Darnold, of course, was picked No. 3 overall in the 2018 draft by the New York Jets. He flamed out there, then started a journey that featured stops and starts, more downs than ups and, eventually, a fast rise at Minnesota, a $100 million deal in Seattle and, in his first year starting for the Seahawks, a world championship.

Darnold is one of several quarterbacks in the NFL who has had to take the long route to being a coveted starter. Baker Mayfield went through the same thing. Jared Goff nearly won a Super Bowl in Los Angeles only to be dumped by the Rams to Detroit. Daniel Jones was putting together a great year last year — his first in seven seasons — before an injury cut his Indianapolis debut short.

Overall, though, winning a Super Bowl in the past decade-plus in the NFL has been the province of surefire Hall of Famers. Before the Seahawks, nine of the previous 11 Super Bowls had been won by Patrick Mahomes, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Matthew Stafford. The other two belong to the Eagles: The Nick Foles miracle run in 2017 and Jalen Hurts in 2024.

Of course, any team would take a future Hall of Famer at quarterback, but one interesting element here: For as much as the prevailing wisdom is that quarterbacks on a cheap, rookie contract are the key to building a championship-caliber team, the only quarterbacks since 2013 to win a Super Bowl while actually playing on their rookie deal are Russell Wilson (2013 for Seattle) and Mahomes in 2019.

Mahomes’ and Brady’s dominance have a lot to do with that stat, but perhaps it����ap telling nonetheless.

While they haven’t won many titles, rookie-contract quarterbacks still have appeared in the Super Bowl frequently. Wilson made it back in 2014. Since 2018, the losing Super Bowl quarterback has been on his rookie deal six of eight years, with Mahomes holding the two exceptions in 2020 and 2024. Otherwise, the list goes Goff (2018), Jimmy Garoppolo (2019), Joe Burrow (2021), Hurts (2022), Brock Purdy (2023) and Drake Maye last year.

Of the 26 quarterbacks to start a Super Bowl in the past 13 years, 12 have accounted for 5.2% of his team’s cap that year or less. That includes the past two winners in Darnold and Hurts.

Could a quarterback on a rookie deal break through this year and win a Super Bowl? The 2024 draft class, which becomes extension-eligible after this season, looks like a decent bet. After all, Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, Maye and Denver’s Bo Nix have already won division titles in their first two seasons. Maye’s played in a Super Bowl, while Daniels and Nix have come within a game.

The list of quarterbacks good enough to take up double-digit percentage of a team’s salary cap has been short over the past decade-plus. Mahomes winning two in Kansas City while taking up 17% of the Chiefs’ cap space stands as a substantial outlier.

Of course, teams are adept at suppressing the cap hit for a player long after he signs an extension, but the bill comes due at some point. So, the most efficient way is to strike while the iron is hot and the signal-caller is cheap.

QBs in the Super Bowl since 2013

* Cap data via OvertheCap

The 2024 QB class through two years

“I don’t like the storyline with Jarrett Stidham,” he told me as we shivered on the second-floor deck at Jackson’s LODO early Saturday night.

Then he corrected himself.

“I hate the storyline,” Grant continued, adjusting his bright blue Bruschi replica Patriots jersey.

“Why?” I wondered.

“Because we drafted him. And he gave us two years and then he left. And now he’s, like, the guy who’s coming in. I just don’t like the storyline.”

New England rolls an MVP-caliber quarterback into Denver — only to get beaten by a Broncos backup? Justin’s seen the movie before. He always ends up crying at the end.

The last time Grant, who calls Colorado Springs home but grew up in Maine, saw his beloved Pats at Empower Field was November 2015. When Osweiler rallied the Broncos past Tom Brady in the snow.

Talk about your classic PTSD — Pats Traumatic Stress Disorder.

“I’m 0-and-1, man,” Grant laughed on the eve of the AFC Championship between the Broncos and Patriots. “We don’t have a good record here.”

Sure don’t. The Pats are tied with the Steelers for the most Super Bowl victories (six) since the AFL-NFL merger of 1970. But they’ve never won a postseason game in Denver (0-4). Brady went 0-3. Empower Field was the one mountain too high for even the GOAT to climb.

“Honestly, man, after losing two Super Bowls to Eli Manning and one to Nick Foles,” Grant’s friend Jordan Buck, a Pats fan from Lakewood, told me, “I’m not overlooking anybody. But you’ve got to be confident in your squad, so I like my team’s chances.”

Love them, though?

Not after Osweiler. Or Foles. Or Eli twice.

“Yeah, (Stidham) hasn’t played in a long time,” Buck shrugged. “But I mean, he played for us for three years, so he knows us well.”

What did Broncos fans and Pats fans have in common Saturday? Stidham, who’ll make his first postseason start against New England in place of injured Broncos QB Bo Nix, was on the lips of both teams’ fans the hours before the biggest football game at Empower Field in a decade.

New Englanders packed into Jackson’s LODO for a pep rally just within shouting distance of Coors Field. Most of the shouts were distinctly of the NC-17 variety.

“I LOVE DRAKE MAYE!” a Patriots fan cried.

“(EXPLETIVE) THE BRONCOS!” Another screamed.

The “Night Before” rally was a brainchild of the Pikes Peak Pats fan club. PPP typically hosts a night-before primer on the eve of an AFC title game in Denver, but it’s been a while. January 2016 brought roughly 700 Front Range Pats fans together. PPP president Anne Stone told me they were expecting at least 1,000 this time around — if not more. With the sun setting and temps falling at 5:15 p.m., a line of at least 100 patrons was seen snaking out from the front door of Jackson’s and around the block.

Near the DJ stage on the second floor, the Patriots’ “All-Access”  television show did a live shoot for the locals back in Beantown. Pat Patriot danced in one corner. A giant ice sculpture of the New England logo rested in another. Former New England kicker Adam Vinatieri, the Patriots’ honorary captain for Sunday, showed up for his “All-Access” cameo as faithful waved tiny cardboard heads of New England rookie tackle Will Campbell.

“We all we got?” Vinatieri asked.

“We all we need!” they cried.

“We all we got?” Vinatieri repeated.

“We all we need!”

“That’s what I’m talking about!” Vinatieri said.

It’s OK to roll your eyes. But not at the cause. PPP ran a raffle during the rally on Saturday, with a plethora of signed Pats items, in order to raise money for the

As a Boston native, Stone’s accent is thicker than chowdah, bless her, with a laugh that lilts like a fly ball onto Lansdowne Street. She moved to the Front Range 30 years ago when her husband got a new gig — and never left.

The Pikes Peak Pats Club started in 2006. Stone became president a year after that. PPP counts about 90 active members now. Before the pandemic, it was closer to 400. Things are more transient now, with East Coast military transplants looking for a good watch pah-ty coming and going as Uncle Sam ships them in and out of the Springs.

