Busy Week for the Denver Broncos
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The Denver Broncos have had some busy weeks after hiring Nathaniel Hackett with assistant coach interviews and hiring, rumored contracts, and the official announcement for the team being for sale. Hackett and the new offensive coordinator Justin Outten were both sitting courtside at the Denver Nuggets game last night and are quickly integrating into the Denver Sports Scene!
Coaching Staff News so far:
- Justin Outten as the offensive coordinator, last season the Tight Ends coach for the Packers
- When I look at the Packers TE output last season, nothing seems to jump off the page to me, but I assume his expertise at the position will get Noah Fant more integrated into the offense
- Klint Kubiak as the quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator, last season the offensive coordinator for the Vikings
- No Broncos team has ever won a super bowl without a Kubiak on the roster/staff, bring Klint home and lets see what happens!
- Ejiro Evero rumored to be hired as the Defensive Coordinator, previously (currently) the Defensive Backs coach as well as holding the title of Passing Game Coordinator with the Los Angeles Rams, gearing up for a Super Bowl
- Aqib Talib vouches for the coach, saying, “He’s Smart as Hell!”
- Butch Barry brought on to be the Broncos Offensive Line Coach, he was an offensive line assistant in San Francisco this past season, and worked with Hackett in Green Bay the season before.
- Dwayne Stukes rumored to be the next Broncos Special Teams Coordinator, spent this past season as a special teams assistant for the Super Bowl contending Los Angeles Rams
- Coaching staff already fired or moved on from – Vic Fangio, Pat Shurmur, Mike Shula, Tom McMahon
- Ed Donatell leaving the organization, picked up by the Seahawks
- Mike Munchak leaving the organization
Still yet to be announced:
- Any Defensive assistants, Linebackers, Defensive Line, or Defensive Backs coaches
- Probably safe to assume that if they hire Ejiro Evero, that he will try to bring with him some defensive coaching talent from the current LA Rams coaching staff.
- Wide Receivers coach, I personally am hopeful that Zach Azzanni is retained as the receivers on the roster have all had nothing but great things to say about him. But I could also see a fresh face come in and elevate our talent teaching them new concepts.
- Tight Ends coach, with our new offensive coordinator being a TE coach in the past, im sure he brings along one of his assistants or someone he’s worked with in the past, but nothing has happened as of today.
- Special teams Coordinator and assistants (Stukes is rumored)
Rumored Contract
There really was only a single contract report, but it was a scary one that immediately got the Denver Broncos faithful buzzing. Teddy Bridgewater would be re-signed at a monster $19.5 million dollar AAV, 2-year $39 million dollar contract. This contract is still only predicted or rumored, but major new outlets have reported on it making it seem like more a foregone conclusion.
Teddy just played 14 games last season, leaving two games early with injuries and not playing the final three games of the season, again because of injuries and the team being out of the playoff run. He performed exactly as the nickname “Steady Teddy” would suggest, nothing flashy, high completion percentage, low mistakes, low risk, and was 7/7 as a starter in 2021. If I were calling the shots, that statement alone doesn’t encourage me to sign that person to a big contract.
Drew Lock looked to be settled in as either the starter next season or a trade piece if the Broncos weren’t moving forward with him and instead bringing in an elite quarterback like Aaron Rodgers or Russell Wilson. He is under contract for one more season, he was turnover free in the final three games of the season, he had a 68.8% completion percentage in those games, he made plays with his legs scoring multiple touchdowns, the passing game seemed to open up immensely with Lock under center. However, he was 0-3 in the final three games, the offense scored only 13 points in two of those games, and against the KC Chiefs in the season finale, blew a lead and had a fumble returned for a touchdown to lose the game.
The Bridgewater contract leads me to believe that the Broncos are now out on any other quarterback candidate like Kirk Cousins or the other two mentioned above. I find it hard to believe that George Paton would go the direction of tying up $40-50 million in salary cap space on two players that can’t be on the field at the same time. If Teddy does re-sign with the Broncos I believe we have another quarterback competition this summer, and whoever wins will likely be the starter for the full season.
Sale of the Team
It’s been known for months that the Broncos would be for sale this off-season. It was reported that after the head coach was hired the team would official hit the open market and be sold to the highest bidder. Well, as expected, the team hired Nathaniel Hackett and a week later the team was officially announced as for sale by the Pat Bowlen Trust
There are a bunch of rumored ownership groups, but the reality of the situation is that any speculation about who will win this race is simply speculation. The Bowlen’s only responsibility during the sale of the team is to take the most money offered and run off into the sunset. Multiple billionaires are considered in the bidding. There are also multiple ownership groups that have crowd sourced the potential bid for the team including a group headlined by John Elway and a group headlined by Peyton Manning.
Whoever wins the bid, will have paid the most ever for a sports franchise, rumored to be in the range of $3.65-$4.5 billion dollars. Pat Bowlen, I believe, purchased the team for $78 million in 1984. Whoever ends up as the Broncos next owner will have huge shoes to fill, as Pat Bowlen was one of the best owners in all of sports rarely allowing losing seasons, making seven Super Bowl appearances, winning three Super Bowls, and being a shining star and face of the organization.
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