Super Bowl champs having tumultuous offseason

On Monday afternoon, Denver Broncos coach Gary Kubiak spoke at the Rose Garden of the White House with President Barack Obama right behind him. That's one of the perks of being a Super Bowl champion.

Less than 24 hours later Kubiak was back here for the opening of Broncos minicamp. And the first eight questions of his press conference after practice were about the strange case of cornerback Aqib Talib, who got shot in the leg over the weekend. There were a few other Talib questions later.

Super Bowl championship afterglow? Some, for sure. But there has also been a lot of drama this offseason.

"It's been good," Kubiak said about the offseason. "We won a Super Bowl, so ... "

No question, that was wonderful. The parade looked fun, too. But a good offseason? Hmm ...

 

• Peyton Manning, their all-time great quarterback, retired.

 

• Brock Osweiler, their quarterback of the future, left for the Houston Texans, probably because of how he was treated and definitely because the Texans gave him $18 million per year. That led to some veiled shots from general manager John Elway.

 

• Defensive end Malik Jackson, arguably Denver's second-best player in the Super Bowl last season, left for Jacksonville. Linebacker Danny Trevathan left for Chicago. Guard Evan Mathis signed with Arizona. Fellow guard Louis Vasquez was released.

 

• Linebacker Von Miller, inarguably the Broncos' best player, was given the franchise tag and hasn't signed it or been at any offseason practices.

 

• Good news! The Broncos re-signed running back C.J. Anderson. Oh, but wait. The Broncos gave the low tender offer to Anderson, which was about $900,000 cheaper than the second-round tender offer they could have given him, and that cost the Broncos when Miami offered Anderson a four-year, $18 million deal. Denver matched, but instead of having Anderson at $2.6 million on the second-round tender offer, his cap number this year his $5.9 million, a rare mistake for Elway. And re-signing Anderson was one of the positive developments this offseason.

 

• The Broncos' quarterback chase took on a life of its own. They signed Mark Sanchez, then Elway reportedly met with Colin Kaepernick but a trade was never done with San Francisco. After being linked to every available quarterback through the media for weeks, the Broncos did luck out a bit when they landed Memphis quarterback Paxton Lynch in the first round of the draft. But ...

 

• On Tuesday the Broncos had Lynch with the third-team offense for the start of their mandatory minicamp, behind 2015 seventh-round pick Trevor Siemian. The Broncos have really pushed the narrative that Siemian is competing for the starting job, which might be perceived as less than a glowing review for Lynch so far.

 

• Talib got shot in the leg early Sunday morning, and it's still very unclear what happened. Now the NFL is reportedly looking into it too, and punishment could ensue.

So other than that, yeah, the offseason has been wonderful.

 

"There's always things going on, nothing is smooth about what we do, there's always things happening, but the most important thing is what we do on that field and how we get ready to play," Kubiak said. "I think we've done a good job sorting through distractions and various things that have happened with our football team."

Kubiak is always calm, and that's a reason he has been a good NFL head coach and offensive coordinator. And the message to the team seems to be, block all the noise out.

"Coach Kubiak has a great way of grabbing everybody's attention in those team meeting rooms and getting to the truth of the matter quickly whether it's something on the outside or the inside," Sanchez said after Tuesday's practice, in which he worked with the first-team offense. "Whether it's what people are talking about on the outside, whether it's what we need to focus on in meetings and in practice, whether it's just the simple message of 'Do your job' and put the blinders on, get the rabbit ears and put them away and quit listening to crap on the outside —it doesn't matter, it doesn't affect us and it shouldn't."

 

Great advice, but there are still three major lingering issues that need some resolution:

 

Von Miller's contract

 

Of the three ongoing issues, this is probably the one that has the clearest and happiest result. it seems like a good bet that Miller will sign a long-term deal. He was with the team at the White House on Monday, but of course he was missing from Tuesday's practice while a contract is worked on.

"We’ve made real progress over the last couple of days," Miller said Monday, according to the Broncos' transcripts. "I’m very optimistic about the whole thing." This standoff probably ends at some point in July with Miller having a smiling press conference after he signs an enormous deal. But it won't be cheap, negotiations started a bit on the contentious side and the way Denver's offseason has gone it might be best to not assume anything.

 

The quarterback battle

 

After having quarterbacks split reps evenly during OTAs, it was Sanchez, then Siemian and then Lynch at Tuesday's minicamp. The Broncos want everyone to know that Siemian could win the job, though that would be a hard, hard sell to a fan base coming off a Super Bowl (and let's be honest, it still seems like a major long shot).

And if we're being honest, it's not jump-up-and-down time when your first-round pick at quarterback is with the third team at the mandatory minicamp. The situation is fluid and the depth chart could be different by late July when training camp starts. It's not like there have been negative reports about how Lynch has looked at practice yet. And Lynch could start his ascent at the start of training camp or in August, but it has become a situation worth monitoring. A team with Sanchez and Siemian at quarterback probably didn't draft a quarterback in the first round with thoughts of him redshirting a season on the third team. If the depth chart we saw Tuesday sticks (and it probably won't), it would be hard to see that as a positive development.

"I'm not sure if this is permanent or what, but I am where I am," Lynch said. "The way I see it is I'm still getting reps, and I have to take advantage of every single one of those reps when I get the opportunity, and when the opportunity comes if I get bumped up then I get to get bumped up."

 

Talib's situation

 

Kubiak answered a lot of questions about Talib, but didn't offer too much information. Kubiak refused to answer if the gunshot was self-inflicted. He kept saying Talib's health is the primary concern, and the team wanted to get him back in the building and check him out. Talib should be back at the Broncos headquarters on Wednesday, Kubiak said. Kubiak didn't say when Talib might practice again.

Kubiak also avoided a question about possible league punishment. That has to be a concern for the Broncos, considering Talib has been a Pro Bowl corner each of the last three seasons. ESPN's Adam Schefter said the NFL will investigate the early-morning incident, and Talib could face legal issues as well if he had a gun.

So even if Talib is healthy and can play right away, there's still a chance he'll miss some time as the Broncos defend their title.

"Still trying to get more information on exactly everything that happened, but I'm going to continue to say, the thing I'm concerned about is his health and where he's at phsyically and where we have to go next," Kubiak said. "We'll sort through all the other stuff."

 

The Broncos offseason hasn't been a total debacle, like the 2015 San Francisco 49ers or anything. And even with these issues, an amazing defense ensures they'll have a good team again. But the offseason hasn't been a non-stop victory lap. The visit with Obama and upcoming ring ceremony are reminders of a special season, and the rest of the offseason has provided many reasons why repeating will be very tough.