APWith the fourth preseason game four days away and the regular-season opener only 11 days into the future, the Denver Broncos have two big quarterback decisions to make.
No. 1: Who is the starter?
No. 2: If Mark Sanchez is No. 3 on the depth chart, should we cut him?
Coach Gary Kubiak addressed both topics after Saturday night’s game. And while he has provided no answers yet, answers necessarily are coming soon.
“We don’t have much practice left,” Kubiak told reporters regarding the timeline for making a decision as to a starting quarterback. “We have three days and then we play in Arizona. Obviously this is a tough turnaround week in the NFL, so I’ve got a lot invested and a lot of work that I can make some decisions off of now. I’ll do that. Does that mean I’m going to do that [Sunday] or Monday? I don’t know. I’ve got enough going on that I can make a decision.”
Kubiak also needs to figure out whether to keep three quarterbacks on the roster — which is another way of framing the keep-or-cut-Sanchez conundrum.
“I have to continue this evaluation process and decide what I think is best for the team,” Kubiak said. “You all asked me that question about experience [and] it’s really hard for me to answer. I have two of them that have no experience. That’s just the way it is. We have young guys at that position. They’ve been battling and I think they’re getting better. Like I said, I have to sit down and decide what I think is best for our group and we’ll go to work.”
If the Broncos cut Sanchez, they’ll avoid at least $3.5 million of his $4.5 million salary ($1 million of it is guaranteed.) They also won’t owe the Eagles a seventh-round pick in 2017.
And if they’re going to cut him, the question becomes whether to make the move before or after the final preseason game. If Sanchez plays on Thursday and gets injured, he’ll potentially get the full $4.5 million.
Trade Sanchez to Dallas. Prescott needs a backup.
Yeah now the only question is when the heck is pft going to learn the Broncos starting TE is not victor green? Bunch of hacks.
And I get that Dak is a rookie and defenses are being conservative and vanilla but the same thing can be said towards Goff and Wentz and how have they looked against those same conservative, vanilla defenses? Like crap that’s how. And they are first rounders expected sooner then later to be the teams franchise QB. So I guess if Dak is gonna have a rough time after playing so well in the preseason, I’m assuming it’s gonna be even worse for Goff and Wentz since they have done nothing right?
It doesn’t seem like $3.5M is enough of a cap saving to justify cutting Sanchez until you consider they currently only have @ $5.5M in space, it actually isn’t far fetched that may enter into it.
The Broncos are going to try to win the super bowl this year. If Siemian gets hurt week 1, all they have is a rookie QB, and nobody behind him. I don’t think the Broncos are even considering getting rid of Sanchez. The combined salaries of their 3 QBs has to be close to the lowest in the league. I don’t think Elway values a 2017 seventh round pick, more than he does a super bowl trophy. Believe it or not, Mark Sanchez could be the difference between winning and losing another super bowl. I’d just trust Elway on this. He obviously knows what he’s doing.
Elways take it or leave it trade flirtations with the Eagles will come back to haunt him. 2nd round pick for a decent qb wasn’t as out of line as he tried to make it seem. Betcha Gary is wearing his thanks for nothing face this week.
Denver has no QB and the opener is 12 days away. They have a great defense but will struggle to win 10 games. Too bad they have already cheated the cap to win two Superbowls with Elway at QB, that route has been played..maybe they can find a QB somewhere who has discovered the fountain of youth and sign him…Oh Yeah..Never mind!
The 3rd string QB is never supposed to play. Look for Sanchez to get cut, and the Broncos to bring back either TJ Yates, who knows the offense and won a playoff game for Kubes in Houston, or Christian Ponder, assuming the 49ers cut him for the minimum salary. No way Elway doesn’t save the money Sanchez would have been due, plus the 7th round draft pick.
Ask Elway. He knows everything and I he must have thought this out in advance.
Tebow would give the NFL a likeable compelling player. The NFL has none! Tebow went 8-5 with a playoff win last time!
I don’t get it, Sanchez stinks and he does nothing in this preseason to suggest that his previous stink has been washed away.
Cutting him is as obvious as the nose on your face. The fact that the Jets thought he was a franchise qB can’t be explained but it doesn’t mean there is some hidden talent there.
It’s really too bad For Mark, where does he go from here? If he can’t win a QB battle vs. what amounts to two rookies?
He’s been nothing but class since coming to town, so we try to pull for guys like that. Hopefully a back up role for Dallas really is a possibility for him, otherwise…
-GoDenBroncos
Going into the season with two QBs who’ve never taken a regular season snap in an NFL game is dangerous business. Sanchez, butt fumble and all, has proven to be a capable backup in limited runs.
Cutting a guy to save a measly $3.5M (and that is measly in terms of NFL qb pay) and going into the season with essentially two rookies in your QB room seems a little short sighted to me.
If you have 3 QBs and you cannot choose a starter then you really have no starting QB…..
I watched the game and was unimpressed by either of the two young quarterbacks.
No way in hell they cut Sanchez.
Let’s not forget this whole mess started when Elway foolishly allowed their QB to walk in free agency to Houston. At the very least Elway should have franchise tagged Osweiler for 2016. Now the Broncos are left with captain check down, Mr Buttfumbler, and a rookie as QB options as they try to defend their title. What a mess.
love watching horseteeth pay for his irresponsible teambuilding and spending in recent years
Ha ha ha, when you cheat on all fronts to win a championship there’s a price to pay later on down the road. It’s going to be fun to watch the so called Broncos fans jumping off the band wagon the next few years when the Donks are struggling to win 6 games every year. Hey at least Denver fans will have something to get excited about every year when the Broncos are picking in the top 5 of the first round every year for the next 5 or 6 drafts.
Unless they have someone else lined up for #3 QB I can’t imagine they would cut him, even if it means another $3.5M. Now, they may cut him then go out and sign someone who gets cut once the rosters are down to 53. They can probably get someone off the waiver wire for a lot cheaper than $3.5M. They won’t be a starter but then again, neither is Sanchez.
what I remember about Sanchez is the many games where the Jets were down by 3-6 points in the 4th Q and instead of working his butt off with the offense while the defense is on the field like the Brady / Manning / Rodgers crowd would be….. he’s yukking it up sitting on the bench drinking gatorade with a big grin on his face
reality is that Sanchez has never ever ever been a serious QB… so much so that he’s a detriment to the team
I’ll never understand why Elway didn’t make a run at Fitzpatrick.
Should have signed Fitzpatrick when they had the chance. This is a win-now team, not a wait-for-a-rookie-QB-to-develop team.
Broncos will be 8-8 or WORSE without Manning…….
Broncos are in for a dismal year.
Still better than the Panthers though
I would go ahead and try and trade for Colt McCoy. I think he can be a real player in this league. Just unfortunate that he got his opportunity as a Cleveland Brown.
Butt fumble will be leaving the Bronco’s shortly, they’re not big spenders, and they’re not going to give Sanchez 4+ mil as a back up.
Should have signed Fitzpatrick when they had the chance. This is a win-now team, not a wait-for-a-rookie-QB-to-develop team.
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Dude, we won last year, remember? Typically, the SB Champion rarely repeats. Unlikely Denver will. We can live with it and still watch Lombardi 50 shine!
Look at all the Bronco hater/idiots begging…6 points total was scored against out No. 1 D all preseason. That’s it, two FG’s. Love all that count the Broncos out, it will be fun to watch all the backstrokin’ come September.