Sean Payton Airs Thoughts on NFL's New Third QB Rule
Amid January's NFC Championship Game, the San Francisco 49ers — already down starter Trey Lance — suffered injuries to Brock Purdy and Josh Johnson, their only active quarterbacks, temporarily forcing running back Christian McCaffery under center. The Niners went on to lose a blowout, 31-7.
With that nightmarish outcome quickly came change. Earlier this month, the league approved a new rule which allows teams to dress an emergency quarterback without that player counting against the 46-man gameday roster limit.
The amendment has been a talking point to nearly every NFL figurehead, including Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton, who explained his ambivalence on the matter.
“The rule changes—I know it with the quarterbacks. If you carry three [quarterbacks] on your 53 [man roster], you get a [third on] game day. Let's say what happened to San Francisco was a once in every seven-year occurrence. Each team will then have to decide if they want to continue to have two and get an additional player other than a quarterback on their 53. Everyone has three in the building—a lot of times on the practice squad. I think team-by-team, it will vary.”
However Payton feels, the rule change could be advantageous to the Broncos, who currently have four QBs under contract: Russell Wilson, Jarrett Stidham, Jarrett Guarantano, and Ben DiNucci.
Guarantano and DiNucci are expected to compete for third-string duties — and, now, potentially a spot on Sundays.
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