It wasn’t all that long ago that Denver Broncos general manager John Elway made a big play in free agency to fix the team’s quarterback problems by signing Peyton Manning.
Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall thinks Elway will look to free agency again this offseason to address a position that hasn’t adequately replaced Manning since his retirement following Super Bowl 5o.
“In my opinion, we already drafted a quarterback, first round a couple years ago (Paxton Lynch), so we’ve tried that,” Marshall said on the NFL Network, via Nicki Jhabvala of the Denver Post. “I think he’s going to get a free agent quarterback. I think he’s going to go spend some money and fix the position, because it’s kind of a toss-up with these rookie quarterbacks. You never know. But the only thing about getting a free agent quarterback is some guys will have to go. I hope everybody gets to stay, but that’s just the business.”
Marshall even had a specific free agent quarterback in mind.
“I mean, there’s a couple guys out there,” Marshall said. “You know. We played against a guy in Week 16 that was pretty good. There’s a couple guys out there.”
That quarterback was Kirk Cousins of the Washington Redskins, who is set to be a free agent in March. Cousins passes for 299 yards and three touchdowns in that December game against the Broncos.
The trio of Lynch, Trevor Siemian and Brock Osweiler did little to stake a full-time claim to the role into the future in 2017. Siemian is having surgery on his non-throwing shoulder for a second straight offseason as well.
Hitting free agency for a quarterback worked once before for Elway. He may look to do so again.