John Elway made his greatest move as a general manager – one of the best transactions in Denver Broncos history – when he signed Peyton Manning as a free agent in 2012.
Elway successfully wooing Manning was no small feat, and it helped the Broncos attract other marquee free agents like DeMarcus Ware, Aqib Talib, Emmanuel Sanders and T.J. Ward as Denver reached two Super Bowls in four years, winning Super Bowl 50 in Manning’s final season.
Elway’s tenure as GM certainly wasn’t perfect, but he deserves credit for what he got right, particularly Manning. Without Elway, the Broncos probably wouldn’t land Manning, and without Manning, Denver wouldn’t have reached those two Super Bowls.