“It’s good,” Stone said. “You get to meet new people all the time.”

Pats owner Robert Kraft has even visited PPP tailgates and parties over the years, although he wasn’t on the guest list for Saturday’s rally.

And if Stone’s got any PTSD, deep down, she sure as heck wasn’t showing it.

“To tell you the truth, in all honesty, I think a lot of people, all of my Pats friends, everyone’s hearts are broken for poor Bo Nix,” Stone said. “Some of us are old enough that he could be our son. Here was a 25-year-old who spent the night crying. It’s just awful.”

A pause.

And cue the “but” …

“That being said, I don’t think we’re a shoo-in,” Stone continued. “I do think we’re going to win. That’s my gut reaction. You know what they say: ‘Any given Sunday.’ It’s true. And we don’t have good luck (in Denver).”

Oh and four.

As in, uh-oh and four.

“That worry you?” I asked Grant.

“Yes, it does,” he replied. “It worries me a lot.”

He just wishes Stidham would stop giving him that old Osweiler vibe.

“So hopefully,” Grant said nervously, “history doesn’t repeat itself.”

Stiddy as you Bo, man. Stiddy as you Bo.

Josh Bulla has known Stidham since elementary school in Stephensville, Texas, when a young Bulla first noticed the kid who was a foot taller than everyone else. From that point, Bulla said, Stidham always knew he was headed for some greater destiny. Milestones came and went: he played college football at Baylor and Auburn, where he was a two-year starter , and got drafted by the Patriots in the fourth round in 2019. The final goal — become an NFL starting quarterback — came again on the night of Jan. 18, 2026.

Just not like this, Stidham told Bulla.

He’d gotten his chances before. Two starts in 2022, when the Raiders benched Derek Carr. Two starts in 2023, when the Broncos benched Russell Wilson. Those were exciting. But Bo Nix breaking his ankle Saturday night, as Stidham told Bulla, was “gutting.”

“The first thing that came to mind,” Stidham said, as Bulla recalled, “was, ‘No.'”

“Like, this is Bo’s show.”

Over the past two years, Bo and Izzy Nix have become “like family” to Stidham and his wife, Kennedy, Bulla said. Nix’s second-year run ended shockingly after a divisional-round win over the Bills, and the emotions Stidham felt extend much deeper than his mentorship in Denver. In Stidham’s two years starting at Auburn, from 2017-18, .

It began as simple program ambassadorship, then-Auburn OC Chip Lindsay remembered. Stidham would talk to Nix and host him on visits. Eventually, though, Stidham started asking Lindsay how Nix did in his high school games. He knew that Nix was his successor, former Auburn wideout Ryan Davis recalled.

“Jarrett was basically, like, giving him the keys,” Davis said.

Seven years later, Nix is giving them back. — Nix’s first public statement since breaking his ankle — the Broncos’ starting QB offered a hat-tip, saying he “couldn’t be more confident in Jarrett.” Denver’s season now lies in the hands of Stidham, a career backup who has started four career games in six NFL seasons and hasn’t thrown a regular-season pass in two years.

Across this week’s preparation for the Patriots in Sunday’s AFC championship, Denver’s locker room has heaped praise on Stidham to anyone with a microphone. They have no other choice.

“He’s going to rip it,” head coach Sean Payton said Wednesday. “And that will be our approach.”

In Year 2 in Denver, Nix and Payton found synergy as the second-year quarterback praised Payton for letting him be his “authentic self.” These Broncos formed an identity around Nix, a fiery 25-year-old whose white-hot competitiveness fueled a season of second-half comebacks. They are now rallying around Stidham, a cool 29-year-old whose serenity masks his own fire.

Stidham has kept the same routine for three years in Denver, left tackle Garett Bolles said. He eats the same food. He drinks the same water. He hits the steam room at the same time. He listens to the same music, on a Turtlebox waterproof speaker that he affectionately refers to as “Mr. Turtle.”

Nothing has changed in this week of madness. Stidham is who he is because he knows who he is. That is comfort, as these Broncos head into a war.

“He got some swag,” Bolles said Thursday. “He got some swag to him. So, that fuels us all.”

…
In 2023, 6-foot-4 safety JL Skinner arrived in Denver as a raw sixth-round pick out of Boise State. He took plenty of flak from Stidham, who’d just signed as a free agent and who had no more experience in Denver than Skinner.

Stidham wanted Skinner to be better. And he let him know about it. The QB chirped at him in practice.

“JL, what are you doing? What are you doing?”

“I’m like, ‘Man, (expletive) this guy,'” Skinner said Thursday.

“And then in my head,I’m like, (expletive), he’s actually throwing that ball right over my head, too. I gotta do something about it.”

He was born with that. The now 6-foot-3 Stidham played offensive line in Pee Wee football in Weatherford, Texas, because he was tall. Future high school coach Joe Gillespie introduced him to former SMU quarterback Kelan Luker for some training in middle school. The first time Luker worked with Stidham, he walked out to a field, saw him throw a few balls, and noticed the kid never missed.

Stidham had never played quarterback before. To this day, Luker maintains he never really taught him anything over the course of a few years.

“I think what really happened – he was so talented, he could just watch what I did,” Luker said, “and he could imitate.”

In Denver, QB3-turned-QB2 Sam Ehlinger notes that Stidham’s ball “spins really pretty.” The RPMs came naturally. So did unassuming athleticism, a trait that most every teammate or coach notes about Stidham.  Underneath six years of backup life in the NFL is years of life as a five-star gem, the No. 1-ranked dual-threat quarterback in the class of 2015 (above Kyler Murray, Sam Bradford and Joe Burrow).

“He’s just one of those West Texas boys who grew up spinnin’ it,” said Jordan Palmer, a former NFL quarterback who’s long worked with Stidham and .

After two years at Auburn, Stidham arrived in New England in 2019. It was Tom Brady’s last year; the Patriots were treating Stidham as “the next guy,” as Davis said, a former Auburn receiver who spent six months in New England’s training camp in 2019. Stidham picked Brady’s brain, and Brady once left three of his custom hoodies as a gift in Stidham’s locker. But the Patriots brought in former MVP Cam Newton two weeks before training camp the next year in 2020, and drafted Mac Jones in the first round in 2021, and shipped Stidham to Las Vegas in 2022 without ever starting him in a game.

Old habits die hard, Bulla recalled. Stidham grew up as the guy. He never stopped believing he could be. After signing in Denver, he got a taste of it late in 2023, when the Broncos benched Wilson. He lost the starting job to rookie Nix in 2024. Bulla asked Stidham how he was feeling heading into training camp this past summer, wedged squarely behind a young franchise face.

