Landry: Broncos are ‘rebuilding’ if club can’t land veteran QB

Among the go-to mottos for John Elway in his role as general manager for the Denver Broncos is he doesn’t want the team to just “win” now but to win “from now on.”

Bringing in a veteran quarterback, like soon-to-be free agent Tony Romo, would likely help cover the “win” part of that.

But should the Broncos fall short in its efforts to land a veteran quarterback, Chris Landry of LandryFootball.com said it’d be difficult to put that “win” alongside the “from now on.”

Joining 104.3 The Fan’s Sandy Clough on Wednesday, Landry said he believe the plan in Denver is to be competitive this year, which is signaled by the possible acquisition of Romo.

But if they don’t land the veteran quarterback, or anyone of his ilk, the Broncos will be “rebuilding” for the future next season, Landry said.

“Quite frankly, if they don’t get a quarterback like that, then let’s just call it like it is. They won’t say it in Dove Valley, but they’re rebuilding because they’re not going to be a contender with the quarterbacks they have,” Landry said.

The quarterbacks Denver does have are third-year pro Trevor Siemian, who started 14 games for the Broncos last season, and 2016 first-round draft pick Paxton Lynch.

Head coach Vance Joseph said the plan going forward was to have Siemian and Lynch compete for the starting role this season, but that would change if the club signs Romo.

Combined last season, Lynch and Siemian managed just 3,685 yards passing, good enough for 20th in the NFL, 20 touchdowns, 9 wins — good enough to just miss the playoffs in a competitive AFC West.

“You’re not going to compete in that division right now where teams have got better quarterbacks,” Landry said, “and it’s not like they’ve got a Cowboys offensive line and Ezekiel Elliott, where they’re going to be able to do everything and mitigate the quarterback play of a young quarterback.”

Landry said bringing in Romo wouldn’t be a cure-all for the Broncos, but bringing him in “in concert” with upgrading the personnel on the offensive line is what Denver can do to make it back to playoff form.

Follow digital content producer Johnny Hart on Twitter: @JohnnyHart7.