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Now that Peyton Manning has retired and Brock Osweiler has signed a four-year $72 million contract with the Texans, Broncos general manager John Elway faces the prospects of finding a new starting quarterback. It's a search that will obviously be of great interest to fantasy football owners.

It’s apparently a search that Elway has been prepared to take on.

While Osweiler's decision may have sent shockwaves through the NFL, it did not come as a surprise at Broncos headquarters. As of last week, NFL Network's Jeff Darlington reported Wednesday, Elway had already reached the conclusion that Osweiler did not want to be in Denver.

So who will be included in Elway's search?

According to NFL.com's Chris Wesseling, the list includes San Francisco's Colin Kaepernick, Robert Griffin III, Buccaneers backup Mike Glennon, Ryan Fitzpatrick, the Rams' Case Keenum and Matt Moore.

Multiple observers had already identified Kaepernick as a fallback option if Osweiler left. The Broncos nearly drafted Kaepernick in 2011, per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, and Elway is close with 49ers general manager Trent Baalke.

Kaepernick's representatives have requested permission to seek a trade out of San Francisco.

Now that he has been released by the Redskins, Griffin is "on the radar" in Denver, per Rapoport. It's hard to imagine RGIII receiving glowing reviews from former Washington coach Mike Shanahan, who has strong ties to Elway as well as Broncos coach Gary Kubiak.

Glennon might be available via trade, although Rapoport suggests the price will be high.

Fitzpatrick, who was expected to re-sign with the Jets but hasn't yet, is the most experienced and valuable quarterback on the market. Would the Broncos considering signing the semi-reliable Fitzpatrick and importing a high-risk/high-upside gamble such as Kaepernick or Griffin?

A restricted free agent, Keenum was tendered at the first-round level by St. Louis. Even if he's a Kubiak favorite from their time together in Houston, Wesseling suggests that's a prohibitive price to pay for a career backup with size and arm strength limitations.

Moore was once viewed as a high-end backup bordering on low-end starter, but he has thrown just 30 passes in the past four seasons. It's telling that the Dolphins opted to move on from the 31-year-old as their No. 2 quarterback this year.

Meanwhile, there's reason to believe both Mark Sanchez and Brian Hoyer will be available at some point soon -- whether via trade or upon release.

Bottom line? Elway's comments in the immediate wake of Osweiler's departure speak volumes.

"We've stayed true to our philosophy of building a team with players who want to be Denver Broncos and want to be here. That's been a successful approach for us," he said.

Not much reading between the lines necessary there.

And Elway clearly wasn't ready to overpay. Houston might have done just that.

Remember, despite having just seven career starts, the Texans reportedly gave Osweiler more guaranteed money than all but eight quarterbacks. Osweiler will receive more initially guaranteed money than a slew of quarterbacks, including New England's Tom Brady.

Remember as well, the Broncos won Super Bowl 50 despite having the second-lowest team passing efficiency rating -- a combined 74.3 rating for the regular season and postseason, 13.5 points lower than the league average of 87.8. Only the then-St. Louis Rams had a worse collective quarterback rating.

Stay tuned. We'll be watching for the team's next moves in the coming days.