“He’s like, ‘It����ap the NFL,'” Bulla said . “‘Everyone’s talented. Crazy things can happen. And I still have to act the way I always have, and that I want to be the starter.'”

…
In December 2017, Carson Wentz tore his ACL, and the 11-2 Philadelphia Eagles had to recalibrate around backup quarterback Nick Foles. Offensive coordinator Frank Reich set about watching the “Foles highlight reel,” as he dubbed it — cut-ups of every single Foles completion from five previous NFL seasons. He sat with Foles and had the quarterback walk him through some preferred concepts: a few post routes here, a deep ball there.

Outside the Xs and Os, though, Reich and the rest of the Eagles’ staff didn’t do much to try to control messaging to the team. They let Foles roam free as a personality. And Foles — whose confidence earned him a provocative — became legend across a Super Bowl run in the weeks to follow.

“If you’re trying to cover up what you perceive as some weakness, some leadership weakness of the backup quarterback, then you’re in trouble,” Reich said.

Reich, a former quarterback himself who once stepped in as a backup to Jim Kelly for multiple Buffalo Bills playoff runs in the 1990s, has taken an interest in Stidham’s particular situation in Denver. He’s watched clips of his interviews. He’s detected moxie.

“It seems like the kid’s a winner,” Reich said. “Like, he’s a winner. And everybody knows it.”

Emotion crested and fell in Denver in the span of a single hour after the Broncos’ 33-30 overtime win over Buffalo. Sean Payton went to a podium in street clothes, told reporters Nix was out for the season with a fractured ankle, and the Broncos’ locker room came away as stunned as the rest of the world. Offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi found out from his son, driving home from the stadium. Receiver Courtland Sutton literally didn’t believe it was true.

Utter chaos has swirled around Stidham in the days since. The Copelands were deep in the woods of West Texas on a hunting trip, cracking open a few Coors Originals and playing cards, when they got the news he was starting. Friends have let Stidham know they’ll make it to Denver in any way possible for Sunday’s game. An entire fanbase has turned its social-media avatars to pictures of Stidham in a strange form of solidarity. This shot is “everything he’s ever dreamed for,” Bulla said.

Stidham has yet to flinch, in public or private.

“Is he getting sleep this week? I don’t know,” said Brian Hoyer, a longtime NFL backup who was with Stidham in New England in 2020 and 2021. “I talked to him (Tuesday). And either it hasn’t hit him yet and he doesn’t have any words, or he hid it really well.”

There is a “calmness” about Stidham, Payton said on Wednesday. There always has been. The most worked-up Bulla has ever seen Stidham — in a circumstance not involving family or football — was when Bulla pranked Stidham in high school by hotwiring his beat-up 1995 Chevy Silverado and hiding it in a different parking lot. On-field mistakes have always brought the same reaction, Palmer described: Aw, shucks, and move on.

These days, Stidham carries that “Mr. Turtle” speaker into the team shower on the daily, blasting an assortment of Kate Bush and Fleetwood Mac and country tunes. He has a rookie football card of cornerback Riley Moss pinned to the front of his locker, for some reason. He wore a full-body lion costume to the Broncos’ Halloween party in October.

“Every time I see him,” practice-squad receiver Elijah Moore said, “he’s playing music. I guess he’s just got the vibes on him. I love that.”

Stidham did not always present this way. Take it from Washington head coach Jedd Fisch, who coached New England’s quarterbacks in 2020.

“Really?” Fisch said, told the tale of Mr. Turtle. “He wasn’t like that. Yeah, I don’t remember. Maybe it����ap because we were in the middle of COVID … I would not have guessed that one.”

The years have brought Stidham’s self-awareness outward, as he’s moved into a comfortable stage of life. Stidham and wife, Kennedy, welcomed their third child in October. When he and Bulla catch up these days, they spend roughly two minutes talking football and the rest figuring out “what the hell” to do in fatherhood, as Bulla put it.

“I see a direct correlation,” Palmer said. “When people have their personal lives figured out and then get put into the spotlight on a big stage, I see that go better for the guys that have their lives figured out …. I would say Jarrett’s about as stable as it gets, for a guy his age.

“There’s no reason to change,” Palmer continued. “There’s no reason to do it different. So I’m sure that Jarrett is going into this weekend with a lot of confidence that – he is enough.”

…
Sean Payton, Skinner said, does not keep “bums” on his roster. Backups. Practice squad. Doesn’t matter.

Stidham was one of Payton’s first signings upon arriving in Denver in 2023, even as the Broncos already had Wilson. The organization made it a priority to bring Stidham back this past free agency, on a two-year deal worth $12 million. The money signals trust around the league. Moore — a 25-year-old receiver who’s now been on four NFL teams — said he’s heard of Stidham’s reputation in the past, before signing with the Broncos a month ago.

“Stiddy got signed back-to-back-to-back for a long time now,” Skinner said at his locker Thursday. “And nobody knows why, from the outside. But we know why, from the inside. Because that mother(expletive) can throw that goddamn rock.”

Payton believes Stidham’s inside the 32 best quarterbacks in the NFL. So does Patriots defensive play-caller Zak Kuhr, that Stidham “could be a starter for a number of teams.” Stidham’s arm talent and sneaky mobility aren’t in question: quietly, he ran for a combined 84 yards in two starts for the Raiders in 2022.

Sean Payton called Jarrett Stidham a "real good foot athlete" today. Of note: Stidham ran for a combined 84 yards in the first two starts of his career with Las Vegas in '22.

Here's a first-down scramble against a top defense in the 49ers in '22. Plus a ball-flick celebration.

— Luca Evans (@bylucaevans)

The major issue, heading into Sunday’s conference championship, is whether Stidham has enough between the ears to handle the “kitchen sink” that the Patriots’ defense throws at opposing quarterbacks, as Hoyer described. Under Kuhr, a swarming New England attack stumped Los Angeles’s Justin Herbert in the wild-card round and picked off Houston’s C.J. Stroud four times in the divisional round.

“They’re going to bring a lot of (expletive), and that����ap where he has to rely on Sean Payton, and the preparation, and I’m sure there’s gonna be a lot of checks and – ‘When you see this look, you gotta get into this play or change the protection,’” Hoyer said.

The counter-move is that New England has no shred of Broncos tape on hand to prepare for Stidham. So, how does Denver design a gameplan around him in the span of a week?

Payton has made clear he sees Nix and Stidham as two different styles of quarterbacks. Others disagree. Stidham spent much of 2020 with Fisch studying tape of Jared Goff, and San Francisco’s Jimmy Garoppolo, and quarterbacks in West Coast systems with plenty of under-center looks. This Denver offense has shifted more in that direction across the second half of 2025, and Palmer and Hoyer don’t see Payton’s established system needing to change much from Nix to Stidham.

