The Broncos know who their quarterback of the present is. They know who their quarterback of the near future will be.
Given neither of those men is Mark Sanchez, they shouldn't keep him.
Trevor Siemian hasn't exactly blown the doors off in the preseason. He struggled a bit more as Denver's starter in the third game against the Rams' defense, going 10-for-17 passing for 122 yards, a touchdown and an interception.
But overall his turnover troubles have been much less worrisome than Sanchez's. Siemian also did the two most important things to win the job for Week 1: show his expertise with the playbook and show his effectivenes with the Broncos' top playmakers. The fact that happened when Sanchez didn't play at all in the "dress rehearsal" already tipped the hand of head coach Gary Kubiak for the regular-season opener against Carolina.
When rookie first-round pick Paxton Lynch came into Saturday's game as the No. 2, it proved that he's still a big developmental work in progress. As he failed to find his passing rhythm and accuracy, the Broncos were limited to leaning much on their rushing attack.
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It's not surprising Lynch isn't yet ready and Siemian is way ahead of him. But there's no way Sanchez should linger on the roster as a veteran contingency. He has limited value, even for his experience and savvy that weren't enough to win him the job.
He's now an expensive pure backup. Only three such players — the Browns' Josh McCown, the Eagles' Chase Daniel and the Jaguars' Chad Henne — carry a bigger salary-cap cost than Sanchez's $4.5 million. If they cut him, the Broncos would get that back, along with the seventh-rounder they expended to acquire him from Philadelphia.
The money isn't insignificant, and neither is the pick in the John Elway era. Two of his seventh-rounders will go into the season as key starters — tight end Virgil Green and Siemian, who have developed an essential offensive chemistry.
If something were to happen injury-wise to Siemian early in the season, needing to rush Lynch into action still would sound better than plugging a gap with Sanchez. The Broncos in the short term want to go with the best caretakers.
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Siemian has already proved he better fits that mold. And Lynch is protected by their dominant defense and higher upside running game. They can get by with getting more conservative with Lynch. They won't with Sanchez being too aggressive and making mistakes.
With Siemian now and Lynch a little later, the Broncos are playing a smart, unique transition game with their quarterbacks. That should include transitioning away from Sanchez, too.
