After John Elway stepped down from his general manager position on Monday, the Denver Broncos started their search for a new GM. Elway will remain with the team as the president of football operations, but he won’t make final decisions on the roster — that will be the new GM’s job.
Elway said during a Zoom press conference Monday that the new GM won’t be given any caveats on how to handle quarterback Drew Lock, safety Justin Simmons, outside linebacker Von Miller, or any other roster decisions. Elway will give input, but won’t overrule decisions.
“When that new GM comes in, he’s going to come in and make his own assessment of where we are, and I think it’s going to be great for us in the fact it’ll be a different perspective for us too,” Elway said.
The new GM and coach Vic Fangio will still rank below Elway, but the QB-turned-executive won’t be as involved in day-to-day operations as he used to be.
“They are both going to report to me, but the GM is going to have the control of the draft, he’s going to have control of the 53-[man roster] and free agency,” Elway said. “He’s going to have that control. He’s going to work hand in hand with Vic as I did in the same role. They are going to work things out and come to a decision of which direction they want to go.
“I plan on being involved in some of those discussions, especially the big ones, to where I can be helpful. Ultimately, the GM is going to have that control and being able to come in here and do what he sees fit with the roster.”
Those “big” discussions will include the status of Lock. After Elway stepped down, speculation quickly started that a new GM might impact Lock’s future.
“I’m not saying Elway leaving GM post is bad news for Drew Lock,” KUSA-TV’s Mike Klis tweeted Monday. “I am saying no one inside Broncos headquarters had more faith in Lock than Elway. We’ll see how it shakes out but for every Bronco football employee, today’s shake was seismic.”
While Klis wouldn’t go as far as to declare a new GM “bad news” for Lock, Cecil Lammey of 104.3 The Fan was willing to make that declaration.
“Also in my conversations with league sources today, this move by John Elway to vacate the GM role for the Broncos is considered a bad sign for QB Drew Lock,” Lammey tweeted. “I know he has his supporters here, but around the league he’s not regarded that highly.”
If the new GM does bring in a new QB, Lock says he’ll be ready.
“As far as competition, if they bring it in — I can control what I can control,” Lock said Monday. “I’m going to focus on what I need to do to be the best quarterback I can be. If I do that, I feel like I should get the job done and be able to still remain the guy here.”
Denver has been linked to Tampa Bay Buccaneers executive John Spytek, San Francisco 49ers executive Adam Peters and Chicago Bears executive Champ Kelly — the team hopes to bring in a new GM quickly.
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