Horse Tracks: Broncos storylines

I just pulled up my crotchety old man pants for this. I hope you all enjoy my treatment on all the latest talking points surrounding our beloved Broncos:

Is Kaepernick in or out?

Read between the lines. The Broncos want him. Kaepernick wants paid. The 49ers management are too silly to get rid of a problem and continue to fail at how to run a team from a PR perspective.

Elway isn't going to pay a flailing QB premium money after 2 years of poor play regardless of how much the coaches think they can help the kid.

Kaepernick is currently guaranteed 12.9M and he knows if he doesn't pop, it is likely his last serious pay day in the NFL. He'd be very dumb to agree to a 5M pay cut and I've seen nothing that indicates he isn't a smart guy.

The 49ers could have finished this trade by fitting 5M of the bill but they are too thick headed to see the wisdom in making that trade happen. We may not get this trade done, but sit back and enjoy your popcorn. The show in San Francisco should be fun to watch this year.

Sanchez or a rookie?

Either way works. Either way is an upgrade to the QB quality we saw on the field last year and I'm not hating or joking. Our QB play was fairly poor and we won games in spite of it the vast majority of the time.

Give me a rookie. Give me Sanchez. The offense is going to be better this year.

Who's running the rock?

Who cares!? We have CJ resigned and hopefully he'll put in the work to get in playing shape this year and be "The Man". Draft a guy, pick up an undrafted guy and get to work. Our Head Coach has a history of knowing out to get production out of the run game. This year he should be able to improve the line and the running output.

Bonus No Bull: We don't need to bring back a chump like Hillman. He doesn't fit the running scheme we use and our passing offense doesn't take advantage of his skillset enough.

How is Von's contract negotiation going to play out?

He's just GOT to be the highest paid defender ever, right? I mean after all, he won the Super Bowl single-handedly with a broken toe and cramps the whole game, right?

This negotiation is going to go like it does for almost every other big free agent with a franchise tag: the team will low-ball, the player will high-ball, they will both play chicken until the deadline and then a deal will get done that is somewhere in between the two sides.

I will say this: the Broncos can and should make sure they don't ransom the franchise's future for Von. There has to be a way to get a contract done that pays him a ton, but doesn't hose us long-term that is agreeable. If all else fails, I'm a big fan of using the franchise tag 2 years and then letting him hit the market.

We lost free agency! Oh Noes!

My thoughts on this tie into almost everything else above: this team is one of the best-run teams in the NFL. We lost Jackson and got a 3rd round pick back without a financial boat anchor around the team's neck. Same story on Oswilly. Similar story for Danny T.

Guys and dolls, this is what great teams do: they draft well, bring in good free agents that want to play on a winning team at a reasonable rate, and let the guys seeing dollar signs hit the road. The sky is not falling. All is not lost. Keep your chins up and look forward to a great 2016 season.

Broncos News:

Mason's top five Broncos wide receivers
Andrew Mason's offseason top-five rankings of Broncos greats begins with a countdown of the top five wide receivers in Broncos history.

2015 NFL Losers News:

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Top 16 games of the 2016 NFL season: Must-see matchups - NFL.com
Can't wait to see if Brock Osweiler proves John Elway wrong for letting him leave Denver when he returns with the Texans? Neither can Elliot Harrison. Check out the 16 best games on the 2016 slate.