DENVER— John Elway calls Colorado home, and he wants to keep it that way.
With only one year remaining on his contract with the Denver Broncos as the general manager and executive vice president of football operations, there has been a growing concern regarding whether Elway will remain with the team after the 2017 season. On Wednesday night, Elway tried to put those concerns to rest saying the contract talks were, “good.”
“We are continuing to work at it. I don’t see any problems with that,” he said at the Mizel Institute Annual Dinner as he received the Community Enrichment Award. “I look forward to being here with the Broncos for a long time.”
As for the timetable for this extension, Elway believes it will be soon. When asked if the deal will be done before the start of the season — Monday, September 11 — Elway simply said, “Yeah.”
“I don’t think there will be any doubt,” he added.
Elway’s contract talks aren’t new, either. The two sides began speaking about an extension last October. In February, President Joe Ellis maintained that the team wants to keep Elway for the long-haul.
Entering his seventh season with the team, Elway has brought the Broncos back to one of the NFL’s elite. In his tenure, Denver has won five AFC West titles, played in two Super Bowls and brought one Lombardi Trophy back to the Mile High City.
Elway’s importance to the Broncos organization, and Colorado, doesn’t go overlooked — even by elite players. Von Miller specifically referenced “The Duke’s” importance to the success of the team, especially moving forward.
“We have great leadership here. The Duke (Executive Vice President of Football Operations/GM John Elway), he’s not going anywhere,” Miller said during Week 1 of OTAs. “As long as he’s here, it’s going to be the same. We’ll still have a championship chance every year. He’s going to put guys in here that are going to help us win. Not only the coaching staff, but from the scouts, all the way down to the chefs that we have. We have championship quality guys all over this facility. Mr. Elway has done a great job since he’s been here to help develop this organization to where it is now. It’s always going to be like that as long as we have that leadership in place.”
At the Mizel Institute Annual Dinner, honoring Elway’s commitment to the Mile High’s community, Elway expressed why he plans on staying around.
“As a kid, I moved around quite a bit, but Colorado and Denver will always be my home,” he said. “Colorado has been so great to me and my family…This will always be my home. This is my home, and this will always be my home. Not going anywhere.”
