Getty Former Denver Broncos QB Peyton Manning looks on during a game between Tennessee and Alabama.
Former Denver Broncos Super Bowl winning quarterback Peyton Manning is in the headlines once again.
Denver Nuggets’ forward, Michael Porter Jr. has a podcast called “Curious Mike” and he was joined by Manning, who Porter Jr. mentioned several times that the five-time NFL MVP was one of his idols growing up.
In the interview, Manning talked about what his future could’ve been in he continued to play after winning the 2016 Super Bowl.
“I just felt like after we had just won the Super Bowl, it just felt like it was the right time to stop playing. I dealt with some injuries, possibly might’ve had to go find another team to play for, the Broncos had some quarterback personnel decisions to make and I didn’t really want to go through that process again necessarily.”
There was some real thought on if Manning would end up playing again after winning his second Super Bowl. Manning still had another year left on his five-year deal with the Broncos even though he would’ve had to pass another physical to receive that final year of his deal.
While the Broncos won the Super Bowl on February 7, 2016, Manning waited until March 6, to announce his retirement. This timing was less than two weeks away from the start of NFL free agency and forced the Broncos to have multiple plans on what they were going to do at the quarterback position.
Denver’s QB Options in 2016
Entering the 2016 NFL offseason, the odds were in favor that Manning played his last game in the NFL, but everyone waited for his announcement.
During this time, the Broncos needed to find Manning’s replacement.
The Broncos had drafted quarterback Brock Osweiler in the second round of the 2012 NFL draft, but he sat behind Manning for three years before getting playing time in 2015 with Manning going down with a foot injury.
Osweiler played in seven games with Manning out and held a 5-2 record in that span to help keep the Broncos charging for the No. 1 seed in the AFC.
Entering free agency, the Broncos began trying to negotiate a long-term deal with Osweiler, but he refused to re-sign with Denver. Instead, Osweiler signed a four-year $72 million deal with the Houston Texans, but would only play in one full season of that deal.
With Osweiler leaving, the only quarterback left on the roster at the time was former seventh-round pick Trevor Siemian.
Denver also added Mark Sanchez in a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles, but the Broncos released Sanchez during the preseason.
The Broncos also owned the final pick of the first round in the 2016 NFL draft and knew that they needed to add the quarterback for the future.
There was no way that Denver could move all the way up from pick 31 to the first or second overall picks to select either Jared Goff or Carson Wentz. Instead, Denver moved up to the 26th overall pick and selected quarterback Paxton Lynch out of Memphis.
With Lynch struggling in training camp and the preseason, Broncos head coach Gary Kubiak decided to go with Siemian as the starting quarterback to start the season and be known as the guy who replaced Manning in a Broncos uniform.
Things Have Not Been Great Since Peyton Manning Retired
The Broncos have not appeared in a single playoff game since Manning retired after riding off into the sunset with another Super Bowl ring. Denver is also the only franchise in NFL history to win it all and miss the playoff for the following seven seasons.
Since Week 1 of the 2016 NFL season, the Broncos have failed to find their next franchise quarterback and have trotted out 12 different starting quarterbacks since the 2016 Super Bowl.
Only Siemian and Brett Rypien have winning records in a Broncos uniform with Teddy Bridgewater following the two with a 7-7 record.
The Broncos have also gone through four different head coaches since Manning left and none of them owned a winning record for Denver. Sean Payton is currently the head coach of the Broncos and is planning to turn the Broncos around to get back to the playoffs with Russell Wilson as his quarterback.
If the Payton-Wilson duo doesn’t work out this season, the Broncos will once again move forward in their search for finding their next franchise quarterback.