ENGLEWOOD, Colo — Draft week was as tough on Jarrett Stidham as it was fortunate for Greg Dulcich.
Through the first six weeks of the NFL’s 2024 league season, from March 11 through the early afternoon of April 22, Stidham was the one and only Broncos’ starting quarterback.
His teammates were ready to roll with him as their quarterback.
“I’ve seen Jarrett play well almost every chance he’s gotten the chance to do so,’’ right tackle Mike McGlinchey told 9NEWS on the eve of the Broncos beginning their offseason conditioning program on April 15. “I’m excited for him. I’m excited for the opportunity he’s going to have to compete to lead our football team. I can’t speak to what we’re going to do in the draft. I don’t know what our plans are, but if it is Stidy, myself and the rest of our team truly believes in him and we’re going to play our (butts) off for him.”
Then in a four-day span, the Broncos acquired quarterback Zach Wilson from the New York Jets on April 22 and Bo Nix with the No. 12 overall pick in the draft on April 25.
Just like that, Stidham dropped from No. 1 to perhaps the unofficial No. 3, especially when the contracts are reviewed.
Regardless of whether Nix is the starter in the Broncos’ season opener, he will be one of the two quarterbacks on the 53-man roster. The contract situations suggest Stidham will have to decidedly outplay Wilson during training camp and the preseason to become the other QB. Traditionally, the Broncos only keep two quarterbacks, not three, on their 53-man roster, at least early in the season.
Stidham is due to make $6 million this year, which is up there as backups go, with only $1 million guaranteed, which is 100% subject to offset.
Wilson is scheduled to draw $2.73 million from the Broncos, which is team-friendly for a veteran backup QB, with 100% guaranteed. The contracts say it will be more difficult to cut Wilson than Stidham.
But don’t count out Stidham, yet. Head coach Sean Payton does like him. One of the two most relaxed, satisfied days Payton has enjoyed in his 15-plus months as Broncos head coach was the day after he benched Russell Wilson last year and inserted Stidham. The other was last Thursday when the Broncos drafted Nix, who is line for a $10.36 million signing bonus.
As the incumbent starter, it would be a surprise if Stidham isn’t working with the No. 1 offense at the start of OTAs later this month.
“You don’t know exactly how it’s going to go down and how they’re going to do things but I feel very confident in Jarrett,’’ returning starting tight end Adam Trautman said in mid-March after he received his new contract from the Broncos. “And I felt that all of last year. I think he has great control of the line of scrimmage. He’s very intelligent. One of the things nobody else will see is, when I’m leaving the building as one of the last people to leave, Jarrett is always in there. He’s probably the last one to leave every day. Even when he was the back up. I was always amazed by that.
“That’s why when he was named the starter I was like all right, I’m confident because I’ve seen him. When you see him staying after, guys respect that and you want to play with that and for that. I think he’s pretty damn good. Whatever direction they go in, I do feel confident with Jarrett.”
As for the oft-injured, but still-hopeful Dulcich, the Broncos were looking to find another receiving tight end like him this offseason. You know, a tight end who can beat the linebacker down the seam. But the contracts got too rich for the veterans in free agency and they weren’t going to get Brock Bowers in the draft, not when Nix was their priority.
The middle rounds just didn’t offer another Dulcich-like talent.
Maybe Dulcich can follow the career path of Julius Thomas. The Broncos’ fourth-round draft pick in 2011, Thomas missed most of his first two seasons because of a stubborn ankle injury that wouldn’t heal correctly. He had just one catch for 5 yards through his first two seasons.
But in year three, Thomas was sensational, corralling 65 passes from Peyton Manning in 2013 for 788 yards and 12 touchdowns. Thomas was even better in the first half of 2014 as he had 9 touchdown receptions through five games and 12 scores through 9. Then came another injury in game 10 on the artificial turf in St. Louis that put a screech to his production the rest of the year.
Dulcich will get another chance. He is too talented not to. He’ll have to gradually earn Payton’s trust by showing up every day, showing up every week into the regular season, on through the season.
Quarterback U
One of the more stunning college hotbeds for quarterbacks over the years has been Eastern Illinois, a Division I-AA/FCS program that now plays in the Ohio Valley Conference. Despite its relatively humble place in college football, EIU has produced Mike Shanahan, Sean Payton, Tony Romo and Jimmy Garoppolo.
All four will return to EIU and share their stories at an athletic fundraiser dinner June 1 on the campus basketball floor of EIU’s Groniger Arena.
The event’s tickets cost $300 or an individual and $500 for couples and sold out this week in two days.
Shanahan actually did not have passing statistics at EIU. He lettered as the team’s holder as a sophomore in 1971 and was going to start as a junior in 1972 but he took a hit that ruptured his kidney in a spring game, a injury that ended his career.
Payton finished his college career in 1986 as EIU’s all-time passing leader in yards (10,655) and touchdowns (75).
Romo broke Payton’s TD pass record in 2002, finishing with 85.
Garoppolo grabbed all the passing records as he finished the 2013 season with 13,156 passing yards and 118 touchdowns.
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