Broncos Legend Applauds Sean Payton's Controversial Moves

The Denver Broncos tearing it down to build it back up could be just what the doctor ordered.

The chickens are coming home to roost within the Denver Broncos power structure. Carrying the can for perhaps the worst trade in NFL history to acquire quarterback Russell Wilson was always going to spew dangerous shrapnel toward the Broncos shot-callers.

Rapidly following Wilson out the door is veteran safety Justin Simmons, and it's no secret that even more experienced players will follow suit in the coming days. If the Broncos' new ownership originally employed head coach Sean Payton to patch things up, we're now seeing a dramatic wholesale pivot towards a painful long-term rebuild.

Broncos Super Bowl legend Mark Schlereth is notoriously outspoken when it comes to his former team. Joining the Pat McAfee Show, Schlereth took aim at the Broncos for their repeated failures, it was laced with equal measures of passion and pain.

"For eight years, this place has been garbage," Schlereth told Pat McAfee. "The Denver Broncos were a crown jewel in the National Football League. And they're not, they're irrelevant. And we keep putting Band-Aids on things and think that that's going to fix it. And I for one am sitting here and saying, 'Thank you, Sean Payton, for recognizing this team is not very good.' This team does not have one guy that's homegrown on this football team that's ever come close to sniffing the playoffs. Ever. So ultimately it is time to quit putting Band-Aids on gaping wounds and it's time to perform some surgery. And I think that's exactly what Sean Payton is doing... I, for one, am glad that they're actually moving on and saying, 'Hey, we're gonna fix this thing. And we're gonna tear it down. And we're gonna rebuild it."

"For eight years this place has been garbage and the Denver Broncos used to be a crown jewel of the National Football League..

I'm glad that they're tearing it down and trying to rebuild it" ~ @markschlereth #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/zK0XwyezJB

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) March 7, 2024

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It was former GM John Elway who famously fought tooth and nail against the notion of a rebuild. Eight years after winning Super Bowl 50, Schlereth is brutally correct: the Broncos organization has reached an undeniable crisis point. At its very chaotic zenith, it's a clutch point that necessitates the aforementioned band-aid being agonizingly ripped off.

Such is the extent of the black hole the Broncos' front office has dug itself. Even resetting with a rookie quarterback wouldn't give the Broncos a discernible advantage over the next two seasons.

There is really no hiding from the grim reality of the Broncos' self-inflicted wounds, particularly on the balance sheet and under center. That sky-is-falling scenario was driven home when Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer pointed out that even going with a first-year QB provides no competitive edge when it comes to the salary cap.

"Real damage of the Russell Wilson contract is if they draft a QB in the 1st round, his $85 million in dead money will effectively srtip Denver of the rookie-contract advantage for the first 2 years of the new QB's career," Breer pointed out via X. "They're navigating that now," Breer wrote on X. 

We've undoubtedly entered hunting season and the Broncos and embattled GM George Paton are looking very much like sitting ducks.

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