Denver Broncos: Why Paxton Lynch is still available and not an option
Would the Denver Broncos consider signing quarterback Paxton Lynch back after releasing Chad Kelly following his arrest?
The Denver Broncos had to make the unfortunate decision to release quarterback Chad Kelly after he was arrested on Tuesday overnight.
With just Case Keenum and Kevin Hogan remaining on the Broncos’ roster, is there a chance the team will look to bring in a third quarterback again? More specifically, is there a chance the team would look to bring back Paxton Lynch?
Is there even a case to be made that that is a realistic or reasonable option at this point?
Let’s take a look at the reasons why or why not.
There’s a strong case to be made that Lynch shouldn’t be in the NFL, regardless if it’s with the Denver Broncos or not. Since he was drafted in 2016, he showed signs of regression and it culminated in his being benched in favor of Chad Kelly following their competition in the 2018 offseason all the way through the preseason.
It was an ugly exit from the Broncos for Lynch, who was initially kept on the team’s 53-man roster and later cut in favor of Kevin Hogan, who is still on the roster and would undoubtedly maintain his roster and depth chart spot.
Since the Broncos let Lynch go, he’s worked out for at least half-a-dozen NFL teams and hasn’t been signed to this point. That is a clear enough indicator — in a quarterback-starved league — that Lynch simply doesn’t have it.
There are some legitimate reasons to think Lynch would be welcomed back in Denver, but they are pretty minimal in the grand scheme of things.
The Broncos are still technically paying Lynch quite a bit of money. He knows the offense and wouldn’t need to re-acclimate himself much. The problem is, the team just isn’t buying into him as an option for the future anymore and it would seem the bridge between these two parties has been burned.
While there are some reasons why bringing Lynch back might make sense, the Broncos are better off leaving that roster spot open for Jordan Taylor or Su’a Cravens and keeping Lynch as an option on the back-burner in case of emergency.
Even then, it’s hard to believe they would give him a call, or that he and his representatives would answer.