INDIANAPOLIS — Opposite ends of the quarterback spectrum lie the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks.

The former continues to patch bullet holes with band-aids, swapping 31-year-old Case Keenum for 34-year-old Joe Flacco. They're no closer to replacing Peyton Manning as the team's franchise quarterback than in 2012, when they made Brock Osweiler a second-round draft pick.

The latter is set for the foreseeable future with Russell Wilson, an undisputed top-ten signal-caller despite a limited supporting cast and barely-there offensive line. He's getting better as he ages, setting new career highs last season with 35 touchdown passes and a 110.9 passer rating.

The former drafted Paxton Lynch in 2016 hoping he could succeed Manning, setting up Denver for the next decade. Lynch flamed out in spectacular fashion, however, thrice losing jobs to seventh-round competition (Trevor Siemian, Chad Kelly) and making just four nondescript starts. He accumulated such vitriol from the fan base that general manager John Elway admitted negative press contributed to Lynch's release last September.

"That was a miss," Elway told 9News' Mike Klis at the NFL Scouting Combine on Wednesday. "There was a miss there and I think without making excuses there was some circumstances that happened where when you have a young quarterback – you’ve got to be in the same system. You’ve got to be able to have him develop within a system. I’m not sure we were fair to Paxton. He was in three systems in three years.

The latter scooped Lynch off the trash heap, signing the big-armed, long-framed Memphis product to a reserve/futures contract. No pressure and nothing to lose; if Lynch busts, they can cut him loose with no financial penalty. But, as head coach Pete Carroll intimated to Zack Kelberman of the Broncos on 247Sports at the Combine Thursday, his upside makes him a worthy flier.

“Have you seen him?” Carroll asked rhetorically. “He’s really tall and he can throw the ball a ton and runs around well. He was a No. 1 pick for obvious reasons. At this point, it’s about potential. But he’s got some great aspects to his background. He’s got some NFL experience; it wasn’t all great, but it was still experience and that’ll help him. We’re excited to add him to the competition to see what he brings.”

It must be nice to bring on a higher-profile quarterback and feel absolutely zero pressure to squeeze blood from that rock. It must be nice to hit on a franchise cornerstone, as Seattle did and Kansas City did — and Elway hasn't.

"We missed on that one but it’s difficult," he said, referring to Lynch. "We’re going to continue to work hard at it to try and find that guy and we’ll evaluate him. There again, it comes down to where you draft him and what’s available, too, so there’s a lot of things that go into it and we’re always looking for that … that Patrick Mahomes now."