:
Colin Kaepernick reportedly won’t take pay cut
Now in the actual write up, Matt V. doesn't go so far as to allege the afore mentioned narrative, but if you read the comments you'll see it. It's what the fans (the people who matter) talk about. And in Kap's example, as with Jackson and Oz, the disparity in pay was worth more than playing for a proven winner. Some of our own chose money with a (hopeful) up and comer while Kap appeared willing to take the pay cut until his $12 million was guaranteed, and only after that did he seem to hit the brakes on the deal.
But as Elway said after Oz signed with the Texans, the Broncos want players who want to be Broncos. And that means guys like CHJ and Wolfe are going to take deals less than market value. For further proof, look at the deal Okung signed. That guy is taking a huge risk to play with the Broncos. And I hope it works out for him, too because if it does it'll mean one of our players has had a great season and I do hope to see a guy who took a chance to be with the Broncos rewarded.
Now let's consider what this means going forward. The Broncos don't have to repeat to maintain this culture of winning. Let's say they don't. Let's say they go 10-6 and win in the wild card round but lose in the divisional round. I believe this would be enough a showing that the Broncos would maintain their appeal to players around the league. For a defending champ, a team in transition post-Manning, featuring a stop-gap QB to have performed that well would speak volumes to the team culture. Add in they will likely at that point be on the brink of opening an era with a new, promising QB in Lynch and that won't be lost on players looking for a place to sign.
Winning attracts winners. And in some cases, winning attracts winners who will take less to play with a winner. Manning restructured last year and Ware did so this year as further proof of this. This kind of thing is not an accident. It's a product of a GM who has turned this team into a powerhouse. And at the rate he is going they will remain so for the foreseeable future.
And rival fans can't stand it.
We've sung his praises for creating a winning culture, but we've not really taken the time to flesh that out into what it means to the players.
Think about the deals that Wolfe and CHJ signed with the Broncos. For what these guys bring they are being under paid. But not to hear them tell it. Much was made about Oz and Jackson leaving Denver for big money elsewhere. And to be honest, I don't blame them and feel no slight whatsoever against either of them. Jackson was a monster and Oz kept the team afloat while Manning recovered and both of these guys helped this team win its third Super Bowl. The narrative from a lot of spectators was that Elway thinks players will just take less to stay with the Broncos and further alleges he's wrong. For proof of this narrative, consider this piece from my favorite hack at Arrowhead Addict:
Colin Kaepernick reportedly won’t take pay cut
Now in the actual write up, Matt V. doesn't go so far as to allege the afore mentioned narrative, but if you read the comments you'll see it. It's what the fans (the people who matter) talk about. And in Kap's example, as with Jackson and Oz, the disparity in pay was worth more than playing for a proven winner. Some of our own chose money with a (hopeful) up and comer while Kap appeared willing to take the pay cut until his $12 million was guaranteed, and only after that did he seem to hit the brakes on the deal.
But as Elway said after Oz signed with the Texans, the Broncos want players who want to be Broncos. And that means guys like CHJ and Wolfe are going to take deals less than market value. For further proof, look at the deal Okung signed. That guy is taking a huge risk to play with the Broncos. And I hope it works out for him, too because if it does it'll mean one of our players has had a great season and I do hope to see a guy who took a chance to be with the Broncos rewarded.
Now let's consider what this means going forward. The Broncos don't have to repeat to maintain this culture of winning. Let's say they don't. Let's say they go 10-6 and win in the wild card round but lose in the divisional round. I believe this would be enough a showing that the Broncos would maintain their appeal to players around the league. For a defending champ, a team in transition post-Manning, featuring a stop-gap QB to have performed that well would speak volumes to the team culture. Add in they will likely at that point be on the brink of opening an era with a new, promising QB in Lynch and that won't be lost on players looking for a place to sign.
Winning attracts winners. And in some cases, winning attracts winners who will take less to play with a winner. Manning restructured last year and Ware did so this year as further proof of this. This kind of thing is not an accident. It's a product of a GM who has turned this team into a powerhouse. And at the rate he is going they will remain so for the foreseeable future.
And rival fans can't stand it.