Good morning we are live on Broncos for breakfast across a host of platforms including twitch Twitter Youtube and several Facebook channels I am your host Scott Kennedy I will be solo today Nick Kendall is still out on fraternity leave he’s supposed to be back next weekend
But we’ll see how that goes um want to get into a lot of things today we took Tuesday off just to kind of see what might happen over the next few days see if we had some talking points and my goodness the landscape of college football of NFL football has completely
Changed in the last 48 hours when you’ve got legendary coaches and I don’t mean that lightly you know everybody likes to say generational there’s 25 generational players in every draft no these are football legends Pete Carroll uh Nick Sabin Bill bellich all not coaching I don’t know how to say if
They’re done um you know retired Sav has said he’s retired I believe believe he would be done but belich could be in play uh Pete Carroll say he’s still with the Seahawks but not coaching will not be on the sidelines next year uh Legends Legends of the game um you know and some
Of y’all might say well Pete Carrol’s not on that same level well Pete Carol would have been on that same level if he had just stayed at USC and wanted to and then he comes to the NFL and wins a Super Bowl so the fact that he did it on
Both sides yes Pete Carroll is a legend of this game um we can get into some of the talk about Bill bich if you want to and where he might end up we’ll kind of see where the chat takes us today uh I wanted to hit on those guys just right
Off the start and then one of the things I wanted to talk about since I hadn’t seen y’all since the uh the end of season press conferences I wanted to talk about Russell Wilson obviously I put that in the title U some of the discussions that uh that Shawn pyton had
That George pton had what they said publicly and some of my interpretation of their wording Etc uh I also went through an exercise a little bit we’ve talked about salary cap hell salary cap hell for this Denver Broncos it’s not as bad as you think it’s just not we’ll get
Into that one as well we I’ve hinted on it before but today I actually did some math I was told there’d be no math I actually did some math today I was like oh it was it was eye openening I’ll tell you that much uh and finally we can
Break down some needs for this team and I know the quarterback questions will still be on everybody’s Minds so we’ll uh we’ll talk some quarter some quarterbacks as well draft etc etc we’ll see how long we go we’ll see how long my throat holds out going by myself today
Um you know and the super chats like Mark Shader come in keep rolling in I’ll stay here all day uh I I uh I I I’m for sale um Mark Sher saying good morning Scott good morning to you mark hope you are doing well he’s out in Texas he’s
Out Brighton early with us on Broncos for breakfast uh at 9:30 Eastern and he’s in central so that’s 8:30 7:30 for y’all out in Denver and then West Coast and then we’ve got a lot of international flavors that we that watch and uh I really appreciate that it’s
Really kind of cool when we’ve got Broncos country from all over the world which is very cool but we go live uh because we like to say hello to everybody and I like to have your input into the show uh and Aaron Wagner was one of the first guys in if not the
First he says morning everyone everything good with the little guy for Nick Kendall congrats on the new baby welcome to the ringer the first few weeks of our inexperience for sure and he asked about Michael pennx and the uh the Medicals there with the injuries on
There if he’s worth taking at 12 um like all new parents you know keep keep Nick and his his new family uh in your thoughts and prayers new parents can use all the help they can get so be thinking of them uh while they’re not here uh I know we definitely are Michael
Pennx is a little bit of an enigma um I’ve seen some people question the arm I don’t know why anyone would question his arm honestly uh his release does it come off strange sometimes uh but for me that’s a benefit he actually can deliver the ball from a lot of different angles
With velocity he’s got that flick of the wrist where he doesn’t need to get his entire body into it to put velocity on the throw Matthew Stafford is one of the best I ever saw at that uh you can watch Matthew deliver the ball from a variety of positions within the pocket Michael
Pennx has a little bit of that in him as a southpaw someone um definitely good to watch let me bring up this Facebook group I want to make sure I’m not missing anybody over here uh so I keep an eye on this so when you see me
Looking over there that’s one of the things I’m doing is is checking out to say hello to some folks uh over on Facebook like Michael ronio who came in with some Stars nice and early good morning Scott on Broncos for breakfast good to good to have you here Michael
Appreciate you joining me this morning we’ll see how the chat opens up today and uh and and the numers to it’s been a very busy time it AB absolutely has it’s been a little quieter for Broncos country that’s unbelievable isn’t it I read 25% of the league is turning over
There’s eight coaching changes it’s quiet that’s actually quiet for Broncos country you know who your coach is going to be might not know who your quarterback’s going to be just yet but we can get into that as David says uh good morning Scott the door might be
Cracked open for Russ but he will not walk back in uh it’s time to move on and upward and again the uh the salary cap situ ation because I think and I’ve I’ve given George pton credit for this other than the Russell Wilson contract I know guys
Other than that Iceberg the the the cruise was great other than the Russell Wilson contract George Payton has done a really good job of managing the salary cap even with the Randy Gregory debacle that was a lower risk High reward uh type of of move and you know it said $60
Million or whatever it was it was nonsense whatever whatever that was quoted it was a two-year deal well you’re out from two years now you’re free of that contract so um we’ll we’ll get into Russ here in a minute after I say hello to some folks uh and as Jeremy
