The Denver Broncos allowed longtime backup Brett Rypien to walk agency and signed Jarrett Stidham during free agency. So how does Broncos head coach Sean Payton feel about the QB room right now?
Speaking to the media this week, Payton spoke glowingly of Stidham and believes he’ll be a quality contributor to the team. He went so far as to say that Stidham can be an NFL starter.
“We feel like he can become an NFL starter… quietly, that was an important signing for us,” Payton said.
Some Broncos fans are understandably not buying this evaluation by Payton. Others think he could be trying to prime the fans for benching incumbent starter Russell Wilson and replacing him with Stidham this season – with Week 10 being the target date:
Week 10 https://t.co/Lde7n0SSYc
— Steven Ruiz (@theStevenRuiz) March 27, 2023
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He’s replacing Russell Wilson by week 10. https://t.co/RG2kOt7y38
— Carson (@CarsonT27) March 27, 2023
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I just can’t wait until the day we see Russ benched for Jarrett Stidham https://t.co/AVFNSoJsyb
— Joey (@YoeyBerg) March 27, 2023
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Stidham definitely looks like a smart guy to me too https://t.co/MM2No7NqAf
— Brandon (@warsoncentz_) March 28, 2023
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— Dirtay (@mrborntowin) March 28, 2023
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It definitely pays to have a starting-caliber backup – especially when the starter has been dealing with injuries recently.
After missing no games in his first nine seasons, Wilson has now missed five games over the last two.
The hope is that Sean Payton’s coaching know-how and QB expertise will get Wilson back to being the elite quarterback that he was for so many years with the Seattle Seahawks. But if he can’t make the magic work with Wilson, he’ll need someone else.
Is Jarrett Stidham really a starting-caliber quarterback, or is Payton just blowing smoke?