Another thing Elway has created, and our rivals hate us for it!

[iknowftbll]

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.

 

[cdumler7]

I would say just look at the deals that the Raiders had to sign to get players to come to town. Now given they had plenty of Cap Space but with a couple of positions they had to completely blow up the Cap thoughts on the position. The new LG Osemele is making $11.7 million a year. The next closest is Iupati at $8 million. Honestly that is venturing on the jump that Calvin Johnson made at the WR position that made signings after him that much harder.

Heck they have a guy in Aldon Smith signed for $11.5 million that won't even be with the team most of the year. Bruce Irvin is now the 2nd highest paid 4-3 OLB in the entire league only behind Lavonte David.

Then I look at the Broncos this past season. We lost Franklin, Moore, JT, and a few others. We replaced Franklin with Mathis for a fraction of the price and better production. We replace Moore with Darian Stewart again for a fraction of the price and get incredible production compared to Moore. We replace JT with Owen Daniels and honestly probably got just about similar production as we watched JT spend most of the year injured as he did with the Broncos.

It is things like this that people never talk about when it comes to Elway. They only want to talk about the big signings like Ware, Manning, Talib, and others but honestly it is the cheaper alternatives that outperform the guys they are replacing that impress me the most when it comes to Elway. Makes me think guys like Jared Crick could have a career replacing Malik. Maybe a guy like Todd Davis becomes the unknown that produces just as much as Trevathan. Heck the funniest would be if Sanchez or Lynch outperform Osweiler. Oh my goodness people would be talking if that happened.

 

[Southieinnc]

The Broncos odds to repeat even if they had Peyton close to prime would be very poor. Historically, it just doesn't happen very often. You have to keep moving forward. If you are standing still you get passed.
Broncos are making the right moves and a trip to the playoffs will be success.
What keeps players wanting to be part of a team is not just winning it all but being part of a team that always has a chance.....

 

[Mingo]

Again, I will point out - historical results do not appreciably effect the odds of repeating as champion. If you flip a coin 3 times and it comes up heads - that doesn't make the next toss more likely to be a tails. 8 NFL champions in 50 years have repeated as champs - that's 16% of the time. If you get a 16% chance of winning the lottery take it.

Heck - the Denver Broncos have already won twice in a row less than 20 years ago.

 

[Malibu]

Again, I will point out - historical results do not appreciably effect the odds of repeating as champion. If you flip a coin 3 times and it comes up heads - that doesn't make the next toss more likely to be a tails. 8 NFL champions in 50 years have repeated as champs - that's 16% of the time. If you get a 16% chance of winning the lottery take it.

Heck - the Denver Broncos have already won twice in a row less than 20 years ago.

Very true. Peace.

 

[randymon]

Great posts by IKF and Cd. But you forgot Simian again.

 

[Manimal Sighting]

Statistically it is unlikely to repeat yes but it is also statistically unlikely to even win it in the first place. Only one out of 32 teams does it. That being said we are the only team in the league with a nonzero chance to repeat this year and that in and of itself is pretty cool

 

[Malibu]

Great posts by IKF and Cd. But you forgot Simian again.

You mean Siemian right? Just kidding. Peace.

 

[iknowftbll]

Great posts by IKF and Cd. But you forgot Simian again.

Thanks, but I really didn't forget him. He's a 2nd year QB under contract and not exactly relevant to the general point I was making. Were he a FA this past off season and resigned with the team, or a FA from another team who signed with the team below market rate, that would have made him relevant to this conversation. But since we're talking about him, I am definitely not counting him out. It's a long shot but he should get a chance to compete and if the coaches thing he's the best option, he'll be the starter. I think it's more likely Sanchez beats him out.