Traded To Broncos: Mark Sanchez Takes Butt Fumble Out West
Quarterback Mark Sanchez has been officially traded to the Broncos, carrying the legacy of his infamous “butt fumble” away from the eastern seaboard and all the way out west to Denver. Sanchez will have the opportunity to compete for the Broncos quarterback job following the trade, but the nature of his competition remains uncertain at this time.
The Denver Broncos traded to get Mark ‘Butt-Fumble’ Sanchez. I guess the ‘Play 60 Kid’ was off the market. pic.twitter.com/w9ZH01bJIC
— Auburn Jokes® (@AuburnJokes) March 11, 2016
The Broncos won the Superbowl last month, and they have been shedding talent ever since. Peyton Manning announced his retirement last week, and long-time backup Brock Osweiler left in free agency. The Broncos received nothing in trade value for either of their quarterbacks.
With a yawning void at the quarterback position, the Broncos were expected to sign or trade for a number of veterans and perennial back-ups to compete for the position. As previously reported by Inquisitr, initial rumors linked the Broncos to Robert Griffin III, Colin Kaepernick, and New York Jets quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, who was reportedly unhappy with the low ball offer he received from his team.
According to The New York Daily News, the Broncos are no longer interested in signing Fitzpatrick, since they traded a conditional seventh-round draft pick to the Eagles for Mark Sanchez.
Broncos executive vice president John Elway tweeted that the Eagles trade was just the first step in the process, indicating that the Broncos are not done looking for their quarterback of the future, but the team is probably not interested in paying out the kind of contract that Fitzpatrick was looking for.
Acquired QB Mark Sanchez for a conditional ’17 pick. He brings veteran leadership & will compete. This is the 1st step in our process.
— John Elway (@johnelway) March 11, 2016
The next step will probably be to find someone, like Kaepernick, to compete with the Bronco’s latest trade for the starting quarterback job.
In addition to the veteran leadership and will to compete that Elway tweeted about, the trade also brings Sanchez’s legacy of the “butt fumble” to the Broncos.
The “butt fumble” was a blown play back in 2012 when Sanchez was still playing for the Jets. As previously reported by Inquisitr, Denver’s newest quarterback famously attempted to scramble when he wasn’t able to hand the ball off. He then ran straight into the brick wall of his own lineman’s hindquarters, fell to the turf, and fumbled the ball. The Patriots recovered and scored a 32-yard touchdown in front of the national, Thanksgiving Day audience.
The Broncos clearly weren’t thinking about the “butt fumble” when they made the trade, but it’s a legacy that Sanchez will have a hard time trading for something better.
Local Denver outlet 9News, which first broke the news about the Broncos trade, reported that Sanchez excelled in a game manager type role in New York, guiding the Jets to consecutive AFC Championships during his first two seasons. He regressed after that, winning just six games during the “butt fumble” season of 2012.
The Jets released Sanchez following the 2013 season, which allowed the Eagles to sign him to a one-year “prove it” type contract without giving anything in trade. He received a larger 2-year contract in 2015, which the Broncos inherited in the trade that sent a conditional pick to Philadelphia.
Denver’s 9News also reports that due to losses in free agency, the Broncos are likely to receive a number of compensatory draft picks that effectively make this trade free. The Broncos expect compensatory picks for Osweiler, Malik Jackson and Danny Trevathan, all of whom walked in free agency.
Do you think it was smart of the Broncos to trade for a quarterback like Sanchez, after losing an all-time great like Peyton Manning, or could you see someone like RGIII or Kaepernick stepping in and mounting a comeback?
[Photo by Gustavo Caballero/Getty Images]