Says good morning Jeremy says morning end of some errors PE Carol in Seattle bich New England and again Nick Sabin uh in Alabama might be as big as any of them uh bich che’s the biggest one obviously but but Pete Carroll I think kind of flies under the radar but how
Many guys have won a Super Bowl and um he didn’t actually win the BCS Championship he won it but it got taken away I like to uh when I was out in California I like to Raz my USC fans about that I’m like you guys never
Actually won one you got an AP one because you got left out of the BCS championship the one you did win got Stripped Away from you then you lost the other one to Texas but uh you know again they went on like a 40 and0 run or something during that period they were
They were big time they were big time uh Jeremy Shan says if Bella B Bell doesn’t get or want another head coaching job would you be on board with him replacing Vance Joseph sounds like some Walmart money well spent to me one no I don’t think there’s any chance in the world
Bill bich ends up somewhere as a defensive coordinator other than maybe at his grandson’s high school if that’s what he wanted to do is be a Community Coach somewhere um shooting he’s probably getting old enough to have great grandchildren that are entering High School um no I don’t think that’s
Feasible I uh I just don’t and we’ll see if he wants to get back in it or not I know the Carolina Panthers were interested I know the Atlanta Falcons were rumored to be interested um so if he wants to get back into coaching it will be as a head coach how much
Personnel control will you want to have that will be one of the discussions because I’m not interested in a guy coming in with general manager UH responsibilities that is on a two or threeyear plan at most just not interested so I don’t see that happening um we’ll
Scroll down here a little bit Zack Powers here he says uh good morning good morning and to make Jeremy’s Point says yes make the call why not call and find out and tell him no guys I’m not doing that okay just wanted to say hey Bill uh
Just wanted to find out so yeah make the call what what’s the worst that can happen you get you get told no Zack Powers says good morning Ryan’s in here he’s talking draft already says good morning Broncos country I say they draft Edge Dallas Turner or a corner like
Kool-Aid McKenry or uh dejan Cooper uh and then maybe see what could happen out of that um there’s going to be some good players available at 12 will it be the quarterback we we’ll see Michael penx is rocketing up the uh the draft boards um a month ago there
Were three guys in the first round that’s it Mel Kyer who knows what he’s doing whether you know when you when you project when you’re in the business of making projections and predictions you’re going to miss wildly at times who’s putting in the work who’s got the track record of of
Putting in the work and putting themselves out there to make predictions M Kyper is good at in this business yes he’s missed on some guys who hasn’t so I’m not gonna get on that half the guys in the first round Miss come on uh he’s
Got him up to number 10 he’s got Michael penck up to number 10 the team you really have to watch you really have to watch is if they like him first you’re sitting there at number eight with the Atlanta Falcons the Atlanta Falcons are
Going to go in with a new head coach and they’re going to go big at take a big swing at quarterback in this offseason will number eight be the one will will they be satisfied with pennic the athletic I think had them trading with the Chicago Bears for number one
Overall that we’ve talked about how expensive that’s going to be that’s going to be three first round picks to get Ryan poles to even pick up the phone uh for for uh that number one overall slot uh robot of Doom he is over on Twitch good to see says morning Scott
Can I just say what on Earth is happening uh coaches going left and right Mike Tomlinson might leave as well chaos Reigns yeah Mike Tomlin oh boy that would be a shocker be kind of nice for him you know after they were trying to fire him or not the Steelers but
Steelers fans wanted him out you know to win go 10 and seven to prove just does what he does as he said as they were coming off two bad bad home losses I think it was the like the Cardinals and the Patriots a pair of like two win teams uh at home that
Really made it look like they were sinking their playoff chances one of the reporters was like what makes you think you can you can still turn this thing around and and Tomlin says it’s what we do here that that’s what we do I shouldn’t have doubted him I did
I’m his biggest fan one of his biggest fans and I doubted him I probably shouldn’t have um here we go James is in here he says good morning Scott good morning to you as well uh Keith bugman’s talking some numbers he says what most don’t realize are talk about Russ’s money 2024
35 million 2025 55 million etc etc etc um out after the end of the 215 season that carries a 31.2 million cap hit I think what you’re trying to say here maybe I’m wrong is that the cap hit was the cap hit’s going to be there regardless for two years whether what
Wilson was there or not this move if and when you move on from Russell Wilson was to avoid those numbers in 26 and 27 those huge numbers it’s like all right listen we don’t think Russell Wilson’s the guy that’s going to move us forward and we don’t want to have to have these
Huge cap hits in in um 26 and 27 let’s start the clock now when we can get out from under this um let me see here uh Lawrence Rivera says so is Shawn really worried about paying Russ I guess he really is the GM too and uh and hopefully Nick is having smooth
Sailing Sean’s in charge of this team Shawn Payton is in charge of this team they can talk about collaboration and get up there and say this is a a three-way partnership between Penner pton and and Payton uh between Geor Greg Penner there’s too many too many things that Shawn Payton and George
Pton but it’s a straight line it’s Penner Shawn pyton George pton and how they work together that’s up to them but if if Shawn pyton goes to Greg Penner and says I want a new general manager guess what’s gonna happen he’s gonna have a new general manager now that
