Clough: Reasonable for Broncos GM Elway to let 49ers hire Peters

In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle’s Eric Branch on Thursday, Denver Broncos general manager John Elway revealed that for the 49ers, and only the 49ers, he would let former director of college scouting Adam Peters walk.

Adams will serve as an important and experienced advisor for former Broncos safety and new 49ers general manager John Lynch in San Francisco, who is friends with Elway.

When asked if he would have let Peters out of his contract had other teams sought his services, Elway said, “Probably not.”

“…  He’s very good at what he does, and I hate losing him. But I also know that it’s a great opportunity for him as far as the responsibilities that he was going to gain in San Francisco. But also I know that he’s going to be able to go and help John,” Elway told Branch in a phone interview.

“If it was anyone else, I probably wouldn’t have. But I know it’s a great opportunity for Adam, and he’ll be a tremendous help to John.”

But Elway letting Lynch hire one of his top assistants isn’t the case of a buddy doing his friend a solid but rather a “perfectly understandable move,” Sports Radio 104.3 The Fan’s Sandy Clough on Friday.

“Being director of player personnel is a better position than director of college scouting. It’s a promotion,” Clough said. “And also, if you want to deal with the 49ers on some level, in the future, why deny a man of Peters’ talents a chance for advancement?

“I think it’s all good.”

The 37-year-old Peters had been with the Broncos organization for eight years in various roles, including assistant director of college scouting from 2014-’15, three years as a national scout, and two seasons as a western region scout.

Peters helped the Broncos acquire 27 players through the draft and college free agency that were members of the Super Bowl 50 championship roster.

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