Elway was shocked to lose both Manning and Osweiler
It's essentially unheard of for a team to win the Super Bowl and lose its top two quarterbacks - and after Super Bowl 50, Denver Broncos general manager John Elway certainly wasn't expecting it.
"There are challenges every year. That’s why this year in free agency and all that, there are challenges every year trying to keep things together. So that's always a challenge," Elway told Jason Cole of Bleacher Report. "Was it a big surprise that we were in that situation? Yeah, because I thought … we drafted Brock (Osweiler) when we got Peyton (Manning) because we didn't know exactly what Peyton was going to be.
"But also, if (Manning) wasn't in good shape, we were going to a guy who was going to be here for a long, long time. Now, that didn't work out, so it was a matter of, you have to fix the issue. There are going to be issues every year."
While most predicted Manning would call it quits following a horrendous regular-season performance, Elway and the Broncos held out hope that the legend would return. That left Osweiler waiting in the wings to start his contract negotiations, which eventually shifted to the Houston Texans.
Osweiler and the Broncos have traded jabs through the media this offseason. Hours after Osweiler's signing, Elway released a statement saying the Broncos only wanted players who wanted to play for them. Osweiler said recently that he chose to sign with the Texans because he felt he had a better shot at winning long term.
Following the departures, the Broncos were forced to reacquire a depth chart of quarterbacks, trading for Mark Sanchez and drafting Paxton Lynch in the first round.
"The first thing we did is we got Mark (Sanchez) and I feel good about Mark," said Elway. "So by getting Mark - and we're a lot higher on him than a lot of people are - so once we landed Mark and he was here, we felt better about the situation. It was a matter of bringing somebody in for competition. But of the guys who were out there at the time, there were no difference-makers. So why would I overpay for a guy who wasn't going to be a difference-maker?"
The Broncos were rumored to be in the running to acquire quarterbacks Colin Kaepernick, Ryan Fitzpatrick, and Sam Bradford, but ultimately decided Sanchez and the rookie Lynch would be enough to get the job done.