John Elway on whether CJ Anderson will be back: ‘Who knows?’

C.J. Anderson had one of the best seasons of his career with the Denver Broncos last year when he rushed for over 1,000 yards, but it may not have been enough for him to keep his roster spot heading into 2018.

In an interview with Mike Klis of 9 News on Sunday, Broncos vice president of football operations John Elway was asked if Anderson will remain with the team next season. The running back can’t feel great about the response.

“He may or may not. Who knows?” Elway said. “We’re going to continue to massage this thing and try and figure out what’s best and gives us the best opportunity to win football games.

“C.J. obviously had a great year for us last year. We’ll see where that takes us. Obviously, there’s a lot of moving parts to it when you talk about the (salary) cap and all those type things, too, so we’ll continue to work on it and see what happens.”

Anderson is set to make $4.5 million in 2018, which is a lot for a back who has never really been able to handle a feature role. While Anderson’s commitment to recruiting for the Broncos has made it seem like he wants to return, he could easily become a candidate to be cut this summer if Denver needs salary cap space. The 27-year-old’s production can probably be replaced in the draft and/or with cheaper options in free agency.