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ESPN Insider Forecasts Sean Payton’s Plan for Broncos' Starting QB
The Denver Broncos have a critical question to answer before the 2024 season is underway.
With the Russell Wilson Era officially over with the Denver Broncos, all eyes shift to second-year HC Sean Payton, tasked with discovering the team’s next starting quarterback.
In his first season, Payton compiled an (8-9) record and was (5-4) in games played at home as the Broncos logged their seventh consecutive losing season and finished third in the AFC West.
Wilson’s sanctimonious drumming out of Denver leaves the QB room with just two players, Jarrett Stidham and Ben DiNucci. Nonetheless, Payton trusts his plan to find the Broncos’ next franchise signal caller, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN, who appeared on the Pat McAfee Show this week.
"Sean Payton legitimately believes that he is going to find a quarterback or develop a quarterback, whether Jarrett Stidham is the guy, or they draft a quarterback high,” Schefter said on Tuesday.
“He likes Jarett Stidham, he likes him, and he’ll be an option.”
Stidham, who was a 2019 fourth-round pick by the New England Patriots, spent the 2022 season with the Las Vegas Raiders before Payton signed him to a two-year $10 million deal last March. In the wake of Wilson’s benching, the 27-year-old started the final two games (1-1) while Stidham threw for 496 yards, two TDs, and one INT.
Not only is Stidham the incumbent QB currently listed as the No.1 on the roster, but recent reports support Schefter’s intel suggesting that Payton intends to allow the fifth-year veteran to compete for the starting job.
Then again, the Broncos also have the No.12 overall pick, with the rumor mill swirling that a first-round QB is on Denver’s draft-day wish list.
The Broncos are still reeling in the wake of Wilson’s contractual ramifications. Denver became responsible for the $37.8 million guaranteed portion of Wilson’s 2024 salary upon his release in addition to absorbing an NFL-record $85 million in dead cap money.
"But when you do a contract like that that doesn't work out, you're going to have to take your medicine at some point in time,” Schefter explained. “So, they're saying, you know what, we're going to take it now and we're going to get through this.”
Speaking of contracts, Schefter was also quick to point out that Payton was inked to a five-year deal worth upward of $100 million last year after the Broncos dealt for him with the New Orleans Saints. When the ink from that contract dried the message was clear: Sean Payton is in charge, and the buck stopped with him.
“They hired him because they know what he’s capable of doing. If it doesn’t work and they want to fire him, that’s their choice, then fire him. But they’re going to give him ample time to figure out the solution. He didn’t trade for Russell Wilson; he didn’t give Russell Wilson that contract. But he is responsible for digging the team out of that situation and ensuring it’s good going forward.”
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