This year's offensive overhaul reminiscent of 2014 off-season

Stop me if you've heard this before. The Denver Broncos have a historic, record-breaking year from one side of the ball which propels them to a Super Bowl berth; while the other side of the ball literally limps along due to injuries, and generally stinks it up, becoming the proverbial albatross around the team's neck (sorry for the mixed metaphor. I know albatrosses don't limp).

Rather than stand pat or be satisfied with just keeping the gang together, John Elway makes a bunch of moves in the off-season, that you typically don't see from a team that just went to the Super Bowl, in an attempt to remedy the troublesome side of the ball, build a more balanced team, and set the team up to "win from now on".  Sound familiar?

One thing about Elway is that he is not afraid to make bold, perhaps unpopular moves if he feels it will make the team better. Whether it's opening up the checkbook in free agency, firing a coach who has led you to 4 straight division titles, cutting veteran stalwarts before they get too old and expensive, or standing firm on price to keep the team in a manageable cap situation, Elway has done/and will do whatever it takes. The message is clear. If you under-perform, or somehow stand in the way of this team getting better, you will not be around long.

After the 2014 off-season overhaul, the defense had 8 new starters. This is a team who had just made the Super Bowl! This year, the 2016 offense will have at least 6 new starters - Okung, Garcia, Sambrailo, Stephenson, whoever starts at QB, and whoever replaces Owen Daniels as the "starter" at TE. Elway has said repeatedly that the offense clearly did not meet expectations last year and would be the off-season focus (particularly the O-line).

This year due to budget and market forces, the way we go about retooling the offense will look different than the way we fixed the defense in 2014; as it should. The offense has been heavy on veterans and low on youth. It is clear that this year, the emphasis is on getting younger, and bringing in guys that fit what we want to do. Look for more offense to come via the draft (and trade if the Kaepernick deal goes through) in the next month.

It worked out for Elway last time he cleaned house, we'll see what happens this time.