Report: QB Zach Wilson 'Likely to Move On' from Broncos

Wilson is a pending free agent.
Jan 5, 2025; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Broncos quarterback Zach Wilson (4) before the game against the Kansas City Chiefs at Empower Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
Jan 5, 2025; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Broncos quarterback Zach Wilson (4) before the game against the Kansas City Chiefs at Empower Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images / Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
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For the first time in what seems like eons, the Denver Broncos enter an offseason without questions pertaining to its starting quarterback. That title belongs to Bo Nix, who acquitted himself well as a potential long-term franchise cornerstone.

But there is one question to be discussed at the position: Jarrett Stidham or Zach Wilson? Both are pending unrestricted free agents, and both are unlikely to return to back up Nix in 2025.

Roughly five weeks from the annual NFL signing period, the latter is the presumptive odd man out of Denver's QB room.

"Wilson, who was the third stringer and wasn’t active for any games, seems more likely to move on since he is just 25 and another team might consider him an intriguing player they can continue to develop," The Denver Gazette's Chris Tomasson wrote in January.

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Acquired from the Jets in a late-round pick-swap last April, Wilson competed with — and lost to — Nix for the Broncos' starting job during the 2024 preseason. He also competed with — and lost to — Stidham for the No. 2 gig. He made the final roster as the emergency third signal-caller, never taking a regular-season snap.

Wilson, the second overall pick of the 2021 Draft, was merely a wallflower in head coach Sean Payton's offense, and a sounding board for Nix. A company man. A good soldier. Which proved valuable in its own right.

"Zach has been a great addition. Great personality," Broncos offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi said in December. "Those guys get along so well. ... I just think there’s a camaraderie with those guys. They get along, they’re unselfish, they root for each other. You spend so much time here. It helps to like each other. It can be miserable when you don’t get along and you have to spend that kind of time together. It’s a great group.”

Barring something unforeseen, Wilson will shop his wares on a piddling free-agent market that includes several other former high-round flameouts: Sam Darnold, Trey Lance, Marcus Mariota, and Justin Fields. His projected annual value is only $3.3 million, per Spotrac.

In that event, it's "reasonable" to expect the Broncos to re-sign Stidham assuming he "can’t get a deal with a team that gives him a shot to compete to start," Tomasson wrote.

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Zack Kelberman
ZACK KELBERMAN

Zack Kelberman is the Senior Editor for Mile High Huddle. He has covered the NFL for more than a decade and the Denver Broncos since 2016. He's also the co-host of the wildly popular Broncos show the Mile High Huddle Podcast.