PALM BEACH, Fla. — Ten items from the Annual League Meeting on Monday:
1. Led by president/CEO Joe Ellis, the Broncos have made the NFL and Jacksonville Jaguars aware they wish to be selected for the Jaguars' annual London game. "We'll see if that becomes a possibility," Ellis said. "I've expressed interest on behalf of the team. Coach (Nathaniel) Hackett is bullish on it. (General manager) George (Paton) is bullish on it. (Quarterback) Russell Wilson is bullish on it. But it's also good for the team. It brings the team together for a period of time that I consider it a mini-training camp. Everybody that has gone over there has liked it."
2. The Broncos were scheduled to play Atlanta in London two years ago, but that game was played at the Falcons' home stadium because of the pandemic. Working against the Broncos is the acquisition of Wilson, who is a marquee player and can drive ticket sales in Jacksonville.
3. The Broncos lost to San Francisco in London 12 years ago. "We went over in 2010 and didn't have a good result and had some other things that went awry," said Ellis, referring to the Broncos being fined for video-taping the 49ers' practice at Wembley Stadium. "I would like to fix that."
4. When the Broncos are chosen to play a "home" game internationally, it will be in Mexico. "Someday, we would like to play down there, sooner rather than later," Ellis said.
5. On Feb. 1, the Broncos were named in a lawsuit filed by former Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores, accusing the NFL of engaging in racist hiring practices of Black coaching candidates. Flores called his January 2019 interview with the Broncos a "sham," and said club officials showed up late. Ellis said Monday he was "disappointed my name got dragged into it because I remember the interview quite well. I remember being there early, driving down from Boston early in the morning to be there and greeting him in the conference room."
6. Ellis: "Brian really was a compelling candidate and did a great job in his interview. … It wasn't a shill interview as far as I was concerned. I enjoyed it. I had some subsequent texts with him over that time, congratulating him on big wins. To get dragged into it, I don't know if it was Brian's idea, we'll just leave it at that. It's disappointing."
7. Ellis said he was kept in the loop by Paton about the successful pursuit of Wilson. "George did a heck of a job keeping that under wraps during the process," Ellis said. "There were only a couple of people who knew what was going on. George just went about it in a very professional manner. Very detailed, very thorough, very deliberate — that's been George's M.O. as a general manager and it's been very impressive since he arrived (in January 2021)."
8. Los Angeles Chargers coach Brandon Staley, a Broncos assistant in 2019, faced Wilson three times in '20 as the Rams' defensive coordinator. Staley on Wilson: "He's a complete quarterback. He's outstanding in the deep part of the field, very strong arm, outstanding movement, a guy that is tough to tackle in the pocket, a guy that can create off schedule, a guy that is really sharp before the snap and then a guy after the snap who can make a lot happen."
9. Hackett will have several offensive linemen working at different spots in the offseason program, but he pointed out that Quinn Meinerz is the right guard. "Quinn, the sky's the limit for him," Hackett said. "He's a guy that didn't play the whole season and I really like what he does. I think he's going to be a really good right guard for us. He's a big guy. He can run off the ball and is strong."
10. Let's settle on Meinerz at right guard and Garett Bolles at left tackle. Right tackle could be a three-person derby between Calvin Anderson, Billy Turner and Tom Compton. At center, is it Lloyd Cushenberry vs. Graham Glasgow? At left guard, are the Broncos committed to Dalton Risner (in the final year of his rookie contract) as the no-doubt starter or do they give Glasgow a shot there? It does appear the Broncos, even before the draft, have more offensive line depth options than last year.
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