Might not happen um but and they seem to be working together but let’s get into um Obama X’s here it’s not a good morning Broncos Country um know he’s a little bit um let me get rid of this spammer here on Facebook apologies y’all um it’s not a good morning in Broncos
Country I I think bamma X you can just you knew this day was coming eventually you can kind of just look back and be thankful for the machine that Nick Sabin has built at Alabama someone can step in and keep things no pun intended but Rolling Along who’s that going to be a
Big shoes to fill for sure but you know do they they make the call for dabos Sweeney there’s enough guys out there that someone can come in and keep things gosh if Kirby Smart wasn’t a georgeo Alum that’d be real interesting he’s he worked longer under Sabin than anybody um but yeah
Definitely uh definitely some huge news again on there Patrick Willy he’s in here says Aloha my solo coffee yep there we go I already finished my coffee now I’m this is actually water I’m all fired up I got up early took the boy to workouts this morning and uh already
Finished my coffee so um I want to talk about the um the the good soldier that is is George Peyton um got up there and says listen I’m the one that initiated the conversation with Russell Wilson’s agent okay yeah I handle negotiations we did this in good faith uh Shawn pyton
Was not involved and and that was basically what he said he never actually denied that the the the question did Shawn pton know said Shawn Payton wasn’t involved in negotiation did Shawn Payton know I handle negotiations all right uh yes Shawn pton knew of course of course he knew come on
You think an egomaniac control freak like Shawn pton doesn’t know that they’re having discussions about salary cap with a $50 million quarterback and and the impact that that might have on the team come on you know he Payton didn’t deny it um uh George pton and I
They just said I wasn’t involved in the negotiations okay I just gave a directive and had you do that it’s the same thing with um you know you qu I question Russell Wilson’s side um does Russell Wilson believe that he was threatened with a with being benched yes
He absolutely believes that why does he believe that someone asked that question to George to George pyton why would he believe that and and George pton said that’s a good question so do you think Russell Wilson was in the room was part of that conversation was brought into
George Payton’s office was on a three-weight call no that’s not how things work it’s why you have an agent so did the the conversation goes between George pton and and Russell Wilson’s Aiden what did Russell Wilson then hear from his agent that’s the one person who were really not somehow that
Person has gotten off got free in this discussion it’s been the blame of Shawn Payton’s evil Russell Wilson’s selfish what part did the agent who’s not exactly known this industry isn’t exactly known for the most scrupulous ethical of behavior have in this blowup so to speak
Of of Russell Wilson and and how this went what where what role did he have I I question listen when I was in recruiting I met everybody every top 100 kid in their parents every player in the state of Georgia and their parents I could have
Been an agent I had the in the truck all that stuff and I was like there’s just no way I do not want to be a part of that business I would kill somebody as dishonest and unethical as it is it’s a slimy business so does Russell Wilson
Believe that he was threatened yes was he maybe maybe not was this move made for financial reasons to put him on the bench yes absolutely y’all heard me say it before why would it be worse to threaten somebody with somebody than to just go ahead and do it
Why is that Matt Ryan was benched last year because of an injury guarantee Derek Carr was benched last year because of an injury guarantee if Russell Wilson was benched this year because of an injury guarantee so be it why is that a problem why is that less of an issue
Than saying Hey Russ you don’t if we don’t Strongarm you into doing this then we’re going to bench you man I’d rather have somebody tell me they were going to hit me and give me a chance to duck rather than just come out and hit me
Doesn’t make any sense to me so the other part that I got out of this out of these press conferences um was they’ve circled the wagons in Dove Valley when everybody says the same phrase basically at the same time at the same Cadence description and everything you know they’ve circled the wagons and
They have been advised from their attorneys who looked at the letter from the nflp to reiterate that this was a football decision Greg Penner first one up this was a football decision Shawn pton then they made a football decision uh George pton and before the Buffalo game you know this discussion was going
On and then in the last two weeks they made a football decision guys we’re not stupid I know they have to get up there and say these things publicly but it’s it’s not it’s a football decision in what is in the best interest of the team financially it can be a football
Decision and a financial decision because the finances play a big role into what you can do as a football team absolutely but come on it’s just I’m ready I know y’all are and I haven’t scrolled down to the end of these comments I know y’all are ready to be done with
This and hopefully let’s see we’re probably about seven weeks away from being done with this at the the longest when they decide first it shouldn’t take that long when uh is the door left open for Russ Wilson yes why would you want to weaken your negotiating position by saying he’s
Gone you want to give the appearance that there is still this just for again for legal reasons in case you’re getting sued by the NFL PA yes the doors open yes he’s we’ve talked to him about this the decision’s already been made and I’m for Broncos Country we will just about
Be done with this B busy Simmons can’t believe we’re still here talking about quarterbacks again that could go a lot of different ways we’ve been talking quarterbacks in here for seven years you thought we’d be done talking about quarterbacks again but yes when three of the the three highest ranking
