On Sunday evening, multiple outlets reported that the Denver Broncos are going to re-sign backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham to a two-year, $12 million contract.
A natural next question is how that might affect Zach Wilson, the former BYU star and the Broncos’ third string signal caller.
The Athletic’s Dianna Russini reported on X Sunday evening that “(The Broncos) are also trying to retain Zach Wilson but they may lose him.”
Stidham, Wilson and then-rookie Bo Nix all entered Broncos preseason camp last summer vying to become Denver’s starter. The job ultimately went to Nix and he was phenomenal in his debut campaign, throwing for 3,775 yards with 29 touchdowns against 12 interceptions as the Broncos went 10-7 under first-year head coach Sean Payton.
Neither Stidham nor Wilson saw any playing time during the season, and both entered this offseason as free agents. Free agency opens at 10 a.m. MT on Monday morning.
Wilson, 25, has had a tumultuous NFL career up to this point. The second overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft by the New York Jets, Wilson played in 34 games over three seasons (33 starts) for the Jets and threw for 6,293 yards with 23 touchdowns against 25 interceptions.
Last April he was traded to the Broncos with an eye on reviving his career before entering free agency. Though he didn’t play at all for Denver in 2024, as Russini noted, there could still be interest in him around the NFL.
On Feb. 26, Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported on X that Wilson is “a name that keeps coming up” for the Las Vegas Raiders.
Since then, however, the Raiders have traded for former Seattle Seahawks starting signal caller Geno Smith and reportedly told Gardner Minshew that they will release him.
Prior to trading for Smith, it was assumed that the Raiders would select a quarterback with the sixth overall pick in the upcoming NFL draft, though that may be less of a sure thing with Smith now in the fold.
It does seem as though Wilson could have a pretty decent market as a No. 2 quarterback for a team. One notable NFL insider, Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, wrote of Wilson Sunday, “A year under Sean Payton did him a lot of good, and the staff there really thinks, in the right situation, he could have a big bounceback year in ‘25. His best bet might be to find a team with an iffy starter.”
Meanwhile, various other league observers have bandied Wilson’s name about as a potentially good fit for teams such as the Tennessee Titans, Miami Dolphins, Los Angeles Rams and Minnesota Vikings, among others.