Denver Broncos officially smash report claiming Peyton Manning trade attempt

And you thought late June was going to bring another slow NFL news day. Think again, Denver Broncos fans.

A wild and crazy report came out Tuesday evening regarding the Broncos’ starting quarterback and all-time great Peyton Manning. According to Benjamin Allbright, who created Complete QBR and covers the NFL for various outlets, Denver attempted a trade with the Houston Texans earlier in the offseason.

#Broncos attempted to trade Peyton Manning this off-season to the Houston #Texans per more than one source in position to know. (1/2)

— Benjamin Allbright (@AllbrightNFL) June 23, 2015

But, why would the Broncos trade Manning? According to Allbright, they were ready for the Brock Osweiler era to begin.

2/2 Certain elements of Broncos organization wanted Osweiler era to begin this season. — Benjamin Allbright (@AllbrightNFL) June 23, 2015

Way too many questions for me to respond to, still have no on-record official comment from either team (late in day, understandable).

— Benjamin Allbright (@AllbrightNFL) June 23, 2015

Then, Patrick Smyth, head PR man for the Broncos, gave an official comment:

Here’s one for the record – The speculation is false, and your report is inaccurate. https://t.co/Epge4WkOrX — Patrick Smyth (@psmyth12) June 24, 2015

The Broncos PR guru doesn’t speak out publicly very often so when he does, you can bet that he is taking this claim very seriously, and for good reason. This is the type of modern internet journalism that can get a franchise in serious trouble if the story isn’t thoroughly backed-up.

Our own Brandon Spano had this to say about the claim:

I consider my Broncos sources as good as any in the market and I never once heard of a Manning trade this offseason. Thats my statement.

— Brandon Spano Show (@BrandonSpano) June 24, 2015

It is certainly looking like more fiction than fact at this point.