MINNEAPOLIS—Cleaning out the Super Bowl notebook and wondering whatever happened to Rulon Jones …
It’s unclear whether the Broncos made an attempt to acquire quarterback Alex Smith in a trade from Kansas City, but they wouldn’t have got far if they did.
Chiefs owner Clark Hunt told 9NEWS Saturday he couldn’t discuss who was involved in the Smith trade because “no NFL trade is official until we get to March.’’
But in a follow-up question, Hunt was asked if it was unlikely the Chiefs would have dealt their veteran quarterback to the AFC West rival Broncos.
“I think it’s pretty typical in the NFL not to seek trades within the division,’’ Hunt said during his red-carpet appearance prior to the NFL’s Honors show. “That’s pretty standard fare particularly when we’re talking about a high-profile player.’’
Smith wound up going to Washington for a second-round draft pick and cornerback Kendall Fuller. The trade will become official March 14, the first day of the 2018 league year.
Blank talks up Bowlen, Ellis
Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank now has the type of clout with the NFL’s ownership group that Broncos owner Pat Bowlen once had. Bowlen stepped aside from his day-to-day leadership of the Broncos in 2011 because of Alzheimer’s disease. The Broncos officially announced Bowlen’s battle prior to the 2013 season.
Blank is hopeful Bowlen becomes a contributor category nominee for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
“I would say sooner the better,’’ Blank said. “Pat is a great friend and a great contributor to the National Football League. You go back and look at the 100 years of the NFL and you say these gentlemen, these families, were the foundation of the league. Pat and his family was certainly one of the foundational families. He served on every committee. Did everything the commissioner asked him to do. He was a great partner in the true sense of the word.
“I think about him often. I hope he’s OK, as well as he can be, and certainly wish his family well.’’
Blank also says the Broncos continue to be managed well with Joe Ellis assuming command as the team’s chief executive officer and president.
“I sent Joe a note after one of the meetings we had,’’ Blank said. “I’m on the finance committee, Joe made a presentation on behalf of the family and the trustees and the process that Pat wanted to go through.
“And I sent him a note later and I said I only wish in my case when we all reach that -- as the French say, the final transition -- that I have somebody like a Joe Ellis running our franchise.
“It will be my family at that point but he has done an incredible job.’’
Once again, Tyrod evades Broncos
Buffalo Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor was the first to show the 2017 Broncos weren’t all that.
The Broncos had a 2-0 record, and were coming off an impressive rout of the Dallas Cowboys when they took on the Bills on a warm late-September afternoon in Orland Park, N.Y.
Taylor completed 20 of 26 for 213 yards with 2 touchdown passes and no interceptions for a 126.0 passer rating while beating the Broncos, 26-16.
Apparently, Taylor went downhill from there because it’s been widely reported the Bills don’t want him back for the final $16 million he is owed in 2018.
If the Broncos can’t sign one of the top two free agent quarterbacks, Kirk Cousins or Case Keenum, Taylor figures to be among the second-level options.
“I’m still under contract,’’ Taylor said last Friday from Super Bowl 52 Radio Row. “Until I’m told otherwise, I’m a Buffalo Bill. I’m not worried about that until it happens if it happens. Until then my focus is to get prepared for another season in Buffalo. That’s really all I can say today.’’
If he does become available, Taylor would not hold the Von Miller “too slow” prank late in their game against the Broncos.
“Me and Von are buddies,’’ Taylor said, laughing at the memory. “We got drafted the same year (in 2011). We’ve known each other for a long time. We actually laughed about that prank when it happened.’’
Living with 5-11
Broncos center Matt Paradis swung through Radio Row last week. He was asked how long it'll take before he washes out the taste of his team’s 5-11 season.
“The best way to do that is to start winning some games,’’ Paradis said.
The Broncos don’t play their next game that counts for another seven months so it will be a while.
Rulon update
One of the Broncos’ all-time best pass rushers and the 1986 AFC Defensive Player of the Year, Rulon Jones and his wife Kathy own guided hunting ranches in Liberty, Utah and Firth, Idaho. Late last year the Jones’ moved to Mexico near Monterrey to open a third ranch.
“We’re just doing a little bit of a church mission down here as well trying to help out with our church,’’ Jones said in the book 50 Greatest Players in Denver Broncos History. “We’ll be down here full time a couple years and then we’ll be going back and forth.’’
