The Russell Wilson era in the Mile High City is over as the Denver Broncos announced on Monday that they’d be releasing the veteran QB. The move comes two years after the organization acquired the Super Bowl-winning QB from the Seattle Seahawks in a blockbuster deal that included several draft picks. And now after two disastrous seasons, they will release him and incur an NFL record $85 million in dead cap space over the next two seasons.
With little flexibility to maneuver, the Broncos must now find a starting quarterback for the 2024 season. We’ll take a look at some of their options below.
Current Broncos QBs
With Wilson now out of the picture, the two remaining quarterbacks on Denver’s roster are Jarrett Stidham and Ben DiNucci. Stidham started the final two games of the 2023 season for the Broncos in place of Wilson, who was controversially benched by head coach Sean Payton. In those two outings, the veteran backup completed 60.6% of his passes for 496 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.
The Broncos could simply roll with Stidham as the starter in 2024, a move that would be a cost-saving measure and ensure that someone familiar with Payton’s system would be under center. However, the ceiling for the offense would be extremely low and Denver would effectively be punting on the season with this move
Free agent QBs
Denver could look to bring in a veteran free agent, but its options would be limited considering the difficult cap situation it has incurred with Wilson’s release. Kirk Cousins and Baker Mayfield are the top free agent QB’s entering the market, but their demands for multi-year, lucrative deals is something the Broncos would not to be able to afford. That’s not to mention that both of those QB’s will be looking to sign with a franchise in a position to compete for the postseason next year.
Ryan Tannehill could be brought in for a cheap one-year deal and he has an estimated market value of $4.9 million according to Spotrac. They could do the same with even cheaper veteran options like Jacoby Brissett, Tyrod Taylor, or Drew Lock, who started his career in Denver before being packaged to Seattle as part of the Wilson trade.
Trading for a QB
Denver’s options on the trade market would be QB’s whose franchises are actively looking to move on from them. Justin Fields immediately springs to mind as the Chicago Bears own the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft and could use it on USC QB Caleb Williams. However, there is still a chance that the Bears opt to keep Fields and shop the pick to acquire more weapons.
Another option would be Mac Jones, who appears to have played his last game with the New England Patriots. The Pats are projected to take a franchise QB with the No. 3 overall pick, opening the door for them to easily discard their 2021 first-rounder.
2024 NFL Draft
Denver owns the No. 12 pick in the NFL Draft and could decide select decide to get a young QB on a cheap rookie contract to carry the franchise forward. However, its in an awkward spot.
By the time the Broncos make their pick, top prospects Caleb Williams, Drake Maye, and Jayden Daniels will be well off the board. Michigan QB J.J. McCarthy has recently been receiving considerable hype as a potential first-round pick in his own right, but another QB-needy team in the Minnesota Vikings could beat them to the punch at No. 11.
Denver could trade up, but it would once again be borrowing from the future like it did in the Wilson trade. A move like that would be even more difficult considering that it does not own a second-round pick this year. Another option on this front would be to trade back into the first round, acquire more draft capital, and select someone like Oregon’s Bo Nix or Washington’s Michael Penix Jr.