Denver bronos officials go up this week and start talking quarterbacks guess what we’re going to talk about we’re going to talk about some quarterbacks again us Dave good to see you morning Scott good to see you Dave uh Bruce Duce he says thoughts on Milton I haven’t
Watched too much of him um hopefully get to see him I I’ll watch him more during the offseason but uh you I see you know rated as a day three guy we’ll see how that goes Kevin Grace says morning big high big Mile High salute to Broncos
Country Denver Broncos for Life uh yes injury issue with penic we’ll get into that for him second or third for me on him just a big risk for really a top 10 pick for sure uh a big risk there as well um I want to scroll down here
Apologies for the bad audio as I’m going okay let’s scroll and look but I I am scrolling as we we go through this um Gordon comto good to see you says good morning um here we go um Daniel Keenan says do you think Cordo Patterson with with Atlanta would
Be in the same position if he was a quarterback I’m not sure what that one means um if CP for me is corduro Patterson that’s who CP in Atlanta is would be in the same position if he was a quarterback um well no he would have been moved because he’s not a
Quarterback he’ been moved quarterback so I’m not sure what that means uh he’s a free agent with some void years uh B knck is a guy possibly possibly uh um you know I I I cringe at this honestly when I start talking we start talking about system quarterbacks you know which
One fits the system the best when we’re talking about first round quarterbacks if you’re thinking about taking a quarterback in the first round I don’t want to hear system I don’t want to hear which guy fits the system the best because if I’m taking a quarterback
In the first round this is a guy I’m hoping is going to be my team for the next 15 years he can’t be a system guy Bo Knicks right now looks like a system guy I don’t want him in the first round so that’s okay and what I mean by that
Is does he have the downfield arm or is he a check down side to side thrower we’ll see we will see on that one uh Ryan asked me about Cameron Ward I haven’t watched a ton of Cameron Ward either remember I’m not nearly as involved in the draft until after the
Season um and then you know go to the Senior Bowl and all that kind of stuff which is just in a couple of weeks I’m looking really looking forward to that one um gab Brock says bellich is a DC would be so perfect why not get Nick sain as your special teams coordinator
Too while you’re at it I mean hell Pete Carrol’s available we could bring him in as a motivational speaker let’s get the dream team together y’all it’ll be like one of those movies where you know the old guys Rob the banks and stuff uh would be a lot of fun the Boog Meister
Good to see you good morning big dog Scott and congrats to Nick on the little one thank you for being here and appreciate the support you are showing the show I have to slow down when I say that or I mess it up really bad
Now um Jeremy sha says we got the money well so do they how much money do you think they’ve made through the years it ain’t about money when you’re in your 70s man so that’s that’s that’s that’s not what it’s about um so one of the things I wanted to get
Into was uh the contract situation the the um I teased out of the top of the show was the uh the salary cap situation so right now the Denver Broncos are roughly $20 million over the salary cap okay and then you’re gonna have to deal with this huge dead cap hit it’s salary
Cap hell no Russell Wilson’s contract is basically neutral you just don’t have Russell Wilson you’re paying a guy $40 million to either be there or not be there so it doesn’t really matter um his contract was going to be the same problem is is you have to find a
Replacement you know because they don’t come for free either so do you have the guy already or if you draft a guy rookie then it keeps a cost down if you’ve got a rookie quarterback and you’ve got $7 million on Jarrett stum you could come
Out of this thing with 10 to 12 12 million in your quarterback room plus the 40 so 5055 million in your quarterback room if you’re getting good quarterback play is sustainable you can you can win with that so that’s not the the huge concern the huge concern is you
Know why don’t you have Desmond Ritter and that’s I mean not Desmond Ritter I just read Michael’s comments he gives me Desmond Ritter Vibes uh thoughts Scott you’re probably talking about uh about Bo Knicks um but I want to get into we’ll I want to get into this real quick
Uh with the salary cap so I’ve gone through these numbers here and talked about contract restructures SL extensions and let’s say um Garrett BS next year has a $20 million salary cap hit okay he is due of $16 million in base salary I can take that base salary
Of $16 million pay it out to him as a four-year contract and give him $4 million over the next four years I can just pay it to him right now because I’ve got owners with bit Deep Pockets I can give him $16 million right now as a
Signing bonus and then give him a minimum deal on a base salary of million then it would escalate as it goes up of course on that four-year extension that turns his salary cap into $5 million next year so he goes from a $20 million
Cap hit to a $5 million cap hit in 2024 I just save $15 million okay that’s how that starts moving along there are other guys that are like that and I said Justin Simmons I could do an extension I could get $12 million backt Portland Sutton I could do an extension $1
Million back Tim Patrick is a cut candidate there is $10 million there DJ Jones is a cut candidate there’s $10 million there uh uh samj pin he’s basically on a one-year deal he doesn’t have much of a cap hit but your savings if you move on from samaj perin is $3
Million can I replace samaj perin with $3 million next year and or a draft pick and do it cheaper yeah could probably do some cost savings there I’ll come to I’ll get this one last uh manherz $2 million savings there do I need him back maybe maybe not but there’s some
Savings opportunity there uh traymon Smith this is one that kind of blows your mind $ two and a half million dollar in cap savings by cutting him by uh that one’s not happening Riley Dixon now punters aren’t free either but Riley Dixon is a $1.7 million cap savings and the big one
