Report: Vic Fangio has Made his Pitch for Year 4 as Broncos Head Coach

The Denver Broncos are set to host the Kansas City Chiefs on Saturday in what amounts to a meaningless divisional game in the season finale. The Broncos are out of the playoffs which means that head coach Vic Fangio has now presided over three consecutive losing seasons.

Not many believe Fangio can survive such a resume. However, the one factor that's keeping everyone guessing, including bonafide NFL insiders, is the relationship Fangio has with first-year GM George Paton — which is reportedly as close to a football 'bromance' as it gets.

On Saturday morning, NFL.com insiders Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero, in conjunction with Denver beat reporter James Palmer, revealed that Fangio has made his pitch to Paton in a bid to secure a fourth year in the Mile High City.

Vic Fangio met with Broncos general manager George Paton in recent days to present his plans and make his case to stay for a fourth season as head coach, and sources say Fangio's future remains up in the air entering Satureay's finale against the Chiefs.

Multiple league sources not connected to the Broncos believe the team will ultimately decide to move on. But no final decision has been made or communicated to Fangio, who likely would make staff changes if he stays.

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It's hard to believe that no final decision has been made but taking that at face value, it's possible Paton is in a holding pattern, waiting to see how Fangio's squad performs in the finale vs. the Chiefs. After all, the Broncos haven't defeated this bitter rival since Week 2 of the 2015 season and knocking Kansas City off on Saturday could seriously shake up the AFC playoff power ranking.

Will the road to the Super Bowl go through Arrowhead or Tennessee? The Broncos could play a part in deciding that.

The problem is, throughout this season, the locker room has exhibited strong signs of having tuned Fangio and company out. At critical moments in this season, the Broncos' players came up small, which often signifies a collective giving up of the ghost and a telegraph to a team's front office.

If Fangio were to survive, he'd reportedly be willing to coach in 2022 without an extension in a sort of 'prove it' year. Were Paton to give him one last gasp, it'd be hard to picture the Broncos retaining coordinators Pat Shurmur (offense) and Tom McMahon (special teams).

Only time will tell what fate awaits Fangio and company. My gut instinct is that his only hope is beating the Chiefs.

In what would amount to a proverbial David and Goliath outcome, the likelihood of that happening — especially with the Chiefs having some big stakes on the table — is small.

Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen.

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