ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The starting job is out of the question. Bo Nix claimed that.
Zach Wilson, though, will now get a great chance to unseat Jarrett Stidham for the Broncos’ No. 2 quarterback position.
For diehard Broncos Country followers, this is news.
Stidham had been the No. 1 or 2 quarterback all through the Broncos’ offseason, training camp and two-thirds of the preseason. Only when head coach Sean Payton announced this week the first-round rookie Nix would be his season-opening starter at Seattle on Sept. 8 did Stidham officially fall to No. 2.
Wilson had been the No. 3 quarterback since the third day of training camp, Friday, July 26.
But for the Broncos’ final preseason game Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals, Payton said Stidham would start – but only get 8 to 10 snaps. Wilson will get the rest of the game. (Nix and the first-string offense won't play.)
For Stidham, this was a similar arrangement in preseason game 1 at Indianapolis. Stidham started that game but only played 11 snaps before giving way to Nix for the final series with the first-team offense.
Why so much playing time for Wilson on Sunday?
"The first thing is it will give (Wilson) an opportunity -- I know it will -- with the second group,'' Payton said. "So often it's hard to evaluate that (QB) position if the other elements aren't working. Just watching him follow up the (good) week he had in practice and take it to the game and run the huddle. And just seeing him play."
Put another way, it’s hard to look good as a quarterback when you’re playing with a bunch of third stringers. And now it's time -- before there's no more time -- to see if Wilson can be the Broncos' No. 2 quarterback.
The extended Wilson audition would also raise the possibility that he is being showcased for a possible trade interest. That may be difficult, though, as the Broncos had to give up little -- a sixth-round pick while getting a seventh rounder back from the Jets -- to acquire Wilson back in April. The Jets also had to pay half of Wilson's $5.5 million guaranteed salary.
It’s crazy to think Stidham was pretty much the Broncos’ No. 1 quarterback for almost all of 2024 to this point – including the final week of the 2023 season when he started ahead of the benched Russell Wilson – and may wind up No. 3 -- on a roster that may only carry two quarterbacks.
This was always a possibility. When the Broncos acquired Wilson from the New York Jets on April 22, they absorbed $2.73 million in guaranteed salary of his contract. Stidham is scheduled to draw $6 million this year but only $1 million is guaranteed.
That $1 million would be completely offset if he winds up with another team so if economics become a factor, it's much easier to cut Stidham than it is Wilson.
Then again, it should be pointed out Stidham has consistently outplayed Wilson to this point. Payton offered hints Friday he and general manager George Paton may decide to keep three quarterbacks.
“We’ve got a pretty good idea the direction we’re going,'' Payton said. "I think we’ve got a real good handle on that (quarterback) room specifically. We’re not announcing anything, but I like—I’ve said this, I’ll say it again, I like the room. I feel like we’ve gotten better and this will be a good test, good opportunity for Zach getting work with the second wave. He’ll get a lot of snaps.”
Payton said 14 of 32 teams carried three QBs on their season-opening roster last year. The league instituted a rule last season where if a team carries three QBs on its 53-man roster, the third QB can dress as an emergency and not count against the 48-man game-day roster.
Carrying a third quarterback, though, comes at the expense of a backup special teams player who is certain to play on Sundays. That's where the tough call comes in. Wilson will get a great chance to play his way into the No. 2 spot and if he does, carrying only two QBs figures to come in for discussion.
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