The Denver Broncos have reportedly hired former New York Giants offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan to be the team’s quarterbacks coach. The hire itself isn’t necessarily earth-shattering news.
That’s until we realize there’s a bit of connecting the dots that can help draw a specific conclusion.
Sullivan, a 17-year NFL coaching veteran, has spent 11 of those seasons as an assistant with the Giants. Most recently the team’s offensive coordinator, he served as New York’s quarterbacks coach in 2015 prior to being promoted by former head coach Ben McAdoo. He was also the Giants’ quarterbacks coach from 2010-11, a role he took over after coaching receivers for the squad from 2004-09.
What’s the correlation here? All 11 of those seasons were spent with Eli Manning at quarterback in New Jersey. In fact, Sullivan’s first season as receivers coach with the Giants was also Manning’s rookie campaign.
That in and of itself is rather interesting.
Now, let us consider for a second that Manning’s future with the Giants is completely up in the air after a disastrous 2017 campaign that culminated in him being benched in favor of Geno Smith.
For his part, Manning has absolutely no idea if he’s going to remain with the only NFL team he has ever called home (more on that here).
From a Broncos perspective, the correlation is also real here. Not only is the team in the market for a upgrade over the disastrous trio it trotted out under center last season, general manager John Elway has a history with the Mannings…namely, the signing of Eli’s older brother, Peyton, back in 2012.
The NFL is a business in which connections are made and kept. These connections can do wondrous things. They are long lasting, and create situations in which the unexpected becomes reality.
We’re not starting a rumor here. We’re simply asking one important question. Does the hiring of Mike Sullivan suggest the Broncos are ready to go after Eli Manning? It’s not too far-fetched, ladies and germs.