“When they can run the ball and throw the play-action game, he can reach anywhere on the field with the ball,” former Auburn OC Lindsey said. “And try to create some explosives off play-action – that would be the first thing that would come to my mind.”

On one hand, Stidham’s in a position where three weeks and a Super Bowl ring would forever change his life, Bulla said. On the other hand, friends and confidants don’t see Stidham stretching himself much for Sunday. Quarterbacks who finally receive their shot, as Palmer said, generally fall into one of two mental buckets. Some hope it’ll go well. Some think it should go well.

Stidham feels, Palmer said, that he should play well.

“When we win that game,” Skinner said, “what they gon’ say now? What they’ gon say now, you know what I mean. They gon’ say — ‘Stiddy this. Stiddy that.’

“Stiddy gon’ get a brand-new contract off this, bro,” he continued. “That����ap how I’m looking at it, man. We riding out with Stiddy.”

“That would be troubling onto itself, for Russell to essentially be in one camp and have his own facility, so to speak,” the longtime quarterback guru told me phone Monday. “I put that more on (Broncos) management for allowing that to happen.

“And you saw where Sean (Payton) basically said, ‘We’ll have none of that.’ The chain of command has been re-established. And I’d expect Russell will adhere to that and you’ll see a much better Russell Wilson because of it.”

As Payton’s first set of OTAs get underway this week at Dove Valley, the sportsbooks already like Wilson as a to win the 2023 NFL Comeback Player of the Year. But for him to reach the summit, the Broncos have to rack up some wins, too.

And Wilson’s ability to get ����apountry back onside after a DisasteRuss 2022 probably comes down to three things:

1. Be one of the guys; 2. Let the run game do the heavy lifting; 3.

I nabbed three quarterback coaches, , to pick their brains on what they’d like to see from Russ in 2023: Clarkson, whose clientele include Ben Roethlisberger, Matt Cassel and Jake Locker; Steve Calhoun, a former sensei to Nick Foles and EJ Manuel; and Steve Fairchild, the former CSU coach and local passing expert who worked with a young Payton at San Diego State and would go on to tutor the likes of Kurt Warner, Josh Allen and Philip Rivers.

Sure enough, we’re all singing from the same hymnal:

1. No more ‘One rule for Russ, another for everybody else’

Hello, Davis Webb, the Broncos’ new QB coach.

“As supposedly the face of the franchise, you have to basically take part in all of the (team) activities,” Clarkson said. “No private offices. You buy in completely. You’ve got a new sheriff and he obviously know what it����ap like to work with a legendary, Hall-of-Fame QB (in Drew Brees).

“You’ve got a second lease on life (in Denver). If I’m him, I’m looking to obviously reinvent myself and put myself in the situation of whatever’s best for team success.

“He’s certainly capable of that from a talent perspective in what he needs to do. He’s very similar to and more athletic than Drew Brees and his arm is a lot stronger as well. There’s certainly things he can take advantage of from an ability standpoint … the question is, is he going against the grain, swimming against the current a little bit? I felt that he was swimming against the current (last year) and therefore never got any traction. I would say for him to do a (180-degree turn this fall), swim with the current and he’ll be in a much better position to succeed.”

2. Establish the run and throw off that

Per Pro-Football-Reference, Big Russ was far more accurate throwing coming out of a huddle (61.1% completion percentage) than without one (53.7%) last season and more effective under center (91.8 passer rating) than working out of the shotgun (82.5).

“I think he was in too-many ‘must-throw’ situations in the pocket and not enough break-contain,” Fairchild said. “Let the run game forge the path in the first place and then play off of that.

“With play-action, you’ve got to have the run game, you’ve got to block up front, you’ve got to have good backs. But when he was in Seattle, with a very good defense and Marshawn Lynch (at tailback), he was very effective and they used him the way he’s supposed to be used. (Payton) will do that. And I don’t think in today’s NFL, that anybody’s all that far off (from success).”

3. Lighten up a little

Losing at Seattle Week 1 — and the roasting he got at his old stadium — seemed to put the weight of the world on Wilson’s shoulder pads. It would be weeks before that cloud appeared to dissipate.

“I think it was just a little bit of a fluke year,” Calhoun observed. “You don’t play at that highest level and then completely fall off a cliff with the kind of season he had (in 2022). I think with Sean Payton cooking, he’s going to right the ship.”

“I would just tell him, ‘Go back and look at your film when you were playing at the highest level in Seattle. And I think that person is still inside of you and he’s still capable of doing those things.’ And the last thing I would tell him is, ‘Enjoy the game. Enjoy playing the game like a little kid … go back to find those things that made you fall in love with the game.’”

“He didn’t look like himself (last season). He looked like he was kind of pressing, trying to make things happen versus letting the game come to him, (like) I’d see him do so many times up in Seattle. But Coach Payton is going to put him better position to (rebound) and be himself and take that pressure off that it looked like he was feeling last year.”

Lordy, you hope. Because if Big Russ can’t get over himself, it won’t be long before the Broncos find a way to get over him.

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1. Can the Broncos go from losing record (7-10) to Super Bowl champion? It has happened four times in the last 23 years after only once from 1947-98, according to research by frequent contributor Dan Daly. The full list: 1981 San Francisco (6-10 in ’80), the 1999 Rams (4-12 in ’98), 2001 New England (5-11 in ’00), 2017 Philadelphia (7-9 in ’16) and 2020 Tampa Bay (7-9 in ’19).

2. The common theme among those clubs? Quarterback, of course. Joe Montana started seven games in ’80 and all 16 in ’81. … Kurt Warner replaced an injured Trent Green in the Rams’ preseason and won NFL MVP. … Tom Brady replaced an injured Drew Bledsoe and kept the job with the Patriots. … Carson Wentz was playing at an MVP level for the Eagles (11-2 record) in his second season, but was injured and Nick Foles found football lightning in a bottle. … And Brady was in his first year with the Buccaneers. The Broncos have turned to Russell Wilson at quarterback.

3. In their history, the Broncos have gone from losing season to the playoffs four times — 1983 (2-7 to 9-7, lost in wild card round), 1991 (5-11 to 12-4, lost in AFC title game), 2000 (6-10 to 11-5, lost in wild card round) and 2011 (4-12 to 8-8, lost in divisional round),

4. Former receiver Emmanuel Sanders’ retirement allowed for a look back at the Broncos’ decision to trade Demaryius Thomas to Houston on Oct. 30, 2018, and flip Sanders to San Francisco on Oct. 22, 2019. Thomas was flipped along with a 2019 seventh-round pick for fourth- and seventh-round selections. Sanders and a 2020 fifth-round pick went to the 49ers for third- and fourth-round selections.

