Here is a good article describing where we are headed with the Bronco team.
Pat Bowlen isn’t the most outspoken owner in the National Football League. He’s no Jerry Jones.
In the roughly seven weeks since the Denver Broncos completed their collapse, finished 8-8 and failed to reach the playoffs for a third straight year, however, Bowlen has spoken loud and clear.
He didn’t like the direction his team was headed, and he’s changing it.
The Denver Broncos we’re used to are gone.
Two days after the conclusion of the 2008 season, Bowlen fired friend and head coach Mike Shanahan. Thursday, Bowlen fired vice president of football operations Jim Goodman and assistant general manager Jeff Goodman.
Shanahan had been the Broncos’ head coach for 14 years. Jim Goodman was with the Broncos for 11 years, including several as a scout.
In their place, Bowlen has hired 32-year-old Josh McDaniels as head coach and 38-year-old Brian Xanders as general manager. Neither has experience in those positions.
Hiring McDaniels and Xanders is only the beginning of the overhaul, however.
The Broncos’ roster is on the verge of a complete rebuild, too.
Last week, the Broncos cut five players, and while those cuts were minor moves, they signaled a bigger change ahead.
Since being hired last month, McDaniels has been busy watching film of the players on the roster. After eight years with the New England Patriots, he’s got an idea of the type of player he needs to win, and he’ll get rid of the Broncos that don’t fit his mold.
Xanders was with the Atlanta Falcons for 14 years before joining the Broncos as assistant GM last year. He, too, has an idea of what type of player the Broncos need. He’s also well versed in how to work the NFL’s salary cap, and he’s likely to weed out players that aren’t earning their keep.
Two players, in particular, are likely to be working elsewhere in the fall: Linebacker Niko Koutouvides and defensive tackle Dewayne Robertson were brought in by Shanahan last year to fix the defense, and both were busts. Together, they can cash checks for $5.775 million if they’re on the roster next month. Neither is likely to see that money.
Denver’s roster, when training camp opens in July, figures to be vastly different than the one that came to camp last July — or even the one that ended the season in December.
For years, Shanahan spent the offseason looking to plug holes in a team that always seemed a notch or two away from Super Bowl contention.
There won’t be any hole plugging this year. There’s a complete rebuild on the horizon. It won’t be a quick process, but it ought to be an interesting spring and summer.
For better or worse, Bowlen’s team is changing its course.
BUILDING A CONTENDER: Speaking of a roster rebuild, check out the list of remaining free agents in baseball.
Give me an expansion team and the rights to any of the players on that free-agent list, and I think I could build a decent team. Well, at least one that could beat the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Check out the team you could build:
Catcher: Ivan Rodriguez.
First base: Nomar Garciaparra.
Second base: Orlando Hudson.
Third base: Joe Crede.
Shortstop: Orlando Cabrera.
Outfield: Garret Anderson, Ken Griffey Jr. and Manny Ramirez.
Bench: Ray Durham, Damion Easley, Jim Edmonds, Mark Grudzielanek, Paul Lo Duca and Brad Wilkerson.
Starting pitchers: Paul Byrd, Tom Glavine, Orlando Hernandez, Pedro Martinez and Ben Sheets.
Closer: Jason Isringhausen.
Bullpen: Luis Ayala, Juan Cruz, Eric Gagne, Will Ohman and Rudy Seanez.
OK, so it might be the most fragile roster in baseball, but if they could stay healthy, I’d take my chances with that group.
CATCHING UP WITH . . . Matt McChesney.
The former Niwot High School and University of Colorado football star signed last week with the Broncos.
Originally signed as an undrafted free agent in 2005 by the St. Louis Rams, McChesney has also spent time with the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins.
A defensive end at Colorado, McChesney is now playing offensive line.
Brian Howell can be reached at bhowell@times-call.com.
