With Peyton Manning‘s retirement and Brock Osweiler heading for the Houston Texans in free agency, the Denver Broncos are clearly in the market for a quarterback. Rumors surrounding their interest in Colin Kaepernick have lingered, but Denver is clearly leaving no stone unturned after acquiring Mark Sanchez from the Philadelphia Eagles on Friday.
Broncos acquire Mark Sanchez from Philly for conditional draft pick. Process has begun #9news #9sports
— Mike Klis (@MikeKlis) March 11, 2016
Sanchez played in 13 games, starting 10, for the Eagles over the last two seasons with a completion percentage over 64 percent and an 18-to-15 touchdown-to-interception ratio. There was speculation he would be cut by Philadelphia, due in part to a $4.5 million base salary for this year, and the recent signing of Chase Daniel made Sanchez expendable as a likely No. 3 quarterback.
During his time with the New York Jets, specifically his first two seasons that ended with trips to the AFC Championship Game, Sanchez showed he could be a functional quarterback with a solid running game and a good defense supporting him. The Broncos have a similar situation now, so they look like a very good landing spot for the QB.
Sanchez is now tentatively in line to be the Broncos’ No. 1 quarterback, but acquiring him should not keep the team from looking to add to their depth chart this offseason. Free agency, a trade or the draft are all options that should still be on the table, perhaps in some combination of more than one scenario, and Sanchez should absolutely face competition for the starting job from someone other than Trevor Siemian.