5. The Broncos used the Texans’ pick at No. 125 in a package with Cincinnati to move up 10 spots in the second round to draft quarterback Drew Lock and traded No. 237 to Carolina to move up to take receiver Juwann Winfree. A year later, with the two 49ers picks, the Broncos selected McTelvin Agim at No. 95 and traded No. 137 to Jacksonville for cornerback A.J. Bouye. Talk about a wash.

6. General manager George Paton’s two drafts total 19 picks. From 2021, six remain with the team (all on the 53-man roster) and three are starters (cornerback Pat Surtain II, running back Javonte Williams and right guard Quinn Meinerz). From this year, eight of the nine picks are on the active roster and one (cornerback Faion Hicks) is on the practice squad. None are expected to start at Seattle.

7. A win Monday night would be the Broncos’ 200th regular season road win; they are 199-271-3 on the road, including 13-14 at Seattle. The Broncos opened as a 6 1/2-point road favorite, which would be their biggest road favorite spread since November 2014 at St. Louis (minus-8 and lost 22-7). If the line holds, it will be the Seahawks’ biggest home underdog status since October 2018 (plus 7 1/2, lost 33-31), which was the only time in Wilson’s home career he was an underdog of at least 5 1/2 points.

8. Entering Week 1, the Broncos were tied with Philadelphia and Kansas City for the most opening-week wins over the last 10 years (8-2 record). The Broncos have a point differential of plus-58. Seattle is tied for seventh with six wins. The Broncos’ eight Week 1 wins since 2013: Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Indianapolis, Baltimore, Carolina, the Los Angeles Chargers and Seattle at home from ’13-18 and at the New York Giants last year.

9. New assistant coaches produce new stories. Outside linebackers coach Bert Watts’ brother, Tom, played collegiately at Calif.-Davis with Broncos coach Nathaniel Hackett and defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero. “I was at Cal at the time and we would always go visit them in Davis,” Bert said. “As we got into coaching, you start developing that relationship as you go through the process and you’re scrambling to make a dime and get a job.”

10. Of receiving the call from Evero this winter to return to the NFL for the first time in 10 years, Watts said: “I didn’t except anything from him or Nathaniel. I know how this business goes and you can’t hire everybody you want. When it eventually happened, the whole family got excited immediately.

11. Tight ends coach Jake Moreland’s stops include two at Air Force (2012-14 and ’16) and his first NFL job was last year with the New York Jets (assistant offensive line). “It����ap an unbelievable opportunity,” he said. “It����ap something I’ve dreamed about for a long time. I was in college coaching for 18 years and to be at the highest level and learn from everybody’s experiences is unbelievable.”

12. Three years ago, Marcus Dixon was the defensive ends coach at Hampton (Va.) University. Last year, he won a Super Bowl ring as the Rams’ assistant defensive line coach and now he’s running his own room with the Broncos. “Every day, I pinch myself; it����ap a dream come true,” he said.

13. Inside linebackers coach Peter Hansen joined the Broncos after two years as the defensive coordinator at UNLV. His first NFL stop was 2011-13 with San Francisco (quality control) on the same staff as Evero. Hansen played college basketball at Arizona for Lute Olson. Asked if any of Olson’s approach translates to football, Hansen said: “The thing I fall back on the most is when we won, he was the hardest on us and we won a lot so he was pretty hard on us. And when we lost, he was like, ‘OK, we just have a few corrections and we’ll be fine.’ He didn’t pile on when you lost because everybody felt bad. I fall back on that every single year.”

“It’s kind of like, ‘You never know what you had until it’s gone.'” Nathaniel Hackett told The Denver Post.  “And for us, that’s why we’re so excited to have somebody here like (Russell Wilson).”

The last time the Broncos brought a Super Bowl champion quarterback to town, Peyton Manning produced two Super Bowl trips and one championship. The Colt-turned-Bronco became the first-ever starting quarterback to win the big game for two different teams when the Broncos beat the Panthers in Super Bowl 50, a feat that was later matched by Tom Brady (Patriots/Buccaneers).

But for every successful second act, there are many more examples of Super Bowl champion quarterbacks who came up short or busted altogether after leaving the team they won the title with.

As Hackett and the Broncos look to feed off a Hall of Fame talent in Wilson — whom his coach called “reenergized” following 10 seasons in Seattle — here’s a look at how other Super Bowl champion quarterbacks did in their next stop(s).

Joe Namath: Broadway Joe led the Jets to an upset over the Colts in Super Bowl III and spent his first 12 years in New York. At 34, he finished his career playing one season with the Los Angeles Rams in 1977, going 2-2 over his first four starts before being knocked out of a game and never winning his job back.

Johnny Unitas: After 17 years in Baltimore, three MVPs and a win over the Cowboys in Super Bowl V, Unitas finished his career in 1973 at age 40 with the Chargers. He was 1-3 in four starts after getting traded to San Diego and was replaced by rookie and future Hall of Famer Dan Fouts in Week 5.

Ken Stabler: The Snake led the Raiders to a Super Bowl XI win over the Vikings and played three more seasons in Oakland. But he finished with two years in Houston and three in New Orleans, going 16-12 with the Texans and 11-11 with the Saints. He was a backup to Richard Todd in his final year in 1984.

Joe Montana: He led San Francisco to a 4-0 record in Super Bowls, but finished his career with Kansas City in 1993 and ’94. An elbow injury and the emergence of Steve Young ultimately led to Montana’s trade to K.C., where he was 17-8 and led the Chiefs to two playoff appearances and an AFC championship game.

Jim McMahon: After leading the Bears to a victory in Super Bowl XX, his lone Pro Bowl season, McMahon went on to play for the Chargers, Eagles, Vikings, Cardinals and Packers. The champ-turned-journeyman won a second Super Bowl ring as a backup to Brett Favre on the Packers team that won Super Bowl XXXI.

Jeff Hostetler: He quarterbacked the Giants to a win over the Bills in Super Bowl XXV as New York’s backup, having been thrust into action late in the year due to Phil Simms’ broken foot. Hostetler started 21 games over the next two seasons before becoming a Pro Bowler with the Raiders (33-22 over four years) and finishing with one season in Washington.

Mark Rypien: The uncle of Broncos backup quarterback Brett Rypien led Washington to a win in Super Bowl XXVI, the second of the QB’s Pro Bowl seasons with the team. He went on to play for the Browns, Rams, Eagles and, following a three-year hiatus due to retirement, finished as Peyton Manning’s backup on the Colts in 2001.

Brett Favre: The gunslinger led the Packers to a Super Bowl XXXI victory over New England and then back to the big game the next year, where they were upset by the Broncos. He had a hard time deciding when to retire; he played a season for the Jets, then two with Minnesota, which featured an NFC title game appearance.

