John Elway signed a bridge quarterback this offseason, adding Case Keenum on a two-year deal. That won't stop the Denver Broncos from possibly using the No. 5 overall pick on a quarterback.
The general manager said on The Adam Schefter Podcast Show this week he's keeping his options open as the team ramps up its draft preparation.
"That'll be wide open," Elway said, via ESPN's Jeff Legwold. " ... I'm betting we won't know what direction we're going to go until probably the day of [the first round] or the day before."
The Broncos might not even have a shot at the presumed top four quarterbacks in the draft. With the Browns owning the No. 1 and No. 4 selections, it's possible a team could leap ahead of Elway to swipe a QB before Denver is on the clock. Elway also could be in a position where he needs to trade up one spot if his QB of choice is on the board at four and Cleveland is lining up a trade with another team -- say the Buffalo Bills.
Elway also could sit tight and end up with his choice of the top-rated non-quarterback, be it running back Saquon Barkley, pass rusher Bradley Chubb, guard Quenton Nelson, etc.
"It's going to change from time to time; we'll look at all the different scenarios," Elway said. " ... We'll have to do that when we set our board, set the quarterback position, in order, where we would have them and go through the scenarios."
We sit less than four weeks from the day Elway will need to make that decision -- April 26, in Dallas.
"We'll go through the scenarios and see where they fall," Elway said of Denver's draft options. " ... [The quarterbacks] all have their strengths and their weaknesses ... it's a good crop of young quarterbacks, and I think the chances of these guys all being pretty successful are pretty good."
Whether those QBs are all good enough for Elway to select his second first-round signal-caller in three years (Paxton Lynch, 2016) remains to be seen.