John Elway helped build Broncos teams that won five straight AFC West titles, appeared in two Super Bowls and captured a Super Bowl title in his 10 seasons as general manager. He brought Peyton Manning to Denver in 2012 after arguably the highest-profile free-agent search in NFL history. He selected Von Miller, who could become a Pro Football Hall of Famer with his first pick, just as Elway was five years after his glittering playing career ended following the second of two Super Bowl victories in 1999.
Still, you can’t run a front office for more than a decade without making mistakes, and Elway has made it clear there’s one that still gnaws at him.
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The Broncos missed Josh Allen but their problems run deep
During a guest appearance on an episode of the The “Pardon My Take” podcast was released on MondayElway said not selecting current Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen during the 2018 NFL Draft “was probably my biggest mistake in my days as a general manager.” The Broncos had the No. 5 pick in the draft and used it to select North Carolina State pass rusher Bradley Chubb. Allen, who played two hours away from Denver at the University of Wyoming, was selected by the Bills with the No. 7 pick.
Elway said on the podcast that the conversation came up with Allen when the two were paired up during a celebrity golf tournament last year.
“I played him and I was like, ‘I wonder how long it’s going to take him to realize I passed on him and picked Bradley Chubb instead,’” Elway said on the podcast. “And it took him two and a half holes to get it back.”
At the time, the Broncos were still searching for an answer at quarterback following Manning’s retirement. Elway had drafted Paxton Lynch in the first round in 2016, but it didn’t work out and he was released after two seasons and four starts. Denver signed Case Keenum in free agency in 2018, but with the No. 5 pick in a draft that was considered quarterback-laden (Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, Josh Rosen and Lamar Jackson were also selected in the first round), many expected Elway to select another quarterback.
Mayfield (No. 1 by the Browns) and Darnold (No. 3 by the Jets) were selected before the Broncos had to play. That left Allen, whose physical traits as a big-armed quarterback who could run drew comparisons to Elway, and Jackson, who was selected 32nd overall by the Ravens and has since won two league MVP awards. The Broncos kept Chubb. The pass rusher had been viewed as arguably the best defensive player in college football in 2017 and finished his rookie season with 12 sacks. He was voted to the Pro Bowl in 2020. But much of his career in Denver was marred by injuries, and he was traded to the Dolphins in 2022.
“I loved him, but it didn’t work out,” Elway said of Allen. “He was my guy. That was probably my biggest mistake during my days as a general manager, not drafting Josh.”
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It’s impossible to know whether Allen, a two-time Pro Bowl selection who has guided the Bills to five straight playoff appearances, would have developed the same way with the Broncos. What is clear is that the Broncos have been unable to find the answer at quarterback since Manning retired. Since 2016, they have had six different starting quarterbacks in Week 1 in eight seasons. That will become seven quarterbacks in nine seasons when Bo Nix, Jarrett Stidham or Zach Wilson start for Denver in its 2024 opener at Seattle on Sept. 8. It’s a revolving-door streak that has coincided with seven straight losing seasons for the Broncos.
There’s no way to know if Allen would have put the franchise on a different path, but drafting the Wyoming quarterback seems like the decision Elway would make if he could do it over again.
(Photo: Dustin Bradford/Getty Images)