Kurt Warner: The grocery store clerk turned Super Bowl XXXIV champion eventually lost his job in St. Louis, and was released. He signed with the Giants, going 5-4 in one season before getting benched for Eli Manning. Warner’s career found new life in Arizona, and he led to the Cardinals to Super Bowl XLIII, losing a classic game to the Steelers.

Trent Dilfer: The lone Super Bowl winning QB to not return to lead his team the next year, Dilfer was 11-1 as the Ravens’ starter in 2000 but Baltimore elected to not re-sign him in free agency. He then started 12 games over four years in Seattle and finished with a year each in Cleveland and San Francisco.

Tom Brady: After winning six Super Bowls in New England, Brady’s relationship with coach Bill Belichick deteriorated. Brady thought he could play well into his 40s, and Belichick disagreed. So, after spending 20 seasons with the Patriots, Brady signed with Tampa Bay and won Super Bowl LV in his first season down south.

Brad Johnson: He was a Pro Bowler while leading the Buccaneers to a blowout of the Raiders in Super Bowl XXXV. He didn’t have another winning season in Tampa Bay after that, then was 13-10 in two seasons in Minnesota and finished with a couple years as the Cowboys’ backup to Tony Romo.

Peyton Manning: A neck injury put Manning’s career in jeopardy, forcing him to miss the 2011 season and ultimately leading to his release from the Colts. He signed with the Broncos at age 36, and led them to four AFC West titles in four seasons, including two Super Bowl appearances and a championship in Super Bowl 50.

Joe Flacco: The MVP of Super Bowl XLVII played 11 years in Baltimore before the Ravens traded him to Denver in 2019 in exchange for a fourth-round pick. His lone season with the Broncos was a dud. He went 2-6 and suffered a season-ending neck injury. He’s been Zach Wilson’s backup the past two years.

Nick Foles: He came on for an injured Carson Wentz late in the year and led the Eagles to an upset of the Patriots in Super Bowl LII, earning MVP honors in that game and out-dueling Tom Brady. But he’s been injury-riddled since then; he was 0-4 as the Jaguars’ starter in 2019, and 3-5 over the last two years in Chicago. ]]> /2022/09/06/super-bowl-champion-quarterbacks-second-acts-russell-wilson-broncos/feed/ 0 5353206 2022-09-06T09:00:59+00:00 2022-08-31T13:44:56+00:00 /2022/04/28/russell-wilson-nfl-draft-year-league-missed/ /2022/04/28/russell-wilson-nfl-draft-year-league-missed/#respond Thu, 28 Apr 2022 15:00:09 +0000 /?p=5191836 Ten years ago Thursday, Russell Wilson received the life-changing call informing him he was being drafted by the Seattle Seahawks … a team that signed a new starter a month earlier … after five other quarterbacks had already been selected … in the third round.

Wilson didn’t care that Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III, Ryan Tannehill, Brandon Weeden (!) and Brock Osweiler were selected before him. He didn’t care the Seahawks already had Matt Flynn and Tarvaris Jackson. And he didn’t care people had concerns about his height.

“All I’ve ever said is I need one person to give me a chance — one team,” Wilson said when I asked about that draft earlier this week. “Seattle gave me that amazing chance.”

In turn, Wilson delivered amazing results for the Seahawks and compared to the rest of the quarterbacks drafted in 2012.

Regular season wins: Wilson 104, Tannehill 72 and Luck 53.

Touchdown passes: Wilson 292, Kirk Cousins 223 and Tannehill 199.

Playoff wins: Wilson nine and four apiece for Foles and Luck.

Super Bowl appearances: Wilson two (1-1 record) and Foles one (1-0).

I asked Broncos general manager George Paton last week if he remembered scouting Wilson.

“We all misevaluated him,” Paton said. “Really good player (in college). I think everybody dinged him because of his stature and baseball. That was a time when quarterbacks who weren’t 6-foot-3, you didn’t have as high on your board.”

Wilson was listed at 5 feet, 10 5/8 inches and had been playing in the Rockies’ minor-league system. He started his college career at North Carolina State before leading Wisconsin to the Rose Bowl as a graduate transfer in 2011.

“I always knew (because of) my height, people were going to say this or that,” Wilson said. “I always said my height is not going to define my skillset and it����ap not going to define my attitude.”

Wilson’s positive mindset was probably tested during the pre-draft process because, despite his college career, he wasn’t generating first-round buzz. Or second-round buzz.

In Bob McGinn’s annual NFL draft rankings, published in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel in 2012, he asked 19 scouts to rank the top five quarterbacks (five points for first, four for second, etc.). The results were Luck 95 (all 19 first-place votes), Griffin III 75 (18 of the 19 second-place votes), Tannehill 57, Weeden 18, Osweiler 14, Cousins 16 and Wilson six.

McGinn quoted three scouts about Wilson.

Scout 1: “You’ve got to have a plan and a package for him. I put him in the fifth round, but he’s a hell of an athlete. Third round would not surprise me.”

Scout 2: “He’s one of my favorite players to watch. He was the best interview of the 60 guys we had (at the combine). It wasn’t even close. I think he’s got a chance, I really do.”

Scout 3: “Awesome guy. Great story. If guys like Seneca Wallace can be a No. 2, so can (Wilson).”

In his respected 2012 Pro Football Weekly Draft Preview book, Nolan Nawrocki ranked the quarterbacks Luck, Griffin, Cousins, Tannehill, Osweiler, Weeden, Nick Foles, Kellen Moore and Wilson.

Nawrocki wrote that Wilson’s strengths were his “quick, high release and very good arm strength. Throws naturally on the move or off balance. Excellent third-down efficiency. Outstanding intangibles.” He wrote that Wilson’s weaknesses were that his, “height limits vision at times. Will vacate the pocket prematurely. Locks on to receivers.”

Nawrocki projected Wilson in rounds 4-5. “Has arms, legs and smarts to grow into an effective back-up.”

Ouch. No draft analyst or general manager bats 1.000.

When the draft arrived, Luck (first to Indianapolis), Griffin (second to Washington), Tannehill (eighth to Miami) and Weeden (22nd to Cleveland) went in round 1, followed by Osweiler (57th to the Broncos in round 2); the Broncos hosted Wilson for a pre-draft visit.

Luck is the best comparable to Wilson had he not shockingly retired during the 2019 preseason. Luck was 53-33 with 171 touchdowns and a 4-4 playoff record. Wilson, who won Seattle’s starting job after the third preseason game as a rookie, is 104-53-1 with 292 touchdowns and a 9-7 postseason record.

