With rumored target Tony Romo headed to the broadcast booth, the battle for the Broncos' quarterback job narrows to Siemian (shoulder) and Paxton Lynch, Nicki Jhabvala of The Denver Post reports.
There's no need to save face for general manager John Elway and head coach Vance Joseph, who have talked up both Siemian and Lynch during the offseason and who have, at least publicly, shown tepid-at-best interest in Romo. At the same time, with 10 playoff seasons between them over the past six seasons, there had to have been at least some curiosity about Romo making one last push in Mile High. With that option now gone, the deck certainly seems stacked against Siemian, who loses the advantage he had last year of an extra year in a system and public advocates in former head coach Gary Kubiak and passing-game coordinator Greg Knapp. Denver should have a more wide-open attack in 2017, which would seem to benefit the more physically gifted Lynch. That being said, as they have all offseason, Joseph and Elway have hedged their bets -- both praising Lynch's tools while also stating that he has a bit to go in both the mental and maturity aspects of the position. If Lynch beats out Siemian, last year's first-round selection is vindicated. If not, Elway and Joseph can say that sitting Lynch for a season or two was always part of the plan. Siemian, at some point, will have to yield to Lynch. There's just no guarantee that it will be in 2017.