Elway and Broncos Reportedly Inquired About Tyrod Taylor
With under a month until the NFL Draft, the defending Super Bowl champion Denver Broncos are still nowhere near deciding on a quarterback for 2016. To date, Denver’s offseason has been characterised by trade inquiries, half-hearted proposals and scouting reports.
Now, latest reports indicate general manager John Elway also reached out to the Buffalo Bills and inquired about their quarterback, Tyrod Taylor. Benjamin Allbright, a Denver sports radio host, claimed the Broncos looked into adding the dual-threat QB to their currently thin depth chart, but a stoic response from Buffalo drifted Denver’s interest elsewhere.
Last season, Taylor blessed Bills fans with a luxury afforded very rarely to a team as luckless as Buffalo: a season of solid play at the league’s most important position.
Buffalo went 8-6 with Taylor as a starter, who threw 20 touchdowns and only 6 interceptions in a campaign that was uncharacteristically derailed by everything but the quarterback. Coincidentally, Taylor, who was a free agent following the 2014 season, chose to take less money to compete for the starting job in Buffalo as opposed to joining Denver and backing up Peyton Manning for his last rodeo.
Had he signed with the Broncos, one wonders exactly what sort of quarterback controversy might have been generated had an injured Manning been replaced by Taylor and not the mediocre Osweiler. Whatever the result, Denver would be sitting pretty right now with a potentially long-term replacement at QB. On the flipside, the Bills may have found themselves with yet another top-five pick as they again scrambled to sign another franchise saviour.
As it stands, the Broncos have only Mark Sanchez and unproven Trevor Siemian on the depth chart. The Colin Kaepernick trade fell through due to contractual disputes, and team representatives quickly trashed rumours that they were looking into the troubled Johnny Manziel. It’s looking more and more likely that the draft will have to yield a starter – whether Denver likes it or not.