Griffin was NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2012, but that was his peak for Washington. Tannehill is in the middle of a successful second chapter after Miami traded him to Tennessee and he eventually replaced Marcus Mariota.

Weeden was 6-19 as a starter and Osweiler 15-15. Foles (No. 88 to Philadelphia) is 29-27 and Cousins (No. 102 to Washington) is 59-59-2. Ryan Lindley (No. 185 to Arizona) was 1-5.

“The whole league missed (on Wilson) because he could throw, was certainly athletic and won — kind of like he does now,” Paton said.

Wilson is the clear high achiever from that class and can relate to rookies this weekend who may get drafted later than they expected.

“What I would say to any young player coming in is to take advantage of opportunity,” he said. “I always say dreams come true when you capitalize on opportunities. I was fortunate enough to take advantage of mine, but I still have more to do.”

The on-going quarterback discussion. My thought is with new coaches and lots of new players that fit Nathaniel Hackett����ap system, no matter who the quarterback is, they aren’t going to be world beaters next year — or maybe longer. Why spend the draft and player capital on Aaron Rodgers when he will be gone before the system flourishes? At least Russell Wilson would be around long enough to get the team into contention. Finding an unproven player is always a wild-card.

— Andy, Bismarck, N.D.

RO: Always good to hear from my home state. Let����ap break this into a couple of categories:

• Broncos won’t be “world beaters” regardless of who plays quarterback.

I disagree. Put Rodgers or Wilson in charge of the Broncos’ offense and they immediately become contenders in the AFC West and should be expected to secure a wild-card spot.

• Why trade players and draft picks for Rodgers?

Because he’s worth it. I wouldn’t give up more than two first-round picks. I wouldn’t give up more than two players. That way, if the Broncos get Rodgers, they will be instantly competitive and didn’t clean out their cupboard of players and picks just to acquire him.

• Wilson will be around long enough to get Broncos into contention.

Wilson would catapult the Broncos into contention immediately, much like Rodgers. Wilson could be viewed as the starter for 5-6 years (compared to 2-3 years for Rodgers). Therefore, Seattle can command more for Wilson than Green Bay can for Rodgers.

• Unproven quarterback option always a wild-card.

Totally agree. Draft Kenny Pickett and start him right away? A risk. Draft Malik Willis and wait for him to develop while a veteran place-holder starts? Ditto.

If Drew Lock would be coming out in this year’s draft, he very easily could be the first quarterback selected. If they can’t trade for Rodgers or Wilson, why overreach for an inferior quarterback?

— Tim Eitel, Orlando, Fla.

RO: Shockingly, another vote for Lock to at least get a chance to compete (again) for the Broncos’ starting quarterback position.

This quarterback class isn’t as dazzling as last year’s group, which puts the Broncos in a semi-bind if they can’t swing a deal for Rodgers or Wilson.

As for Lock, giving him another chance would also be an overreach. If general manager George Paton and then-coach Vic Fangio had confidence in Lock at this time last year, they wouldn’t have eventually pursued Teddy Bridgewater.

If Aaron Rodgers chooses not to leave Green Bay, what do think of Mitchell Trubisky? His floor might be about the same as the others right now, but his ceiling is higher. I think Trubisky might be the best option to knock it out of the park, and if not, we’ll be at the same point next year but with maybe a more enticing quarterback class (if they don’t select one this year to sit out the first season). I don’t see the point of going after Nick Foles and Ryan Fitzpatrick or bringing back Teddy Bridgewater.

— Yoann, Beine-Nauroy, France

RO: Short answer: No thanks … at least not as the starter.

Long answer: I agree that trading for Foles (under contract with Chicago) or signing Fitzpatrick (limited to one game last year for Washington) keeps the Broncos in chase-their-tail mode. Trubisky has a 29-21 record in the regular season (0-2 in the playoffs), is only 28 and had career totals of 64 touchdowns and 38 interceptions. Maybe — and this is a big maybe — you sign him and pair him with a first- or second-round draft pick. Trubisky might embrace the one-year contract offer if he believes he has a chance to start in Week 1.

We need depth at the edge-rusher spot. Bradley Chubb was disappointing last season and while other players (Jonathon Cooper, Malik Reed and Stephen Weatherly) all showed promise, the void Von Miller left was evident. It����ap a pricey move, but what do you think about getting Harold Landry? He’s young (26) and looks like he’s about to jump into his prime. Or how about Derek Barnett? He may just need new scenery to thrive and Denver could be it.

— Mike, Denver

RO: Edge rusher could be addressed in the first round if the Broncos still have the ninth overall pick and don’t immediately draft a quarterback. Florida State’s Jermaine Johnson is one to watch at the Combine this week.

If the Broncos don’t acquire Rodgers or Wilson, they will have the cap space to make at least one big splash free-agent addition.

There are three things to like about Landry: His age (he turns 26 in June), durability (one missed game in four years) and his production (31 sacks in 64 games). Spotrac estimates he will receive a contract that averages $17.1 million. Probably too rich for the Broncos, who remain committed to Chubb.

Barnett is under contract for 2022 with Philadelphia, but it����ap set up as an option/void so he is expected to hit the market. He has only 21 1/2 sacks in 64 games, which means he may be willing to settle for a one-year/prove-it contract with a team like the Broncos.

One name I don’t hear much anymore for Denver is Deshaun Watson. Does he have any shot at coming here? How about a trade for Kyler Murray? He doesn’t seem super happy in Arizona.

— Marshall, Parker

RO: Watson isn’t on the Broncos’ radar (at least publicly) because the 22 lawsuits filed against him last year remain open and it makes no sense for a team to trade for Watson until those are settled and the NFL office has levied its punishment.

Because of Watson’s off-the-field issues, trading for him is an ownership-level decision. The Broncos, of course, don’t have an owner.

The Murray situation in Arizona merits monitoring. His agent went public on Monday by saying he had given the Cardinals a contract proposal.

Denver Post Broncos writer Ryan O’Halloran posts his Broncos Mailbag periodically during the off-season. Submit questions to Ryan here.

The Broncos just need a veteran quarterback. Your thoughts?

— Jeff, Granger, Ind.

Yes, the Broncos need to upgrade at quarterback and we all expect general manager George Paton to go on a big-name pursuit. Make it six different Week 1 starters in as many years, but don’t try and piecemeal it.

But the Broncos aren’t just a franchise quarterback away, a fact that has crystallized during the current stretch of four losses in five games that dropped them out of playoff contention.

Just on offense, the line needs to be thoroughly examined. Center? Right guard? Right tackle? Left guard? The Broncos must be better next year.

On defense, what is the Broncos’ plan at inside linebacker, outside linebacker and the safety who will start opposite Justin Simmons?

With all this talk of Denver possibly looking for a replacement for Vic Fangio, why hasn’t Eric Bieniemy’s name been mentioned?

