Trevor Siemian Being Named Denver Broncos Starter Kills Mark Sanchez Trade Value

Though Monday had to have been a proud day for Trevor Siemian and a day filled with optimism for the Denver Broncos, one individual had to be left feeling somewhat distraught over the team’s decision to name Siemian the starter; that guy is Mark Sanchez.

After being traded for to take over the reins following Peyton Manning’s retirement, the once-promising New York Jets draft choice must have been on cloud nine with a new lease on life in the NFL. Sanchez seemed to have the obvious tallies in his favor over Siemian, with eight years in the league compared to Siemian’s two, two trips to the AFC title game, and of course there’s the fact that Sanchez was once the No. 5 overall pick in the NFL Draft while Siemian was just five picks away from going undrafted at No. 250 overall in 2015.

So yeah, to say that Trevor Siemian being named the starter over Sanchez was a big blow to the former USC QB’s ego is a huge understatement.

Though Siemian could turn out to be a terrific NFL quarterback, this whole situation seems to shine more light on just how awful Sanchez has become rather than highlighting a player with the potential to be a solid starter in Siemian.

After back-to-back seasons of 26 turnovers in 2011 and 2012 led to his competition with now baseball aficionado Tim Tebow and eventual unceremonious departure from New York, Sanchez was stuck in Philadelphia sitting behind a one-hit wonder in Nick Foles and a guy who has no business still being a starter in Sam Bradford. Then he was traded to Denver to be the assumed starter with supposedly very little competition.

Well, that very little competition in Trevor Siemian just likely earned Sanchez another former team to add to his resume. And this fact was all but confirmed with reports coming out of Denver.

Denver has contacted Dallas about a trade for Mark Sanchez. The Cowboys are not interested in a trade if it involves his current salary.

— Jane Slater (@SlaterNFL) August 29, 2016

By cutting Sanchez, the Broncos can save $3.5 million and also recoup the conditional seventh-round pick they dealt to the Eagles in exchange for his services. Clearly, they would rather maximize the value of their asset, but it probably would have been wise to wait on revealing Trevor Siemian as the starter had they truly wanted to get the best return.

Now, the Broncos go from a team with uncertainty at quarterback to one with confidence and a bright future in the second-year man Trevor Siemian and promising rookie Paxton Lynch behind him. Though it may seem as though Siemian is a placeholder at this point, he’s a much cheaper option to manage the game without a calamity of errors than Sanchez would have been. And after the veteran Sanchez sat for the entirety of the Broncos’ third preseason game, it seemed only a formality that Siemian would be announced as the starter.

From butt-fumbles to head-scratching interceptions and everything in between, this may finally be rock bottom for a guy who once had the world at his fingertips. Now that title has been passed to a former Northwestern QB in Trevor Siemian, and he has been given the torch as general manager John Elway’s pet project in Denver.

It’s easy to see why Siemian was the chosen one, with Elway and head coach Gary Kubiak having confidence in the young man’s decision-making and mental acumen for the game. Clearly, his mentality showed through in this quote to NFL.com after receiving the news.

“It’s tough to make it about me right now,” Siemian said. “We’ve got a special group and a great offense.”

So now the Broncos’ focus turns to defending their Super Bowl title with Trevor Siemian at the helm. Just how long he can hold onto the starting gig with Lynch behind him remains to be seen, but don’t think Siemian is going to go out there and flop in Week 1. He seems to have far more mental fortitude than the guy he beat out in Sanchez.

[Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images]