Russell Okung Signing a Continuation of Denver Broncos' Puzzling Offseason

Throughout his time with the Denver Broncos, John Elway has been a winner. He was a winner as a quarterback, bringing home a pair of Super Bowl rings. He added a third last year as the team's executive vice president of football operations and general manager.

I want to believe Elway knows what he's doing. I really do. But after losing quarterback Brock Osweiler, defensive end Malik Jackson and linebacker Danny Trevathan, Elway and the Broncos have made perhaps their most puzzling move of free agency so far.

And suddenly, I'm not so sure.

As Troy Renck of the Denver Post reported, the Broncos agreed to terms Thursday on a five-year contract with free-agent offensive tackle Russell Okung, who spent the first six seasons of his NFL career with the Seattle Seahawks:

That the Broncos wanted to bolster the offensive line isn't a surprise. The unit struggled mightily at times last year, and incumbent left tackle Ryan Clady missed all of the 2015 season after tearing his ACL. It's the second time in three seasons Clady missed 14 or more games.

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However, as Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle tweeted, the size of Okung's contract is another matter altogether:

Now, before Denver fans pass out over the notion of Elway paying more than $10 million a season for a tackle who hasn't cracked the top 25 at his position at Pro Football Focus since 2012, it's caveat time.

Per Mike Garafolo of Fox Sports, Okung's bonanza (made a bit juicier by the fact Okung represents himself) isn't actually a five-year deal. It's essentially a one-year contract with a team option the following four seasons.

A fat team option:

In light of that news, the signing looks better than it might at first glance. But that doesn't mean it looks good.

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In fact, it looks like most of Denver's offseason has to date: puzzling.

Yes, Okung was once the sixth overall pick in the NFL draft. He has a trip to Honolulu on his resume. He's also played in 16 games in a season all of never in six years. Last year was the first time since that Pro Bowl year in 2012 that Okung ranked inside the top 40 tackles at PFF.

Given that, the odds of Okung ever seeing these huge option years are somewhere between slim and none. This smells an awful lot like a one-and-done situation.

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For his part, Okung doesn't see it that way, according to Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times: "It's a bit intricate, but I thought it was the best deal for me moving forward. Denver is the place I want to be for the long haul."

Sure, Elway may have felt pressured to pursue a plan B with the team unable to agree with Clady on a pay cut. The 29-year-old is set to make over $9 million in 2016. As Wilson relayed, the belief now is that Clady will be dangled as trade bait:

Other teams might be willing to gamble that Clady can recapture past form. Or they could look at a player with a bad foot, bum knee and fat salary and decide to just wait until the Broncos release him, as they all but surely will unless they can find a dance partner fairly soon.

It isn't just this one day of O-line roundabout that has some shaking their heads.

From the moment Peyton Manning hung up his cleats a couple weeks back, Elway appears to have been scrambling as much as he ever did as a player. And it's fair to wonder if the rush is starting to get to him.

Osweiler, Jackson and Trevathan, key players for last year's championship team, are gone—ostensibly because the Broncos were either unwilling or unable to pay them what other teams would.

Little has been done to replace Jackson or Trevathan, who were significant pieces of the NFL's best defense in 2015. The Broncos found a replacement for Manning and Osweiler, though.

Mark freaking Sanchez.

The Broncos did match the front-loaded offer sheet running back C.J. Anderson signed with the Miami Dolphins, but that whole scenario could have been avoided (and several million dollars saved) had the team tendered the restricted free agent at a higher level.

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And now the Okung move. It's a lateral one at best. If Clady's healthy, it might not even be that, as he ranked third among tackles per PFF during that same 2012 season in which Okung was 10th.

Before you start clamoring about Clady's durability (or lack thereof), bear in mind that Okung's next full season will be his first, and he (by his own admission, no less) won't be ready to hit the practice field until at least June after offseason shoulder surgery:

Now, there are those who will say, given Elway's success to date as an executive, that he deserves the benefit of the doubt. That he has a plan. That he wasn't going to overpay Osweiler or Jackson. That the team will sign Robert Griffin III or trade for Colin Kaepernick. That Okung will be a better option at a lower price than Clady.

Or that worst case, he surveyed the Broncos' cap situation, considered the megacontract with linebacker Von Miller that looms over the club and decided that for the Broncos to move forward, it might require a step back.

Maybe the Broncos really can ride a defense that, while it lost a couple of pieces, still has one of the NFL's best pass-rushers in Miller and the league's best secondary. It worked OK last year. Maybe Sanchez can play about as well as Osweiler (who was hardly a world-beater) or the ghost of Peyton Manning last year.

It isn't as though The Sanchize won't have help. Defections aside, the wide receiver duo of Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders is as good as any in football.

The NFL's top franchises, teams like the Green Bay Packers, Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots, have been consistent contenders in part because they have a system and stick to it. Maybe that's what Elway's doing.

The problem is, it's rather hard to see exactly what Elway is doing. Right now the Broncos look like a prizefighter who was caught off-guard by an uppercut. Like they're trying to get their legs back before they get knocked out cold. Stumbling. Flailing. Grasping at the other guy, waiting for the bell to ring.

For a defending Super Bowl champion, that's a confusing look indeed.

Gary Davenport is an NFL analyst at Bleacher Report and a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association and the Pro Football Writers of America. You can follow Gary on Twitter @IDPSharks.