— Larry Gombos, Littleton

If I’m putting together a hot board for a potential Broncos opening, my two main priorities are previous head-coaching experience and/or previous play-calling experience. That has undoubtedly hindered Bieniemy’s pursuit of a head-coaching job. He is the Kansas City Chiefs’ offensive coordinator, but coach Andy Reid calls the plays.

Do you think anyone from this coaching staff stays another season? I wouldn’t mind having offensive line coach Mike Munchak back next year. I couldn’t care less about the rest of them.

— Ron, Parker

Ron brings up an interesting subplot for later this month if Fangio is fired. What does general manager George Paton think of the position coaches?

Munchak has coached the offensive line for three years and if he is a fit for the new coach and coordinator, my guess is he will be invited to remain.

Paton has publicly praised receivers coach Zach Azzanni throughout the season and defensive backs coach Christian Parker is well-respected among his peers and players. Keeping them should be a priority as well as running backs coach Curtis Modkins.

Why does nobody seem to talk about Kenny Pickett? Both the Giants and Jets have two top-10 picks. Could they be potential trade partners so the Broncos could move up to get him? One mock draft I follow has him going to Carolina at No. 7. I’d mortgage the farm to get Pickett!

— Chris Goodwin, Boulder

I’ve probably mentioned Pickett in this space before and once the season ends, I’ll shift into draft mode to discuss him.

Pickett went 33-16 as the Pittsburgh starter and threw 81 touchdowns and 32 interceptions.

The Broncos have five picks in rounds 1-3, so if Paton starts the draft with all those chips, he does have the ability to move up two or three spots for Pickett or another player.

The old saying is if a receiver has his hands on the ball, it is catchable. Against Las Vegas, Jerry Jeudy looked to spike the ball and Albert Okwuegbunam’s late drop was tough but potentially catchable. Vic Fangio said he deserves to come back next year. If he is retained, then Pat Shurmur must be fired! If George Paton can change the coaching staff before the potential sale of the team, he needs to do it.

— Victor, Alameda, Calif.

Victor filed this question after the Raiders loss, when Drew Lock’s first start was plagued by a season-high four dropped passes. I was surprised Fangio didn’t get critical of the receivers on those plays.

If Fangio is retained, I do expect coaching staff changes.

The ownership situation will not impact the Broncos’ offseason business.

Has a team’s defense ever sued the offense for lack of support? Should the Broncos’ defense set that precedent? Also, what����ap the latest timetable on the ownership situation?

— Dan Rish, Albuquerque, N.M.

Dan gets an early 2022 award for making me laugh. If we were in The Open Locker Room Era of covering the NFL, it would be fun to take the temperature of the defensive players about what they think of the offense.

There is no timetable on the Broncos’ ownership situation. Everything is in a holding pattern until a Denver judge rules on the right-of-first-refusal claim by the estate of former owner Edgar Kaiser.

Why hasn’t George Paton fired Vic Fangio, who is blaming others instead of taking the hit? I’m broken inside and it still hurts to feel like this. If Paton has any love for the team he has to fire this coach. Please! Get it done.

— Isaac, Orange County, Calif.

I’ll push back a bit on Fangio blaming everybody but himself. I don’t think he’s been out-of-line critical about the players, either.

Firing Fangio at this point wouldn’t create much of a Broncos competitive advantage because all general managers are allowed to do so far is have two-hour video conferences with candidates if there is an opening. Jacksonville has started its process, but Las Vegas hasn’t because the Raiders are in playoff contention.

Let����ap say Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson are completely off the board for us this offseason (frankly, because I think they are). What����ap the best-case scenario for our quarterback situation? My fear is we’re going to go into training camp with Drew Lock battling a veteran journeyman (again) like Nick Foles or Ryan Fitzpatrick. Do we actually pull the trigger for a first-round quarterback?

— Robbie P., Fort Collins

For Paton, I would like to ask two questions if I knew I could get a 100% transparent response: 1. How confident is he about trading for Wilson or Rodgers? 2. What is your Quarterback Plan B?

The second question is more interesting at this point since I believe the Broncos should be confident in acquiring Wilson or Rodgers.

Is Plan B signing a journeyman and pairing him with a second- or third-round quarterback? What is Lock’s future with the team? If Pickett is there late in the top 10, would the Broncos feel comfortable drafting him and playing him quickly?

The Broncos are in the business of winning games and presenting an entertainment product. It����ap time to commit major resources to the quarterback position.

Denver Post Broncos writer Ryan O’Halloran posts his Broncos Mailbag periodically during the season. Submit questions to Ryan here.

The story — and the battle — may not be over. Even when the preseason is.

“Be ready,” Massie, the Broncos’ new right tackle, said recently. “Because you never know what can happen.”

He speaks from experience. During Massie’s 2020 training camp with the Bears, the No. 1 story was a quarterback derby, 50/50, between young Mitch Trubisky and veteran Nick Foles.

Fast forward a summer, and it����ap déjà vu all over again, only at a higher elevation: Lock (Trubisky) vs. Bridgewater (Foles).

“It����ap kind of the same,” said Massie, who was listed as a co-starter at right tackle with Calvin Anderson on the Broncos’ latest depth chart. “Nick was the older guy, like Teddy’s the older guy. Nick, he’s had success, he’s won a Super Bowl. Teddy, he’s had success with other teams. And I think it����ap a great battle going on (here) and I can’t wait to see who wins it.”

Trubisky wound up winning the Bears job out of camp. But after three starts, Chicago coach Matt Nagy had Foles replace Trubisky mid-game against Atlanta with the Bears down 16 points. The veteran rallied Chicago to a victory in that contest and took the No. 1 job for roughly the next two months. Foles suffered a hip injury at Minnesota in Week 10 and Trubisky finished the season as the starter.

Given the recent NFL track records, and injury histories, of both Lock and Bridgewater, it����ap not hard to imagine a similar scenario playing out with the Broncos in 2021. Which is why Massie’s advice to his linemates is to get comfortable working with both quarterbacks. Just in case.

“It����ap good to play with both guys and see their style of play, because you never know what can happen during the season,” said Massie, a 10-year veteran who was signed by the Broncos to a 1-year deal this past May. “And you don’t want to get into a game (as) a tackle, (where) you don’t know the quarterback, know where he sets at, his cadence and everything.

“I don’t think there are too many challenges. I just think everybody’s cool with everybody. Nobody’s picking favorites or anything like that. I mean, it����ap part of the game.”

Trubisky ultimately took 570 snaps during the regular season while Foles took 496, according to Pro-Football-Reference. The Bears posted a 2-5 record in Foles’ starts and went 6-3 when Trubisky was the No. 1 quarterback.