Denver Broncos should keep Paxton Lynch in 2018
The Denver Broncos should keep former first round pick Paxton Lynch in 2018 unless they get an offer they can’t refuse…
The Denver Broncos will pursue a new starting quarterback in the 2018 offseason, whether it’s via the 2018 NFL Draft or free agency, but one player they should keep in the plans — at least for now — is Paxton Lynch.
The former first round pick has barely thrown 100 passes in his NFL career, and just turned 24 years old.
The Broncos have Lynch under contract for two more seasons, with an option for a fifth year (which they are likely to decline).
Unless the Broncos can get great value for Lynch in a trade, which doesn’t seem overly likely given his on-field performance thus far, they should continue to try and develop him. It could benefit Lynch to have another year working with Bill Musgrave, who has been promoted from quarterbacks coach to offensive coordinator, and it will benefit the Broncos if Lynch can put out some good tape, even in the preseason.
Lynch didn’t look terrible in the Broncos’ season finale against the Chiefs. In fact, if Chiefs fans were so encouraged by Patrick Mahomes’ start, it’s not out of the question that Broncos fans would be encouraged by Lynch’s performance.
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Sure, there were still some bumps in the road, but what we saw from Lynch against the Chiefs was better than anything we’d seen since the 2016 preseason when it looked like Lynch would have a clear path to a starting job at some point in the middle of the 2016 season.
When Lynch came out of Memphis, most felt he would need at least a year to adapt. It’s taken him more than a year, and he has yet to fully adapt to the NFL game, but the Broncos don’t have to move Lynch and they shouldn’t unless someone comes along with a generous trade offer.
This is a player the front office (which now includes Gary Kubiak, who had a hand in picking Lynch prior to the 2016 draft) had high hopes for. The Broncos traded a valuable third round pick to move up and get Lynch in the 2016 draft.
Even if things are not to work out between Lynch and the Broncos long-term, he’s going to have to play his role with the team and perhaps wait for his shot in the preseason or if an injury comes upon whatever new starter the team picks.
The Broncos know they can’t invest this year in Lynch’s on-field development as far as regular season snaps, but they could continue to work with him in practice and the preseason and hopefully see some improvements there before ultimately deciding what to do with him.
There always seems to be this feeling of, ‘Well that didn’t work out, so let’s get rid of him,’ when it comes to football fans and players like Lynch, who fail to quickly live up to their draft status, but the Broncos can afford to be patient as Lynch’s rookie contract isn’t a burden to their cap yet and his dead money hit would cost them more to keep him off the team than to just keep him on it.