The Denver Broncos have yet to make a decision on who will be the next general manager to lead this team in the next era. A week after John Elway resigned as GM to assume a “high” role on the front lines, the Broncos conducted five interviews for the job opportunity.
One candidate has already retired after interviewing – Dave Ziegler of New England – which leaves Brian Stark’s internal choice and the three external candidates vying for the job – starting with George Paton from Minnesota, Terry Fontenot from New Orleans and Champ Kelly from Chicago . None of the candidates interviewed have GM experience, although Paton sat as close to the “big chair” to quote 9NEWSinsider Mike Klis.
Klis joined The Drive in 104.3 The fan Monday night to provide an update on how things are going in the Broncos’ search for Elway’s successor. Among the chosen topics discussed in Klis’s conversation with presenters Darren McKee and Tyler Polumbus was the respective view that each GM candidate had on Drew Lock during the interview process with Elway, CEO Joe Ellis, head coach Vic Fangio and communications director Patrick Smyth.
It turns out that each candidate had a different view of the direction the Broncos would take as a defender in case they got the job. Klis indemnified himself by saying that he was not “up to date” and that he did not know exactly what was “discussed”, while on the next hit, he dropped that nugget.
“I’m not really aware of all of this,” Klis told McKee and Polumbus. “I know it was discussed. There were widespread opinions of, ‘If you have a chance to get a first-rate quarterback, you need to try it,’ to ‘There’s no one out there at the free agency or [via] trade that is going to be better than Drew Lock, [so] you have to get him out of the draft ‘, to’ Give him more time, you invested a lot of time. You’re better off with him and we’ll get a quality veteran in case he slips. And I’m not sure who was with whom in those opinions. “
(Listen to the clip at 35:00)
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In short, there were three views, but two of them would keep Lock as the initiator, only under different conditions. A candidate would do anything to get a “high level” QB in the NFL draft. Another candidate would stay with Lock as the guy in 2021, mainly due to the investment the team has already made in him and the lack of viable options in the free trade market, while the last guy would stay with Lock, but would protect himself against regressing. signing a competent veteran reserve.
We have no way of knowing which candidate professed which perspective, but the conclusion is that, of the three options, only one would look for an immediate Lock upgrade / replacement in the project. Fans will undoubtedly try to theorize and speculate on which candidate said what, but for now, only a handful of people know the answers – the candidates themselves and the Broncos’ hiring committee. There is a chance that Klis will know which candidate said what, but he will not spill everything on the radio.
Elway, as president of football operations, will want to be “consulted” on all the “big” decisions the next GM will make. What qualifies as “big”? Klis offered additional insight in his enlightening conversation with The Drive.
“A quarterback decision would be ‘big’ if you gave up on Drew Lock and brought in Matthew Stafford,” Klis told McKee and Polumbus. “And John won’t make the final decision on that. He’ll just say, ‘Look, I understand that you want Stafford. I personally think that Drew Lock, if you give him a little more time, it could benefit the Broncos. that’s why I like Drew Lock. He’s two years old [in] but he really only had a year of development with the time he lost as a rookie due to injury and the time he lost in the second year because of no OTAs and preseason. ‘Then he can make that argument. Otherwise, he steps aside. I don’t think he will be involved with Justin Simmons. I don’t think he will be involved in Von Miller. ”
Another common theme among these GM candidates, according to Klis, was the priority of resettling Pro Bowl Justin Simmons security. And while Broncos Country may not want to hear, none of the candidates seemed willing to bring Von Miller back into the final year of his contract at the current cost of $ 17.5 million, although the first push is to try to negotiate a restructuring – in However, this may seem.
“All these GMs, when they were interviewing, almost everyone tried to say, ‘Try to get Justin Simmons – Justin Simmons has to be a priority to get him back.’ Find out how to bring Justin Simmons back, “said Klis in The Drive. “And Von, the feeling was, ‘Try to bring him back in a … see if we can make a new contract’ kind of business. You can’t bring him back for $ 18 (million). But I I think it was beautiful when all the GMs thought about these two players. ”
These are the important decisions that the new Broncos GM will face when hired; Lock, Simmons and Miller. For now, Paton seems to be the favorite to get the job, but as Klis stated on Monday, he is very “picky” when it comes to finding the right fit for his first opportunity to be a GM.
Paton and Kelly could start immediately if a deal was reached, while the Broncos would have to wait at Fontenot until the Saints were eliminated from the playoffs or even after the Super Bowl, whichever came first. Klis considered the possibility that the Broncos would see Kelly as the “second in command”, ideally not as the real one hired by GM, which opens up a new can of worms.
But remember, the Broncos are not just filling Elway’s old job as a GM – they are also looking to replace Matt Russell and hire a new player personnel director. This would require two new hires at the front office. If Paton proves to be too expensive or demanding, and the Saints continue to succeed in the playoffs, Klis can anticipate a “second wave” of interviews with GM in Dove Valley.
“If they don’t catch Paton and Fontenot is in the playoffs and they can’t catch him for a while, and they want Champ maybe as the second in command, but maybe not the first guy, that’s when I think they can open it back ”Said Klis to McKee and Polumbus.
If a second wave unfolds, keep an eye on ex-Houston Texans GM Rick Smith and ex-Falcons GM Thomas Dimitroff. Both have GM experience and Smith has a working relationship with the Broncos on his NFL resume.
Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen and @MileHighHuddle.