There’s no way Tom Brady would sign with the Broncos

The Broncos are 2-5 with a first-year, defensive-minded head coach. They have traded a playmaking Pro Bowl wide receiver. The team was embarrassed at home in front of their fans.

I’m not talking about the 2019 Broncos. I’m referencing the 2011 Broncos.

Head coach John Fox was in his first year with the team and they were just beat 45-10 at home to the Lions. Two weeks prior to the home beat down, the Broncos traded Pro Bowl wide receiver Brandon Lloyd.

We all know the 2011 Broncos turned their season around with Tim Tebow in what is often described as a “magical” run. The most-interesting aspect to the 2011 Broncos team is they had no idea how much their hard work would pay off. Unbeknownst to them or anybody else, they were auditioning for Peyton Manning.

They nailed the audition and Manning came to Denver.

This past Monday, ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter shook the football universe when he speculated that Tom Brady could potentially be leaving the Patriots after the 2019 season.

Since this Schefter report, Broncos Country has been discussing and debating whether they’d want Tom Brady in the orange and blue next season. It’s been a fun topic to discuss while in the midst of a terrible season. We’ve seen the team sign Manning, so it isn’t that farfetched to picture the team landing Brady should he become available (however likely or unlikely that is).

The 2019 Broncos are 2-5, have a first-year, defensive-minded coach, just traded a star wide receiver and are coming off an embarrassing home loss. This time to the Chiefs. All of this combined with the possibility of a Hall of Fame quarterback becoming available in free agency this offseason things are starting to seem familiar.

Deja vu?

There are a lot of similarities between the 2011 and 2019 Broncos teams. Unfortunately, those similarities are superficial. The two teams are far more different than they are alike.

What that means for Broncos Country is that should Brady become available in free agency, he won’t be choosing Denver. Lightning will not strike twice.

After starting 2-5, the 2011 Broncos came together as a team and finished 8-8. If the Broncos don’t finish 8-8, Manning doesn’t come to Denver. That season was a glimpse into the future.

John Elway had solid selling points to Manning. Denver’s offense offered young stud wide receivers in Demaryius Thomas and Eric Decker, the league’s best running attack, an offensive line that not only blocked for the league’s best run game but would be able to protect Manning who was coming off four neck procedures.

On the other side of the ball, the Broncos defense had superstar edge rushers Von Miller and Elvis Dumervil, linebacker D.J. Williams in the middle and Champ Bailey in the secondary. Tebow Mania garnered the attention that year, but the defense was the driving force behind the Broncos 2011 turnaround.

The sales pitch to Manning was easy: The only thing missing from us winning a Super Bowl is you. A winning culture had already been established.

Can this current Broncos roster appeal to Brady the way the 2011 roster appealed to Manning?

The answer is no.

As far offensive weapons, Courtland Sutton and Philip Lindsay would excite any quarterback. Maybe Noah Fant starts to turn the corner and Royce Freeman is solid. Brady has made much less look better. So this young core of playmakers may appeal to him.

The biggest problem is this joke of an offensive line. The current Broncos offensive line made the 30th-ranked Chiefs defense look like the 2000 Ravens.

The offensive line presented to Manning included veterans Ryan Clady and Chris Kuper. They were joined by young standouts Zane Beadles, J.D. Walton and the big man from the U, Orlando Franklin.

This current offensive line on the Broncos is nowhere near as appealing. As currently constructed, the Broncos have rookie Dalton Risner and the decent, yet unreliable, Ja’Wuan James. After that, they would have to replace 3/5ths of the offensive line because the other three starters are completely ineffective.

Heading into the offseason, the Broncos will only know who two of their starters on the offensive line will be for 2020. Brady will be approaching his mid-40s, do you think he would be willing to risk getting his head torn off??

The defensive side of the ball is very uncertain after 2020. Von Miller, Bradley Chubb and Kareem Jackson are great pieces, but after that, everything else is largely unknown. Almost every position could look different next season.

The 2011 Broncos were solid everywhere, which allowed them to use the 2012 offseason to build depth through the draft and free agency. With the exception of quarterback, there were no real question marks. Manning was able to watch film and pretty much observe the roster he would be playing with in Denver.

The 2019 Broncos are thin-to-downright-bad in multiple areas. This means the 2020 offseason will be spent trying to fill holes in areas where the team lacks talent. Forget depth; they will need starters. Brady would have no real idea what to expect from this team at the time of the signing.

There’s another huge difference between the Broncos of 2011 and the Broncos of 2019 and that is the head coach.

John Fox was a major plus for Manning while he was being recruited. Fox had success as a head coach in the NFL with the Panthers and had turned the Broncos from a 4-12 punchline to a playoff team in just one season. Players believed in him. Fox had control over the locker room.

Fox underachieved during his stint as the Broncos head coach, but he was and is light years ahead of Vic Fangio. Thus far, Fangio has not displayed a shred of evidence that he has any idea how to be a head coach in the NFL. There’s no way, with a straight face, anybody could convince Brady, a man who has been coached by Bill Belichick throughout his entire career, that Fangio is the guy to help him win a couple more rings.

Manning chose the Broncos in 2012 because the 2011 Broncos showed him they were on the brink of greatness. The Tebow-led Broncos are often described as magical. They weren’t magical; they were a good team. That team was well coached, talented, resilient, adaptable and played hard to the very end.

If somehow Tom Brady becomes available this offseason and the Broncos hope to pursue him, they will need actual magic, miracles and whatever else. Because in a logical world, there’s no way Tom Brady chooses Denver.