Kirk Cousins to Broncos? It’s bad money for Denver
Kirk Cousins could be on his way to Denver.
The Denver Broncos aren’t used to missing the playoffs in consecutive years. In fact, the last time it happened before 2016-17 was ’06-10, and even that only included two seasons below .500.
General manager John Elway has repeatedly stated this offseason that he intends to fix the quarterback position, something that has been a glaring issue since the retirement of Peyton Manning following the 2015 season. Since then, the starting job has gone from Trevor Siemian to Paxton Lynch. Then back to Siemian, then to Brock Osweiler. Then back to Lynch, then Siemian, then Osweiler again and then Lynch to close the regular season in January.
In other words, the Broncos have been a mess under center. With Lynch looking more and more like a  colossal bust everyday, Elway has to fix the problem. There are rumors circulating that his answer is signing Kirk Cousins in free agency, who is likely to command the highest price tag in NFL history.
The problems with this are multiple. For starters, Denver only has a projected $26.7 million in cap space this offseason, putting it squarely in the middle of the pack. If the Broncos were to sign Cousins, they would be hard-pressed to make any other additions. Their team is riddled with holes both on the offensive and defensive lines. As well as that, they lack tight end and wide receiver depth. Additionally, Cousins is going to be 30 years old this summer. He has amassed at least 4,000 yards and 25 touchdowns in each of the last three seasons. However, he has yet to win a playoff game despite solid talent around him.
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In other words, the Broncos would be paying top-dollar for a good but not great quarterback. They would win the bidding war but lose any flexibility going forward. For a team like the Jacksonville Jaguars who appear to be an upgrade under center away from a championship, that risk is worth taking. For Denver, which realistically is a borderline playoff contender with Cousins, that’s not the case.
Finally, Elway and the Broncos have the No. 5 overall pick in April’s draft. Perhaps Elway is a bit gun-shy  in taking a first-round quarterback after the Lynch fiasco. Though he would be well-advised to take his shot once more. This year’s class is loaded at the top with quarterbacks, ranging from Sam Darnold and Josh Rosen to Baker Mayfield and Josh Allen. Denver could nab one of them and have a potential franchise guy on a cheap rookie deal for the next four years, plus a team option on a fifth year.
Denver might be tempted to spend big money on Kirk Cousins, but the right decision would be to draft another quarterback, develop him and spend elsewhere.
