Think twice before saying John Elway is too loyal to his draft picks

There’s a popular saying around town that John Elway is too loyal to his draft picks.

Yes, there’s plenty of truth to it as well as many examples, most recently with Jeff Heuerman.

However, beginning last year, outside of Heuerman, Elway has flipped this script on its head. The philosophical change began last season and has continued to tear through the organization this offseason.

Most people just don’t realize how seismic the shift has been.

In moves that flew under the radar, last offseason the Broncos parted way with a first, second and third-round draft pick, all of which the team had control over for at least one more additional season.

It began by not picking up Sylvester Williams’ fifth-year option and letting him walk during free agency. It then quickly escalated just days before the start of the season when the team traded a second-round pick of just two seasons before, Ty Sambrailo, and waived former third-round pick Michael Schofield in a span of two days.

This offseason, Elway picked up just where he left off, turning up the heat on his own draft picks that used to be the most comfortable people in Denver.

Hours into the start of free agency, Elway invested $36 million — $25 million of those guaranteed — into quarterback Case Keenum. While former first-round quarterback Paxton Lynch remains on the roster, Elway already declared Keenum the starting quarterback, pushing Lynch to nothing more than a backup role.

Lynch’s book will not officially be closed until he’s no longer on the roster, but Elway’s second-biggest free agency acquisition — based on a per-year deal — spoke volumes to the team’s stance on the former first-round pick.

In a similar move this offseason, Elway all but said goodbye to 2016 seventh-round pick Riley Dixon after signing punter Marquette King. In a sport where there’s only enough room for one punter on the roster, Dixon’s time with the Broncos is a matter of when it’s over, not if.

The organization was not only okay with moving on from a young draft pick; they were willing to pay a significantly steeper price to do so.

In a not as subtle move — if the Keenum and King signings can even be called subtle — Denver parted ways with former seventh-round pick, and starting quarterback the last two seasons, Trevor Siemian, shipping him out to the Minnesota Vikings in exchange for the equivalent of a sixth-round pick. Although Siemian profiles to be an above-average backup for Keenum, it was time for the organization to move in a different direction in Elway’s eyes.

Over the years, a prime example that everyone pointed to as Elway being too loyal to his draft picks was 2014 second-round pick, Cody Latimer. After rarely finding the field on the offensive side of the ball throughout his first four seasons in the league, Latimer continued to secure a roster spot year in and year out.

But this year that won’t be the case as the organization quietly let the receiver leave this offseason, not letting him look back in free agency.

Although C.J. Anderson wasn’t an Elway draft pick, he was brought in as an undrafted rookie under Elway’s watch in 2013. On Monday, Elway cut ties with his starting running back even though the two remaining backs on the roster combined to rush for only 312 yards last year.

For years, being drafted by the Broncos was one of the best security blankets in the league for a young player. Now, however, draft picks aren’t safe as the past 12 months have proved.

As Elway changes and evolves his stance on draft picks, maybe it’s time the narrative changes too.