The Denver Broncos are cruising along at 11-3 blowing people out and cementing themselves as a Super Bowl favorite. Peyton Manning has put himself in the comeback player of the year award, and definitely MVP consideration.
Question is where would the Broncos be and who would be their quarterback had Manning turned the Broncos down?
Well according to Jeff Legwold of the Denver Post, the Broncos would have selected current Cleveland Browns quarterback Brandon Weeden in the 2012 draft.
Legwold: “That’s because the Broncos’ decision makers, including executive vice president of football operations John Elway and head coach John Fox, were in Stillwater, Okla., to visit with Weeden last March when they sent the plane from there to pick up another quarterback they hoped to sign.
A guy named Peyton Manning.
And Manning was on the plane when it returned to Stillwater to scoop up Elway and crew. The group returned to Denver, and the rest is helicopters-following-SUVs history.
But if Manning had not signed on the dotted line for the Broncos and changed the course of the franchise, Weeden likely would have been the Broncos’ pick as a developmental quarterback.”
Legwold stated that once Manning chose to sign with the Broncos, there was no plan or need to spend any years tying to turn the 29-year-old Weeden into a serviceable backup for Manning.
I wonder what if?