John Elway On Case Keenum: “Probably Short-Term Fix,” Looking For Long-Term QB Solution

Broncos executive VP John Elway tells Peter King that Case Keenum is “probably a short-term fix” and they plan to look for a long-term option.

“[W]e’ve got to — Case [Keenum] is probably a short-term fix — find the long-term guy for us,” Elway said. “When we do find that guy, we’ve got to have the continuity on the offensive side to where we can train him and develop him and get him there. This is our fourth offense in probably three or four years. Quarterbacks need to be developed. You don’t find one ready-made. We got to have a solid system in place for when we do go after whatever guy it may be, a young guy or a trade or whatnot.”

Elway explained that they were all on board with the decision to draft Paxton Lynch, but changes to their offense didn’t help his odds of being successful.

“It’s very difficult to do it year in and year out unless you find a franchise quarterback,” Elway said. “And, you know, we drafted Paxton Lynch in the first round [in 2016] and [head coach] Gary [Kubiak] was on board with Paxton and I thought he was a good fit with what Gary did. And then Gary gets sick and can’t do it anymore. Now all of a sudden we change a whole system that we had drafted a quarterback for. And once that [public] tidal wave started against him, he is getting bashed, and it’s hard for a 23-, 24-year-old kid to beat that.”

The Broncos will clearly be a team to watch when it comes to draft a quarterback this year.

It’s possible they could consider a free agent, but it could be tough to justify spending more cap space on a veteran a year after signing Keenum.

Keenum, 30, wound up signing on with the Texans as an undrafted free agent out of Houston back in 2013. He spent two years with the Texans before he was claimed off of waivers by the Rams.

Keenum later returned to the Texans before being traded back to the Rams for a 2016 seventh-round pick. The Rams used a first-round tender on Keenum last year that paid him $3.635 million for the 2016 season.

After spending a year with the Vikings, Keenum agreed to a two-year, $36 million contract that included $25 million guaranteed with the Broncos last year.

In 2018, Keenum appeared in all 16 games for the Broncos and threw for 3,890 yards while completing 62.3 percent of his passes to go along with 18 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. He also rushed for 93 yards and two touchdowns. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 26 quarterback out of 38 qualifying players.

We’ll have more regarding Keenum and the Broncos as the news is available.