The Denver Broncos are expected to sign free-agent quarterback Jeff Driskel to be Drew Lock’s backup.
The Denver Broncos have been decently active lately. They added cornerback A.J. Bouye in a trade with the Jacksonville Jaguars, and are signing offensive lineman Graham Glasgow to a 4-year deal. Their signings do not end there.
The team is signing quarterback Jeff Driskel.
Driskel has spent time with the Detroit Lions and Cincinnati Bengals after becoming a sixth-round pick of the San Francisco 49ers back in 2016.
Driskel has played in 12 games during his career, starting eight. He has completed 167-of-281 passes (59.4 percent) for 1,688 yards, 10 touchdowns and six interceptions.
The 6’4”, 235-pound Driskel has mobility skills that would be useful if he were to come into a game for the Broncos. At the NFL combine, Driskel ran the 40-yard dash in 4.56 seconds.
In college, he played 42 career games, completing 607-of-1,000 passes for 7,437 yards, 50 touchdowns and 28 interceptions.
This is by no means a splashy signing. The Broncos are attempting to re-sign one of their quarterbacks from last season—Brandon Allen—which would also not be very splashy, but at least he has been around.
The Broncos definitely need some help at the backup quarterback position. Allen completed less than 50 percent of his passes, while the team’s first starter of the season, Joe Flacco, was very immobile, something that was very unfitting.
The fact that the team signed Driskel for two seasons instead of just one doesn’t necessarily mean he’s the guy, but it should give him confidence.
Signing Driskel also makes it more obvious that the team will be moving on from Joe Flacco.
Free agency has not officially started (it will begin at 4 p.m. ET on Wednesday afternoon). Many people expected the Broncos to go after some of the bigger names in free agency this year, such as Byron Jones, D.J. Reader, and others. Unfortunately, they missed on those players.
Either way, it sounds like the Broncos are set on signing Driskel. It may not be an exciting move, but at least they’re doing something.