The Broncos cleaned house just hours after losing to the Colts in the playoffs, "parting ways" with head coach John Fox and telling his staff they're free to seek other employment. Some of course had already been doing just that, with offensive coordinator Adam Gase a candidate in San Francisco and defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio a favorite in Oakland.
Fox might land on his feet very quickly in Chicago, according to multiple reports. Mike Klis of the Denver Post breaks it all down here.
The departure of Fox isn't necessarily a big deal. Peyton Manning is the key figure in Denver these past few years, likely having John Elway's ear on every important decision the team has made or makes. And although the coaches are free to seek employment elsewhere, they could have landed head coaching jobs elsewhere even if Fox were retained. If the Broncos (i.e., Manning) wants Gase to be the next head coach, there's a decent chance that will still happen.
The more pertinent question, in fantasy terms, is what all this means for Manning's future. If he indicated to Elway he was leaning toward coming back or retiring, that might have influenced the moves made yesterday. With all due respect to Brock Osweiler, once Manning hangs them up the Broncos are in a rebuilding phase, and no point keeping a veteran coach like Fox around for that.
But it also might just mean that the team didn't view Fox as the coach to get the team a Super Bowl ring, and it was done with him regardless.
Maybe Manning really was limited by that quad injury, and that was why he seemed to fade down the stretch. But being a year older won't make such in-season injuries less likely to occur. Manning will be 39 in March.
The name that keeps cropping up for Denver is Gary Kubiak, an ex-player and coach with the Broncos. He's the current offensive coordinator in Baltimore and said last week he's staying put. But Denver didn't have a head-coaching vacancy at that time.
Denver has a number of free agents, including DeMaryius and Julius Thomas. Most likely the former will be retained and the latter will be allowed to look elsewhere.
In any case, until Manning confirms one way or another whether he'll return, most will be looking at the head coaching hire as an indicator of which way he's leaning. If he's coming back, that hire will be somebody who he'd reasonably be seen to improve of -- either someone who has ties to a familiar offense, or a defensive-minded guy who will allow Manning to run the offense as he generally does.
Just saw a report from "a source close to Manning" that he'll probably be back in 2015. I'm not so sure. Maybe Elway, assuming he wants him to come back, will be able to convince Manning that winning a Super Bowl and riding off into the sunset is possible. But I think Manning might realize a return is a lot more likely to go like this year -- or probably worse -- than another championship.
--Andy Richardson