Why are the Denver Broncos not giving up on Paxton Lynch?

The Denver Broncos are not giving up on Paxton Lynch, but why? We look at a few reasons the team has yet to throw in the towel…

The NFL is a difficult business, especially at the quarterback position.

Many expected the writing was on the wall for Paxton Lynch when the Denver Broncos met with all of the top quarterbacks in the 2018 NFL Draft, but they didn’t select a single one with their 10 selections, and they didn’t sign anyone after the draft either.

What gives?

Two years into the Paxton Lynch experiment, it seems like the Broncos would have been wise to cut ties, especially after signing Case Keenum, right?

Apparently not.

A few months back, I wrote about why the Broncos should keep Lynch despite rumors of a rookie quarterback possibly coming in, even after the team signed Keenum.

Keeping Lynch, at the time, made sense from a financial perspective. Even if it made sense for no other reason, keeping Lynch around because cutting him would cost more than keeping him is good enough reason for me.

But are there football reasons the Broncos kept Lynch?

I think so. This is not a joke, either.

Lynch played well enough in the Broncos’ season finale against the Chiefs that I think he merits consideration for the team going forward.

There are many who have dismissed Lynch’s performance in week 17 as irrelevant, simply because the Chiefs threw out second and third string players.

Let’s get something straight here. In the NFL, second and third string players when you cut down to 53-man rosters are not the same as a preseason game. Granted, Lynch wasn’t throwing against an elite NFL defense like he did in 2016 as a rookie when he made a start on the road in Jacksonville, but there was more at stake in this game for Lynch than perhaps any other game of his NFL career.

This was one of the Broncos’ only chances to evaluate Lynch last season, and I thought he did a good job overall. It wasn’t perfect, by any means. Lynch threw two interceptions and took five sacks, but he made mostly good decisions with the football and made some plays with his feet as well.

I find it funny that Broncos fans can’t take any positives away from this game from Lynch, yet many are talking about how great Patrick Mahomes looked.

News flash: The Chiefs weren’t the only team resting prominent defensive players in this game…

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It’s frustrating how impatient many Broncos fans have become, and when you invest a first and third round pick into a player, you’re allowed as an organization to see the investment through, at least to the end of his rookie contract.

Lynch is still only 24 years old. His NFL future doesn’t have to have an ultimate determination yet.

I wonder if more fans knew Lynch personally if they would be rooting so hard for him to fail, or just be cast aside…

The business side of the NFL is harsh, and if a player simply doesn’t have the chops then they won’t make it. But the Broncos don’t have to hone in on only the negatives from Lynch’s NFL career thus far, and can instead look at some of the positive things he’s done as reasons he may not be a lost cause after all.

Even in limited action and with too many sacks taken last year, he completed 67 percent of his passes. He made good decisions with the ball when he was asked to throw to a primary read, and if you’ll watch that Chiefs game, he makes some good decisions with the ball looking off the primary read and going to a secondary receiver.

There’s no doubt about the fact that Lynch is incredibly raw at this point, but two years into his NFL career, it’s not fair to label him a bust. Even as bad as he was in camp and in the preseason last year.

The Broncos are giving him another chance, and hopefully this time around, Lynch can show progression in his game, his ability to read defenses, and finally stay healthy.

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