One of the most important jobs in the state of Colorado is quarterback of the Denver Broncos.
Denver has had the legends of John Elway and Peyton Manning, but the franchise thought they struck gold again with Russell Wilson. Unfortunately, the experiment didn’t work out with the former Seattle Seahawks quarterback after he was benched for Jarrett Stidham.
Peter King of NBC Sports explained that he believes Stidham will be the starting quarterback for the Broncos entering the 2024 season.
“Unless Jarrett Stidham absolutely stinks in the final two weeks, I believe the Broncos will enter 2024 with Stidham as their quarterback and see what happens.”
Stidham is a five-year veteran that was drafted in the fourth-round by the New England Patriots in 2019.
For his first two seasons in New England, Stidham never started a game, but completed 50 percent of his passes while throwing two touchdowns to four interceptions.
During the 2022 season, Stidham was signed by the Las Vegas Raiders and started two games and lost both, but he put out some great film.
In those two games, Stidham complete 64 percent of his passes for 584 yards and threw four touchdowns to three interceptions. His most dominant game came against the San Francisco 49ers when he threw for 365 yards and three touchdowns.
Stidham was Praised After First Start in Denver
Broncos head coach, Sean Payton benched Wilson because he wanted a “spark” to the struggling Denver offense.
In his first start in Denver, Stidham threw 32 passes and completed 62 percent of his passes for 224 yards and a touchdown. Stidham did not turn the ball over a single time either and had a quarterback rating of 93.7.
This season, Wilson only threw for 224 yards or more just five times and the Broncos had a 2-3 during those games.
After the game, Payton praised Stidham after his first ever victory as a quarterback in the NFL.
“I thought he was good. I thought he was collected, calm. I thought he played with really good poise. He felt experienced relative to a guy who hasn’t had as many minutes maybe as some others. You certainly didn’t feel that during the course of the game. I thought he was efficient in and out of the huddle. I thought he made some good throws for us overall until I see the tape. I thought it went pretty good.”
Even former Broncos offensive lineman, Mark Schlereth, gave Stidham his approval on his radio show in Denver.
“I will guarantee you one thing, if Russ [Wilson] would have played in that game, he would have taken seven sacks. I think he took one sack in that game. I thought Stidham operationally was much better, and then pocket awareness.”
“The dude’s started what, three games versus 12 years of starting and he was better operationally? He was better pocket awareness-wise? Plus, Jerry Jeudy dropped a couple in the first quarter. You had [Adam] Trautman drop one. I think [Brandon] Johnson dropped one as well. Listen, man, [he] put the ball where it was supposed to go and avoided sacks. That in and of itself right there, just that aspect, the operational aspect; was much better under Stidham than it has been under Russ. Sorry.”
Options at QB for the Broncos in 2024
It’s not crazy to think that Stidham could be the opening day starter for the Broncos next season, because the Broncos have paid him like they love him.
In free agency of 2023, Denver’s owners opened their checkbooks and gave Stidham $10 million over two years. That’s a decent price tag for a backup quarterback.
For the 2024 season, Wilson will likely be released and the Broncos will have to own a salary cap hit of $39 million in dead money. This means it will be difficult for Denver to go out and find a high-priced quarterback in the offseason.
There’s always ways to maneuver around the salary cap, but it’s going to be a bigger challenge for the Broncos with a roster that needs a lot of improvement.
Denver could target free agent quarterback Kirk Cousins, but there’s a possibility that he can re-sign and remain with the Minnesota Vikings to close out his career. A move like this would need to give Cousins a huge signing bonus and backload his contract to prevent an even bigger cap hit to the quarterback position.
Other free agent quarterbacks in 2024 are Ryan Tannehill, Jameis Winston, Baker Mayfield, and Gardner Minshew.
The Broncos could also look to move up in the NFL draft to select a quarterback with their first-round pick.
Either way, it sounds like the Broncos will continue to find the right quarterback to get them back into the playoffs for the first time since Manning appeared in the 2016 Super Bowl.