John Elway Admits Negative Press Contributed To Lynch's Release
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (247Sports)- Congratulations, jilted Denver Broncos fans. You officially helped advance Paxton's Lynch departure from Denver.
In a radio interview with Orange and Blue 760 on Wednesday, Broncos general manager John Elway copped to the notion that unflattering media coverage played a part in his decision to release the former hand-picked first-round quarterback.
"First of all, I hate quitting at anything and so I had high hopes for Paxton and thought he would continue to improve but ultimately decided with everything being looked at and a part of it being 'what was the best situation for the Broncos' and with a young backup in Chad Kelly that we needed more experience with another QB coming in and that's why with Kevin Hogan available, I really liked him, and he had a good preseason in Washington," Elway said. "Plus, the way everything was going with Paxton and obviously there was a lot of pressure on him in Denver and it hadn't worked out so there had been a lot of negative press on him and looking at everything involved it was probably best for all parties to part ways and give Paxton an opportunity to go somewhere else and see if it will work out better for him there."
Negative press had been a staple of Lynch's tenure with the Broncos -- from supposedly immersing himself in too many video games, to thrice losing jobs to seventh-round competition, to getting booed off the field this preseason and a GoFundMe launch to expedite his pink slip. Oh, and most recently, that bizarre real estate post on social media.
But Elway's remark about Lynch improving is ... interesting, as it runs in direct opposition to what he claimed after the 53-man roster, which initially included Lynch, was finalized last Saturday.
"Sitting right now with where we are at quarterback and who knows our system, where going into the first game with Paxton being our third quarterback—I thought at this point in time, that's the best decision for us," he said. "Paxton continued to improve, but he is the third-string quarterback. That decision was made because, looking at the situation and with [QB] Chad [Kelly] not having a lot of experience and not having played in a regular-season game before, we thought that we had to go with three quarterbacks and Paxton was our third."
Hey, nobody ever accused Elway of being transparent. Or completely honest. He virtually lied through his teeth by using Hogan to justify cutting Lynch; they were drafted the same year (2016), and Hogan has made three less starts and appeared in one less game over that span. Not exactly what you'd call "seniority."
Reading between the lines, and going off what was previously revealed, the Broncos were waiting for someone -- anyone -- to sign on as the No. 3 QB before signing Lynch's walking papers. Caving to fan pressure, they were looking to wash their hands of him and couldn't do so until another veteran was acquired.
At least Elway spilled the beans in addition to swallowing his pride. Sort of.
