Heading into the free agency period, the Denver Broncos were long believed to be a potential landing spot for Pro Bowl quarterback Kirk Cousins. In fact, many pundits labeled the team as a frontrunner to land his services this past week.
However, things quickly dissipated with the Minnesota Vikings taking full charge of the situation, making a serious push that completed with a three-year, fully guaranteed $84 million deal. During that process, the Broncos never made an offer to Cousins, according to Peter King of Sports Illustrated.
Denver? The Broncos didn’t make an offer. This went to McCartney’s reason for making this a silent auction: Denver liked Keenum, didn’t want to pay in the neighborhood of $30 million a year guaranteed for a quarterback with so many other prominent players to pay. It came down to this for John Elway: Keenum for $10 million to $12 million per year less than Cousins, and the Broncos knew near the start of the legal tampering period they could get Keenum. Ten hours into the period, Denver had reached agreement with Keenum on a two-year, $36 million guaranteed deal.
This came down to the simple fact that general manager John Elway didn't want to fork out a significant amount of money to add a viable starting quarterback to mix. This put Case Keenum into the mix as a suitable option, as he cost about $10 million per season over the next two years.
It also allows the Broncos to maintain some flexibility to add more talent to the roster with that additional cap space. On top of that, the team doesn't have to fully commit to the 30-year-old as a long-term solution at the position.
At the same time, this gives Denver more comfort in taking one of the top quarterbacks in this year's draft at the fifth overall selection, with the likes of Oklahoma's Baker Mayfield or Wyoming's Josh Allen likely available at the spot. Ultimately, only time will tell if passing on Cousins was the right decision for the Broncos.
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