John Elway Says That Passing Up On Josh Allen Was Biggest Regret As Broncos’ GM

Broncos’ legend John Elway has done a lot in his playing career, winning two Super Bowls, an MVP award and nine Pro Bowls while leading the NFL in passing yards in 1993. Elway was responsible for signing Peyton Manning in 2012, which saw a stretch of success for four seasons before signing DeMarcus Ware, Aqib Talib and T.J. Ward in 2014. In 2015, Elway hired Gary Kubiak to coach the Broncos, and the result was winning Super Bowl 50 over the 15-1 Carolina Panthers.

Despite his contributions, Elway has pointed out one regret during his GM tenure: passing on Bills quarterback Josh Allen. “Last year, I played golf with him, and I’m wondering, ‘How long is it going to take him to realize that I passed on him and took Bradley Chubb instead,” the Broncos GM remarked during an appearance on the podcast, Pardon My Take. “And I loved him; it just didn’t work out. He was my type. That was probably my biggest mistake of my GM days, was not taking Josh.”

Allen completed 56 percent of passes during his two seasons in Laramie, Wyoming, as a member of the Cowboys. Elway opted for NC State’s Chubb with the fifth overall pick instead – he had trouble staying healthy during his time in Denver, getting sent off to the Dolphins in 2022.

Denver has yet to find a permanent solution to the quarterback dilemma as they went through Paxton Lynch and Trevor Siemian, though recently drafted Bo Nix has the potential to get them over the hump. Zach Wilson and Jarett Stidham were acquired to provide Nix competition for the starting job in 2024.

Though no one at the time expected Allen to develop the way he did under Sean McDermott, Quinton Nelson, Minkah Fitzpatrick and Roquan Smith went a few picks after – Lamar Jackson went 32nd overall to the Ravens as well, and he won MVP last season.