A stunning what-if in NFL history nearly became reality, and it involved John Elway and our home team… the Washington Redskins.
In the Netflix documentary Elway, ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter revealed that the Denver Broncos had a deal in place to trade John Elway to the Washington Redskins after Elway’s relationship with then-Broncos head coach Dan Reeves had become severely strained. According to Schefter, the situation was far enough along that a trade framework existed before Broncos owner Pat Bowlen ultimately stepped in and shut it down.
The proposed deal would have taken place prior to the 1991 season, the same year Washington went on to produce one of the most dominant Super Bowl runs in NFL history. Had the trade gone through, it could have been Elway, rather than Mark Rypien, leading that loaded Redskins roster to a championship.
Additional context surfaced in a 2016 Washington Post article, which included comments from former Redskins executive Charley Casserly. Casserly confirmed that Washington did, in fact, inquire about Elway’s availability.
“We called and asked what’s the price for John Elway, okay, that’s a fact,” Casserly said on ESPN 980’s The Sports Fix. “It would have been ’91, the Super Bowl year. And they did not say no; they said, ‘Let’s think about it.’”
According to Casserly, Denver’s response came back with a steep ask. “They came back and said, ‘Jim Lachey,’” Casserly recalled. “Jack Kent Cooke said, ‘We’re not trading Lachey.’ So there was never any serious discussion on our side.”
Casserly added that the Broncos ultimately pulled the plug themselves shortly afterward.“After they thought it over and said, ‘Lachey,’ they then came back the following day and said, ‘No, we’re not going to trade Elway.’”
In the end, the near-trade never materialized, and history took two separate but successful paths. The Redskins went on to win Super Bowl XXVI behind Mark Rypien, finishing the season 14-2 and cementing themselves as one of the greatest teams of the era. Elway remained in Denver, where he eventually won back-to-back Super Bowls later in the decade, finishing his career as one of the most accomplished quarterbacks in NFL history.
While it’s fascinating to imagine what might have happened had Elway worn burgundy and gold, the outcome suggests the rare scenario where a blockbuster trade that never happened worked out just fine for everyone involved.
