Fooch’s update: Pro Football Talk broke down some of the potential legal ramifications of Elway’s comments. I’m guessing John will be getting a call from the league soon.
The Denver Broncos quarterback situation is not ideal at the moment, at least as far as the backups are concerned. Case Keenum is the starter, but the team is trying to figure out the situation behind him. Paxton Lynch has been a bust, with Chad Kelly supplanting him on the depth chart.
Earlier this week, Elway said the team might look at outside options to bolster the depth chart. That apparently will not include free agent quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Elway met with the media on Thursday and said the team had previously made an offer to him and he passed on it. You can watch his response below.
John Elway says Colin Kaepernick turned down a contract offer from the Broncos: "He's had his chance to be here. He passed it."
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) August 16, 2018
(via @Broncos) pic.twitter.com/Pcy1u7YUEK
Elway talked about making the offer and saying that was what he said in his deposition related to Kaepernick’s collusion lawsuit. By all accounts, the only contract offer Elway and the Broncos made to Kaepernick was surrounding the trade talks the two sides had back in spring 2016. The 49ers were looking to move Kap, but Elway wanted Kap to take a sizable pay cut from the guaranteed money he had with the 49ers. The two sides could never come to an agreement.
That is clearly an offer that was refused, but it was not made in the context of Kaepernick kneeling. I could see Elway bringing it up to suggest the refusal was a defense for choosing not to make another offer in the future. Of course, the Broncos and Brock Osweiler had their own rough break-up over a contract offer, and Elway was comfortable bringing his awful former QB back into the fold in 2017.
There is a fact-based aspect to what Elway said on Thursday, but really, he’s generally full of [site decorum].