AFC Notes: Broncos, Chiefs, Raiders

Broncos

• KUSA’s Mike Klis reports the Broncos were also in trade to talk with the Lions for QB Matthew Stafford, yet the package was not as good as what the Rams sent to Detroit. 
• Klis adds that the Lions were interested in the Broncos’ young core of players, including QB Drew Lock, but new GM George Paton was not willing to pull the trigger on the deal.
• NBC Sports’ Peter King notes stiff competition from the Panthers, Broncos, Colts and 49ers drove the price up for the Rams in their trade with the Lions for Stafford. 

Chiefs

• NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport reports Chiefs’ LB Willie Gay will have a four-month recovery from a torn meniscus and should be ready to return for the 2021 season.
• Chiefs CB L’Jarius Sneed has cleared the concussion protocol and will play in the Super Bowl. (Matt Verderame)

Raiders

Raiders GM Mike Mayock offered a post-mortem on the Raiders 2020 season, which started out promising with a 6-3 start. There were wins against strong teams like the Chiefs, Saints and Browns. But Las Vegas went 2-5 down the stretch to finish 8-8 as a strong offense couldn’t overcome the anchor of a lousy defense. 

“I thought it was a disappointing and frustrating end,” Mayock said via the Athletic’s Tashan Reed. “We were 6-3 and playing real good football on offense and getting by on defense, and then we did poorly down the stretch. I think, from our perspective, we felt like we were a top-10 offense, which we were in scoring offense. I’m very happy with the way that went. I thought we played pretty well. Some guys emerged. Defensively, I think we felt like had we been a middle-of-the-pack defense we would’ve been a playoff team. And we were not a middle-of-the-pack defense. So, we’ve got some work to do there.”

Mayock said improving on all three levels of the defense will be one of their main priorities this offseason. 

“We’ve got to rush the quarterback better; we’ve got to play better at the linebacker position and our young defensive backs have got to be more cohesive and play better,” Mayock said. “You can make excuses, which I don’t want to do. We’ve got a really young defensive backfield…. We just never got it going on the back end. Some of those guys were drafted high and they need to play better.”