Broncos CEO Greg Penner will name a team president, could it be Peyton?

The Denver Broncos officially welcomed the Walton-Penner ownership group on Wednesday with a press conference at team headquarters.

The biggest piece of hard news was that new owner Robson Walton named his son-in-law Greg Penner the new CEO of the Broncos. Outgoing CEO Joe Ellis stepped down on Tuesday, clearing the way for Penner to take over. Ellis will stay on as an advisor for Penner through the 2022 season.

And while each of the new owners of the Broncos made an opening statement, only Penner took questions, clearly showing he’s the man in charge. The first question was if he will name a team president. Penner said yes, but declined to elaborate on who that could be.

“Yes, I do plan to hire a president. When we’re ready to announce that, we will do that,” Penner said.

The follow up was a good one, and that was whether or not John Elway or Peyton Manning would still be involved with the Broncos. Essentially, will one of the two greatest Broncos QBs take on that job?

“We’re in a terrific position of having two great Broncos that were both out here today. It’s been fantastic to spend some time with them. John Elway is the ultimate Bronco. He won championships as a both a player and an executive. (I) have had a chance to visit with him and look forward to learning as much from him as possible,” Penner said.

He continued with some thoughts on Manning.

“Peyton is one of the greatest NFL players of all-time and obviously won a championship here. We’ve had chance to get to know him through the process as well. We’re just going to learn from both of them. I think it’s going to be a really good relationship,” Penner said.

Elway already ran the Broncos for a decade, re-joining the organization in 2011 and guiding them for a decade. He gave up those duties last year, when George Paton was named the team’s new GM. So, it’s highly unlikely he’d take on a role like that all over again.

Which leaves Manning and the big question: Could he be the next president of the Broncos?

Penner did say on Wednesday there are no plans to add another member of an already crowded ownership room. Manning is still around the Broncos a lot and has already been to practice twice during training camp. It seems he might want to be involved, still living and raising his children in Denver.

The fit is too perfect. Manning is an extremely sharp football mind who is obviously one of the greatest QBs of all-time. He’s 46-years-old and could be looking for his next challenge. Since retiring in 2016, Manning has dabbled in entertainment but hasn’t truly gotten back into football, other than some Monday Night commentary.

Penner knows he needs a great sports mind as his “right-hand man,” so to speak. Both he and his wife, Carrie, admitted sports are new for their family business. Walmart is an empire worth billions and billions of dollars, but they’re good at selling people stuff. They haven’t proved that they’re great sports owners, yet. And that’s where Manning could help immensely.

We’ll see who is the next president of the Denver Broncos, but let’s hope CEO Greg Penner makes the right call and gives the job to Peyton Manning.

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