Elway makes a strong statement on the future of the 2019 Broncos

DENVER — On a night when the Broncos honored legends of their past, John Elway’s focus remained on the present — and not the long-term future, as he dismissed the notion of being sellers with the trade deadline approaching on Oct. 29.

“No one from our side is on the trading block,” he said. “We’re going to try to continue to win football games.”

Elway: “No one from our side is on the trading block” pic.twitter.com/BJ23JnLqPO

— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) October 12, 2019

With just one win in their first five games and a slew of veterans with expiring contracts, the Broncos would appear to be prime candidates to trade current players for future draft assets — especially after they dealt Demaryius Thomas to the Houston Texans at the trade deadline last year when they hit midseason at 3-5.

When the subject of the trade deadline and the contracts of veteran players like Von Miller, Emmanuel Sanders and Chris Harris Jr. arose, Elway brushed it aside.

“You guys bring all those names up. I haven’t brought any of those names up,” Elway said. “We’re trying to win football games.”

Miller’s contract and the immediate salary-cap hit that would result from the acceleration of the remaining portion of his signing bonus makes trading him a problematic notion, anyway.

But the trade of Thomas last year offers a template for potential deals involving Harris and Sanders. The Broncos got a fourth-round pick from the Texans, with the two teams also exchanging seventh-round picks.

That fourth-round selection (No. 125) was then part of a package (along with the No. 182 selection) that the Broncos sent to Cincinnati in order to move up 10 slots to select Drew Lock in the second round.

The Broncos would likely ask for at least a third-round pick in exchange for Sanders or Harris — which is more than the maximum they could receive for each of them if they allowed them to walk in free agency.

But those possibilities are not on Elway’s plate right now, not after the team’s first win.

“Well, it’s nice to get over the hump and get that first win under our belt, especially when you look at the way we lost some of those. So it was nice to get that first one. But … we dug the hole,” he said.

“Hopefully we can continue the upward stream as far as trying to win football games.”

TRYING TO CHANGE THE PATTERN

The Broncos’ current run — 1-4 for the first time in 20 years and in need of a revival to avoid a third consecutive losing season — is unlike anything Elway has experienced.

During Elway’s playing career and his first years as an executive, the Broncos often found a way to steal games that would have otherwise been lost. In the last three years, the opposite has been true. Thus, a negative mindset has set in.

“I think the hardest thing about losing is you get into a situation to where [when] something bad happens in a game, you say, ‘Here we go again.’ And that is a very tough thing to break,” Elway said.

LOCK’S PRACTICE PLAN: ‘PLAY THAT BY EAR’

Lock can begin practicing next week, but Elway said he will ‘play it by ear’ and added that there is no guarantee that the Broncos use one of their two recall spots from injured reserve on the second-round rookie.

“We obviously have got a lot of guys on IR, so we’ve got to use those two the right way,” Elway said. “So we’re going to take it week by week and see how it goes. So we have not made any decisions about how we’re going to use those two slots yet.”

CALLAHAN’S INJURY ‘FRUSTRATING FOR EVERYBODY’

Ever since Bryce Callahan left the July 27 practice at what was then known as Broncos Stadium at Mile High when his foot was stepped on, the Broncos’ cornerback position has been an epicenter of instability.

Coty Sensabaugh this week became the latest new arrival brought in to try and bring stability to a position that has seen a benching (Isaac Yiadom), the move of a safety to the slot in sub packages (Kareem Jackson), a waiver claim moving into the slot role (Duke Dawson), a potential season-ending neck injury (De’Vante Bausby) and a half worth of snaps for Devontae Harris after Bausby was injured and Yiadom struggled once again in the first half at Los Angeles last week.

Everything began with Callahan’s foot injury, which he first suffered last season while playing for the Bears. He is the only player who has been ruled out for Sunday’s game against the Tennessee Titans, and his potential return date remains unknown.

“We’re hopeful, but we really don’t know,” Elway said.

“It’s been frustrating for everybody, including him. It’s just one of those things. So we’ll see how the last thing goes and see if he’ll be able to get back here or not.”