Who could also return a draft pick is a trade of Jerry Judy if I can get somebody to pick up his his full Freight of um perine so Mar perine um if I could get um someone to pick up his full Freight there’s $13 million savings now
Y’all just heard a lot of money in there I’ll add let’s say Russell Wilson plays for gets picked up by the Atlanta Falcons and they pay him $2 million his actual negative cap hit next year would just be3 million uh you’ve got a dead cap hit but again you had the cap hit
Anyway so it was a $35 million hit that you would have had if he’s on the roster it’s $40 million next year if he’s not if someone pays him some money you get to apply that to your cap so he gets $2 million next year he only has a minus
Three so basically neutral if you add up all of those guys that I said B simm and Sutton on restructures extensions Tim Patrick sorry Tim you’re you’re a c cut DJ Jones has played his way into a cut candidate perine Judy is a possible trade manherz traymon Smith and Riley
Dixon that comes up to 880 million 80 million in available you are 20 under you’re 20 over right now 80 minus 20 is what $60 million so with very which one of those moves sounded like it crippled your team next year any did any of them the fact that I uh
Traded Jerry Judy that I cut DJ Jones that I I moved on from Tim Patrick or san perine any of those did any of those sound like they crippled your team and I just picked up $60 million y’all the cap situation here is not as bad as you think that can move on
To the next year you got to be smart this year in free agency and draft more draft picks is a more good thing do the same thing again in 2025 and you’re out then i’ get another $40 million back in in 2026 it’s not
It’s not as bad as you think I can I just snaping my fingers now it’s obviously not that easy came up with plus $60 million in salary cap for next season that’s what these guys are going to be working on over the course of the next several
Months um Conga says if you’re able to trade Jerry Judy I bgm I might have to I might not be able to save $13 million on that but again I ask I ask you is what would you rather have $13 million or Jerry Judy okay so people say
Oh you traded Jerry Judy for a fifth rounder that was highway robbery no no no I traded Jerry Judy to get $13 million at salary cap back that’s why I traded Jerry Judy something to think about there so that is uh that’s what I wanted to get into talking about salary
Cap and hopefully that makes Denver Broncos Country feel a little bit better about the possibility of moving into the 2024 season without thinking that oh my God this is a Tank season we’re gonna have to blow it all up no you don’t you are a competitive team this year is
Jared STM your answer a quarterback maybe maybe not could you be a playoff team with average Quarterback play yeah and you could you’ve got room to improve on this roster you absolutely do so this team can be better next year even with a $40 million dead cap hit absolutely so
Let me get back into I see a lot of folks in here are still talking quarterbacks uh booy Simmons in there yeah everybody’s still talking quarterbacks can’t get away from it um so I wanted to uh to go back through some of the questions then we’ll see how
Much longer we stick around we’re at 30 right now so I want to go um go into some of the comments here uh OD death metal um that feels like a newer name says I’d stay away from pennx and I live in Seattle I think man he’s he’s a lot
Of fun to watch play but Denver Broncos country do you want to take a big swing on a guy with that bad of injury history does anybody else does that does does that make anybody else nervous in Broncos country with the injury history you’ve had injured players that keep getting
Injured we’ve talked about um George pton taking WIS on guys who are injured and drafting guys that have been injured then you wonder why hey guess what they’re injured makes me a little nervous y’all I uh it absolutely does and then if I didn’t like the guy at 12 I would
Absolutely consider trading back absolutely now I can get very good players at number 12 again we’ve mentioned some of the edges some of the corners I could go wide receiver if I wanted to save $13 million on Jerry Judy I’m going to need to replace him okay
This is a deep wide receiver class okay now I can turn that into I can save $10 million instead of 13 with a first round draft pick that I’m paying three next year uh All Good Things um let me see here as I as I scroll down uh Pearl heaters ready to
Get rid of Jerry Judy good to see you Pearl glad you’re in here this morning byebye Jerry Judy so we will see Jeffrey says if we are paying Russ anyway can’t we keep him for a backup and competition just too much of a distraction two things here Jeffrey because that’s those
Are great questions one yes I think it would be too much of a distraction now he’s a pro but he wants to play he’s willing to do what it takes this year knowing that he has an Escape Route at the end of this season Russell was would it be a
Distraction next year yeah it would um is that relationship fractured probably to the point of a divorce needs to happen probably um can can’t we keep him for a backup in comination not a second point in here um you can I just think one oh the other
Part of this is Jeffrey if you uh if he’s still on the roster on what March 6th he gets his 2025 $37 million guaranteed so you have to pay him another $37 million now you might have Walmart owners worth billions they still don’t want to pay him an extra $40
Million if they don’t have to so that’s where finances kick in that’s still somebody’s money they don’t want to write a $40 million check to a guy they don’t even want on the team so you’re you’re he’s going to count against you anyway but there’s still an outlaying of
Cash that you can avoid by moving on early so that’s why I don’t think that two reasons why I don’t think it happens one yes it’s too big of a distraction and and the second one is um I think I may have said two twice um it is
Somebody’s money they don’t want to have to pay him so let’s move down here um Zack power says for how much I expect us to be punting next year two million a year for a punter seems like a deal you know what else sounds like a deal Zach
