Broncos Waive G Stanley Daniels, Sign K Steven Hauschka

It was alway ‘under’ Xanders, but decisions were often made at McDaniels’ behest. In other words, he signed off on them at the end. You’ll see very little difference in how the organization operates now that McDaniels is gone. The operation of most teams follows a division of labor that’s indicated by its name. We don’t know exactly how each decision is made but we can formulate a logical guess, and anyone who claims to ‘know’ otherwise is lying.

A guess at how this particular decision went down is — Studesville may have notified Xanders that Prater couldn’t go and that he needed a kicker. Xanders, if he wasn’t already aware of the available kickers, could have talked to Keith Kidd or Anthony Kelly about which kicker was the best available candidate and then made a quick decision to offer Hauschka a contract and make arrangements to bring him in.

Monitoring the pro prospects who are available (or could be) is what Pro Personnel does, so they’re ready for any eventuality such as needing a kicker in a pinch and they keep a constantly updated list of available candidates ready.

If I may segue — what should be noted about the complaints about McDaniels in regard to how the decision making process was structured is that not a single poster (that I’ve found) reveals that they know anything about how the decision making process is structured. There’s a term for spouting off about things you don’t understand but I’ll omit it here. Moreover, one decision that was heavily criticized was the trade to obtain Alphonso Smith. The Broncos released a statement long after the fact stating the idea for making the trade originated with Xanders. Critics of McDaniels were unphased by the news, probably because it wasn’t the true basis for their criticism. And it would be hard to be angry about the organization’s decision making structure if you knew nothing about it, unless you’re not operating on a rational basis.

Organizational flowcharts and diagrams listing the division of labor aren’t usually interesting to most fans. But these details are important to how an organization functions, and whether it functions well. The following article, LINKED HERE, discusses the purpose and function of Pro Personnel as well as discussing the better known Scouting Department.

BTW — my guess is that the decision to obtain Mays was a decision that McDaniels played heavily in. Mays’ performance against us late last year made a deep impression on McDaniels and his comments about the deal showed more than a casual involvement. Some of the other personnel decisions could have been initiated through a more conventional route. Keeping track and grading prospects is what Pro Personnel does, usually in conjunction with the Scouting Department.