Sean Payton reveals one must for the Broncos offseason

The Denver Broncos’ long search for a franchise quarterback is over with Bo Nix successfully taking the reigns in his rookie season but Sean Payton shared that the team is still looking to add at the position this offseason.

Journeyman Jarrett Stidham and former top pick Zach Wilson were behind Nix last fall. The trio got along great off the field and Payton said they worked well together around the facility. Neither threw a pass in the regular season for the Broncos but both flashed in the preseason. Stidham started a few games for the Broncos back in 2023 while Wilson got 33 starts with the New York Jets including some in 2023, so both gunslingers are NFL capable.

Lucky for the Broncos, Bo stayed healthy enough to play every game. That’s somewhat unusual in the 17-game era of the NFL with the amount of injuries the league has seen at the position. And now both Stidham and Wilson are free agents this spring. So the Broncos know they will have to do something because they can’t roll into the season with a nobody behind their sophomore quarterback, no matter how tough he is.

“It’s a unique room, both Zach and Jared are free agents, one of the musts—if a player is on our board, even though he was with us if he’s a free agent,” Payton said from the NFL Scouting Combine. “So that that’s a must. We have to secure who the backup is. There is probably a few moving parts there, but I was really pleased with the room. And then the uniqueness off the field, those guys get along well. And really work well together.”

So it sounds like the Broncos are interested in bringing back at least one of the backups if not both, and it seems more than likely that Payton prefers somebody with experience in the role rather than a rookie. Both Stidham and Wilson each made less than $10 million last season and with more cap space open and the possibility of a discount, it’s plausible Nix stays comfortable with one of his buddies remaining in the room.