Drafting one in the seventh round uh Riley Dixon was not good this year he uh especially punting half of your time in Denver and his net punting average was in the bottom third um gross punting average just his gross punting uh not even his net net comes into coverage Etc
Grosses how far did you kick the damn ball um I I can I can spend a sixth or seventh rounder on a guy and pay him a couple hundred thousand and save 1.5 million on that one um let me see and talking about you know the money on here
$13 million that’s two defensive linemen that’s two really good defensive linemen that’s very good depth in there that you can get for six million a piece absolutely um little guy says STM has accuracy issues but accuracy can proove a rep so can timing I don’t I’m not ready to make a
Judgment on Jarrett stum based on these last two games when the the you know there’s some discontent in the locker room um again you start messing with a guy’s money teammates start looking around and saying they could do that to me I’m not happy with how they are treating
Him in the last two games of the year did you get the best out of the Denver Broncos no you didn’t so you you weren’t going to see the best of Jarrett stum either um you’re lying to yourself if you think STM can win with this team it
Depends on your definition of of winning and and I think he is a decent insurance plan right now as a backup will you go after someone else should you go after someone else yes yes you could could you have a similar record as this year with
This team if Jared S him was starting probably how many games do you think you won because of because of Russell Wilson how much different would your record have been if you had switch the two quarterbacks and that’s why you make the move that’s why you you move on from
Russell Wilson and his big contract before it even begins and get out from under it as quickly as you can what would the record be different if Jared Stan started all year it was eight and nine seven- 10 at worse maybe things go a little differently because Shawn
Payton does things a little differently maybe you go nine and eight and can this team improve from this year to next year yes it can you won’t have a one and five start you would in year or two you wouldn’t have had a one and five start
You would have been two and three three and two worse with everybody on the same page everybody in the system for a year so what we said this team was never as bad as one and five showed it but they were Never As Good As six and one showed
Either you were somewhere in the middle so if I can be a 500 team with Jared stdm this year could I move to 10 and seven with $60 million and a number one draft pick and and and a number 12 draft pick coming in somewhere maybe maybe
Chris Jenkins good to see you morning Broncos Country morning Scotty good to see you good to see you um Zack Powers as the signing bonus that creates cap relief now ends up being dead cap on the end of a deal though right so we pay bows and extend when he leaves that all
Comes up as dead as the end uh only if you get rid of him while he still has years of his contract Zach so let me uh let me explain that so um when I talked about the money that you save and that’s why I said a
Four-year ex a four-year deal that would be I have him under contract for four more years okay including the one he already has so it would be a three-year extension can Garrett BS be good for four more seasons yeah he’s he’s a he’s an offensive tackle yeah I could
Probably live with him for four more years in a in a deal if he’s declining that’s when it becomes a problem okay if he ends up being a bad player I can’t live with this guy next year then I have to cut him that $4 million for 2025 that
I said for 2026 and 2027 all accelerates to when I actually cut him if I have him under contract and I have and I pay him for those four years then no there there is no dead cap only if I cut him while he’s still under a contract and if I did
It in the last year it would be just a $4 million dead cap hit based on the pro-rated signing bonus so extending guys and giving big signing bonuses to guys that you still think you want to have for several years it works it was one of the things we always talked about with
Russell Wilson well let’s just restructure let’s just restructure if you don’t have restructure usually means one of two things I’m gonna pay him more moneyy down the line or I’m G to add more years to his contract that wasn’t an option with Russell Wilson unless he was
Willing to give money back guess what most guys don’t do that Aaron Rogers did that no he didn’t he just deferred it Aaron Rogers has two huge void years I didn’t even mention void years because I hate them void years are basically guarante dead cap hits like you’re
Saying he’s not going to be on the roster but we’re going to add these two years we’re going to assume a dead cap hit I don’t like even talking about voyers so what I said was like take a a three-year extension on a guy who has
One year left on his contract and then you can take that salary that signing bonus and you can distribute it across Four Seasons so so that’s where I’m looking on that one uh Jeremy says I’d like to trade back if you find a dance partner I love trading back I love
Trading back um I remember someone talking about uh oh all you draft guys love trading back because you think you can hit on every pick no it’s actually exactly the opposite 100% the opposite we like trading back because we know that there’s a 50% chance you’re going
To miss on the first round pick okay if I get three twos out of it and I’ve got a 40% chance of hitting on those guys 40% chance three times means I’ve got about an 80% chance of hitting I like 80% better than 50% and guess what if I
Get lucky and hit on two more the better um Conga Hydra says the Broncos have 11 million in dead cap space going to Randy Gregory flank Frank Clark and Brandon mcmanis that’s already been factored into one of the reasons why you are 20 million under right now that’s already
