Have the Broncos been in a 'cold' rebuild since Super Bowl 50?
There are more ways than one to rebuild a team. You don’t have to blow it all up and start from scratch like the Miami Dolphins are doing.
The flaw with that method is, you have to hit on those extra picks to turn things around quickly. If you don’t, you just gave up talent only to have it fail. This is one way to rebuild, but it is not the only way.
The Denver Broncos have been rebuilding for three years. Just because John Elway hasn’t publicly said it doesn’t make it any less true. Pat Bowlen was a competitive owner, and he didn't seem like the type who would’ve supported a blow-it-up type rebuild from the Broncos.
Elway is super competitive, as is just about everyone with a big say in the Broncos organization. They want to compete, so they’re not going to just roll over.
Laying down and accepting their fate was a big issue with the Broncos' previous coaching staff. The team established a bad culture where they would give up on games. That needed to be fixed, and the culture flipped, which led to Vic Fangio being brought it. I digress from the point, though.
Denver has been rebuilding since Peyton Manning decided to retire. They took high-upside draft picks and hoped that the coaching staff through trial by fire could turn them into big hits.
Of course, many of those picks ended up failing. The Broncos' coaching staff wasn’t up to the task, and those misses hampered the team's rebuilding effort, and that fact is made clear by the depth issues the current Broncos team has.
There are multiple moves the Broncos have made that show they have been rebuilding over the years. Trading away Aqib Talib and Demaryius Thomas, cutting T.J. Ward and being willing to part with “dead weight” and take on a $22-plus million dead cap hit this year.
Teams who aren’t rebuilding typically don’t part with key veterans, or are willing to accept a large number of dead cap. There are some exceptions to the high dead money hit, and they are typically because of a failure of a signed veteran, or a younger player stepping up and making a veteran expendable.
Denver went out and signed Case Keenum in the 2018 offseason. With one year under his belt, Denver hoped he could help them be competitive, but the plan was to be a bridge to a young quarterback.
Denver had hoped to land either Baker Mayfield or Sam Darnold with the fifth overall pick, but they went first and third overall, respectively. They were wanted, badly, and Denver tried moving up to secure either of them, but the team failed.
Keenum went on to have a rough year for the Broncos and the team moved on after the year. The Broncos went and got Joe Flacco, and again had the plan to use him as a bridge.
Denver loved Drew Lock and nearly took him 10th overall, but they traded back and took Noah Fant whom the offensive staff desperately wanted. The Broncos still landed Lock after trading up in the second round to get him.
Joe Flacco is the bridge to Drew Lock, whom the Broncos are focused on developing this year and next. Denver has changed their draft plans to focus on better football players than athletes.
The team added a coaching staff to focus on developing players. Veterans that aren’t part of the future are being let go one way or another. The signs are clear that this Broncos team has been rebuilding since 2016, despite not saying it publicly. Call it a 'cold' rebuild.
Is John Elway not saying they are rebuilding really a big deal? It shouldn’t be. Broncos fans should know how competitive this organization is, and anyone who is competitive knows how hard it is to say we are going to suck for a while.
Not saying it doesn’t make it any less true and if you’re mad because it is giving you false expectations, then be mad. Denver has made it clear they are rebuilding, and it is easy to see if you just look at the moves they have made over the last three years.
The Broncos aren’t a year away, unless Drew Lock takes a huge step forward next year. This team is nearing the end of their rebuild, but there are still many holes. The biggest hole is the one every rebuilding team has to find an answer for, and that is quarterback.
Drew Lock is believed to be that future quarterback for the Broncos and they loved the progress he had shown in training camp before he got hurt. If Denver wants to speed up this rebuild and not get set back an extra two or three years, they need Lock to be a hit. It all starts with the quarterback.
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