The Denver Broncos have reportedly added another quarterback to their room in 2025, signing former Texas Longhorns star and Indianapolis Colts sixth-round pick Sam Ehlinger to a one-year deal.
The deal with Ehlinger was originally reported by Jordan Schultz, and Schultz's report actually included a little bit of the reasoning behind why Ehlinger chose the Broncos over other interested teams...
Sources: The #Broncos are signing former #Colts QB Sam Ehlinger to a 1-year deal.
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) March 31, 2025
He had multiple offers but chose Denver, seeing the best fit with HC Sean Payton and QBs coach Davis Webb, joining a room with Bo Nix and Jarrett Stidham. pic.twitter.com/8aaQRpKR4p
Sam Ehlinger signs with Broncos as third quarterback; What will his role be?
After losing Zach Wilson to the Miami Dolphins, the Broncos had a vacancy in that third quarterback slot and Ehlinger is a seemingly random but also very good option to come in and replace him. He's not a former first-round draft pick, but Ehlinger adds to your quarterback room and gives you another player who can eat up preseason snaps.
And he's done plenty of that over the last four years with the Indianapolis Colts.
One thing that Ehlinger has always done well is run with the football dating back to his time at Texas where he had 33 rushing touchdowns. He shows off his ability to run with the ball every preseason as well and while he's not as athletic as someone like Taysom Hill, he provides an interesting power running wrinkle if need be.
Is it possible we could see Ehlinger ever get a package of plays in the offense with his running ability? Not likely, but given how good he's been at it, it's something to think about.
For the time being, expect Ehlinger to be a camp arm and someone to eat up reps during the preseason. Will he be on the sidelines holding a clipboard during the regular season? It's very possible.
The NFL permits teams to dress an emergency third quarterback every week, even elevating a guy off the practice squad without penalty. And with that rule in place, why would you not have someone on the ready? That rule is in place to avoid a situation where another position player is having to line up under center at quarterback, something we saw from the 49ers in the playoffs a couple of years ago.
Ehlinger is an extremely well-liked teammate dating back to his time at Texas. He's an obvious asset in the locker room and in the quarterback room and it's very exciting to see that players want to come and learn under Broncos quarterbacks coach Davis Webb.