Included Russell Wilson will be 40 but his $40 million dead cap hit won’t adversely affect the overall cap this year because he was due $35 million in a cap hit anyway um and talking about doing it all in one season uh if you took Russell Wilson’s 80 plus million dollars all in one
Season then you might as well get rid of everybody um that’s when you say okay can I get that’s where I was Jeremy and Broncos country after the Jets game trade Garrett Bulls trade Josie juel trade Jerry Judy trade Corin Sutton trade get anything you can to get as far
Into the cap as you can and acquire as many picks as you can because this team is rotten they showed they’re not they’re not then they went on a six and one they were Never As Good As six and one but they were never as bad as the
Team that lost to the New York Jets at Nathaniel Hackett and Zack Wilson at home they were never that bad they shouldn’t have been that bad obviously they were that bad uh at the time but they were on a on a long timeline of a 17 Game season they weren’t a one and
Five team they weren’t a three and 14 team they weren’t um but yeah I mean that’s still the option you could cut Russ and take 8283 million in dead cap next year but I don’t think you need to I don’t think you you need to based on
Okay we’re gonna rip it off we’re gonna suck in 2024 and we’re going to get a number one pick we’re going to tank in 2024 I don’t think that can happen in frankly I don’t think Shawn pton would be here for that I think if I’m Shawn
Pton I’m thinking okay I I like the strides I got $60 million in a number 12 overall pick let’s let’s go to work let’s let’s go to work for next year I still think that is a a viable uh viable opportunity uh got a couple super chats
Coming in I certainly appreciate you for it Mike coming in he says how many of Russell’s teammates think he was overpaid for his production just makes you wonder Russ obviously isn’t interested in making this team competitive um Mikey you got to look out for yourself uh to a certain extent nobody’s
Going to look out for you um most of Russell Wilson’s teammates understand that this is a Cutthroat business and most of Russell Wilson’s teammates would not be happy if management came to them and said will you take a pay cut so we can go get another player that’s what
Players understand they understand the money and finances involved do they think are their competitive nature isn’t there remember uh Sterling sharp when Sterling sharp famous line I remember hearing because uh it used to be the rookie pay scale didn’t exist and first round draft piics had come in they were
The highest paid guys on the team coming in and you know kind of chuffing at one of the first round I can’t believe you make more money than me there there’s some Envy in there it’s human nature but coming in and saying that you know and
This is the the narrative I I’ve that i’ I’ve brushed you know brussle that just a little bit Russell Wilson’s being selfish and he should take half the money if he wants to make this team competitive dude Nobody Does that these are professionals the NFL doesn’t give a
Damn about these players they just don’t they will they’re they’re going to be around while it’s financially feasible what is best for the team and they will cut them at the drop of a dime and the players know it the players know it Mike I appreciate your input and thank you
For the uh thank you for the Super Chat my friend I just just think need to take your Broncos glasses off a little bit and think from the players perspective because the players understand that the the NFL and the teams don’t give a damn about them that’s what the players know and
Understand as teammates there’s a Brotherhood amongst the players not for management and ownership and it’s like that pretty much in every industry in this Walk of Life Jesse fry says this year is different after 2016 onwards offseason become pray they are better next year now there’s reason for real
Real hope thanks for the breakdowns I am Jesse I I think a lot of us I I won’t speak for everybody I know I underestimated how hard this turnaround was going to be by middle of the season that’s kind of where I expected the Broncos to start the year
Um not come off of this one and five not losing to the Raiders Josh McDaniels Raiders at home not losing to the commanders that was a loss wasn’t it uh it’s all starting to roll together on me not losing at home to Zack Wilson L Jets never expected that in a million
Years and if they they redid those games right now with against those opponents I know Las Vegas got better Etc it wouldn’t you wouldn’t have started like one and five I think we underestimated how hard it was going to be to turn things around well 500 is kind of where
You’re starting now and can you improve on that yes yes you can I firmly believe you can improve on this team next year um because again you’re you’re losing what are you losing in free agency what are you losing if you make some salary cap moves you’re losing Russell Wilson again I ask
You and listen just talking about you know who did what to who I don’t I don’t care anymore I’m done with that one I said what I had to say at the beginning of the show how many of the games did you win because of Russell Wilson um I talk
About war all the time from baseball wins against replace placement how many a positive score means that’s how much better you are against an average player if an average player were to come in what would Russell Wilson’s War have been this year and and I think they do
It for football I just don’t trust it as enough as baseball because you know there’s 162 games in baseball it would have been about average I mean at best so if I get average Quarterback play I’m at worst even okay um now let’s improve now improve on year two I think that can
Absolutely happen um so I don’t think this team is dead in the water for next year and I do think they will be a player in free agency because they’ve got money to do it and I am excited about having a first round draft choice covering this team for the first time
Since really we got started doing this on Broncos for breakfast um so certainly appreciate it uh Mike coming in thanks for the thanks for coming back I I again I I love that you’re coming with the super chats and the show show and I don’t mean to like bang on you about
