Schefter: Elway has ‘grown’ into GM role, a top exec in all sports
Jul 24, 2017, 8:07 PM
After months of speculation and conjecture, one of the Denver Broncos biggest offseason stories came to a conclusion with the team and general manager John Elway agreeing to a five-year contract extension through 2021.
The terms of the deal aren’t clear yet, but ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter, who first reported the story, said it’s likely that Elway will become the highest-paid executive in the NFL.
“I will bet, not knowing the details, that when it’s all said and done, it will make him the highest-paid GM in football. I think that that’s a safe bet in this particular case,” Schefter told “Stokley & Zach” on Monday.
“There are no details, but I think the highest-paid GM makes about $4 million a year. When this deal is done, it’ll make him, I’m sure, the highest-paid executive in football.”
And to Elway’s credit, Schefter said of the raise.
“He’s truly grown into that role. He’s become one of the foremost executives, not only in the league but in sports,” Schefter said. “He’s made the type of transition that Jerry West once did back in the NBA. And he has brought that franchise back to prominence.”
As an executive, Elway’s helped rebuild a Broncos squad that hadn’t finished more than a game above .500 since 2005, went 8-8 in 2009 and 4-12 in 2010, and had seen the hiring and firing of two coaches.
Since taking over in January 2011, Elway’s teams missed the playoffs just once, last season, won five consecutive AFC West division titles, went to two Super Bowls and brought home one world championship.
Last week, before the deal came down, Denver 7 Broncos Insider Troy Renck told “Stokley & Zach” that Elway means so much to the orange and blue faithful that it’s almost hard to assign value to his role as not only GM but face of the franchise.
“He deserves to be the highest-paid GM. I think you can make that argument. But in Denver, John Elway has a presence and ability and he has a profile he would have nowhere else in the league,” Renck said.
“He is the Broncos to so many people. So, how do you assign value to that? Do you give him more money because of who he is? Do you give him a little more responsibility and tweak a title?”
In any case, Elway and the organization came through on pledges that a deal would be done before the start of training camp, which kicks off on Thursday.
“I don’t think that they had that much room left to work out, that many issues to go over and finalize, but they were able to get those done today,” Schefter said. “… They were able to lock him up in Denver for a long time.
“And I think, now with John taken care of, they can move on to the football side of things and the business side of football.”
Follow digital content producer Johnny Hart on Twitter: @JohnnyHart7.