This and again hopefully you understand I respect the hell lot of your opinions and just want to try and be respectful and disagreeing to uh because this is this is Broncos Country I’m still kind of an outsider here but I you ask me I’m gonna give an honest opinion you might
Not like it but you know you’ll get an honest one um Levis coming in says Bo Knicks is the next Drew Brees we’ll see we’ll see uh Drew Brees was a phenomenal thrower of the football he was just short if Drew Brees was coming out now
He’d go higher than he did then when there was much more discriminate because before Drew Breeze uh before there was a Drew Breeze to show people they could be done Kyler Murray went number one overall at 5’11 um Drew Brees would be drafted much much higher we’ll see about B knck I
Cannot wait I will be down at the Senior Bowl with a 4k camera and I will shoot just about every throw the quarterbacks make and I will show y’all every throw the quarterbacks make I’ll have them for you uh my philosophy in the media scouting business was always I don’t
Want to just tell you what I think I want to show you that way you can kind of come up with some of your own thoughts as well so we are going to do that as well um robot of Doom says Scott if you want my honest opinion on
Someone to blame for This Disaster since after Super Bowl 50 I’m looking at one man in particular that’s John Elway I don’t go back that far to know um how much of that would be true it feels like there’s been time to turn things around since then but it has been three
Years and part of the problem you have is okay well why did we have to swing so hard on Russell Wilson’s because the quarterback position had been ignored beforehand okay I get that um but part of the problem the mess you’re in right now is because of a contract extension
Given to a quarterback who hadn’t taken a snap for you and now financially you’re handicapped by it and you lost the ability to get some talented players because of uh the trade that you made so I don’t necessarily put that on John Elway unless again we take it a step
Back and say if he had addressed a quarterback position you know and you can you can do that Josh Allen would have been nice right um then that uh that’s part of it um and Jeremy I think is is kind of jumping on with that too he says if the
Rust to Backle leads us to a franchise quarterback that we draft then it’ll all be worth it the McDaniel’s to Backle LED lway as a GM which led to Manning and drafting vaugh it was worth it so um lots of good things in here listen I’m
Gonna get out of here um Michael I can’t find your latest uh here it is well no that was your latest I wanted to to flash it up here um but Michael just closing us out today saying it was a great show today on Broncos for
Breakfast um I am about to uh hop out of here I can’t help it I see questions I feel like I have to answer uh Chris says would you switch Vance Joseph for Mike vable as Denver’s defensive coordinator probably not um I liked overall what Vance Joseph did I’m a Personnel guy as
Much as anything and that the Broncos were really really handicapped in Personnel um Ed rusher the who you thought we were going to be able to count on for Edge rushers the first five six game of the season were just not there um you had Randy Gregory who was
You might as well been playing with with 10 um and then you um you know Demari matthysse was had a decent last year and then I mean when you’re replacing and getting a huge upgrade with Fabian Maro I know I’ve got problems at corner I had injuries with Riley Moss um the defensive
Line for the the big guys DJ Jones regressed okay that you know we can talk about scheme on there but if I’m penil in and Jonathan Harris is a starter I know I’ve got problems big problems and I’m light upfront as it is that’s got to be addressed in the offseason you know
What that’s what we’re going to do next week we’re going to go through team needs how we can get better across where are the big because in that time that I was ready to basically blow everything up we went through how is this supposed to get better when you start look at
This position by position and there wasn’t there’s just not a lot of talent there’s a couple really good players on the defense but there’s some massive holes there too guess what $60 million can buy you a lot of Defense couple couple draft picks get him right couple
Guys stepping up Riley Moss Drew Sanders can get a lot better next year one of the things we’re looking for Aaron feels like a newer name but Aaron obviously goes way back because if there’s one person to blame it’s Joe Ellis thoughts on that Broncos Country not bad at all
Um so that is something to to look at um listen y’all I am going to get out of here I appreciate you hanging out with me it is Thursday this is Broncos for breakfast Nick should be back next week but if he wants to take some more time
Off we will certainly understand follow me on Twix Scout Kennedy and I will kind of give updates let’s say we adjust the schedule a little bit but always make sure you’re hitting that subscribe button because then you will get alerted when we go live I will be live on my
Channel talking some playoffs tomorrow at youtube.com Scot Kennedy make sure you are following all of the uh the accounts that we have to make sure you’re keeping up on all of the uh the mother account keeping up on all the latest news with Denver Broncos like
Mile High huddle you want to get a Broncos for breakfast mug or any of the shirts and stuff you see on here hit mhh merch.com and Facebook’s always a good place to follow with over a 100,000 strong at facebook.com/ highle pod andm High huddle uh want to say thank you
Everybody for joining me this morning it is Thursday it’s going to be a fun playoff weekend I’m looking forward to it looking forward to seeing how these coaching changes start playing out it’s going to be a hell of a fun January and again there’s a lot to be excited about
When I come up with a number and say $60 million for Denver Broncos I’m looking forward to free agency too so y’all have a great football weekend we will see you next work and again thanks for hanging out with me this morning have a great day everybody
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