Denver Broncos make 3 huge splashes early on in NFL Free Agency

3. Jarrett Stidham, QB (2 years, $10 million)

The Denver Broncos were undoubtedly in the market for a backup QB this offseason, but Jarrett Stidham was, quite frankly, not on my radar all that much. Was it an option that existed? Yes.

The Broncos have seemingly been a great landing spot for potential reclamation project QBs, and I guess to a degree, you could say Jarrett Stidham was one of those. He was a fourth-round pick out of Auburn in 2019 and some expectations were heaped on him even then, but he really didn't get much of a chance to play until this past year in the final couple of weeks with the Las Vegas Raiders.

Stidham doesn't move the needle for me personally as much as someone like Sam Darnold would have, but apparently Stidham is reuniting with Broncos QBs coach Davis Webb.

The fact that the Broncos signed Stidham to a two-year deal is certainly not insignificant here. There are implications about Russell Wilson's future, as minimal as you want to make them. But there are implications, nonetheless. Although Stidham is not a former top-five pick, he's someone that this coaching staff and front office obviously prioritized. They brought him in not only as Wilson's backup and as an upgrade to Brett Rypien, but as a contingency plan in case the team has to move off of Russ in 2024.

There's no guarantee it's going to all work out according to plan, but quarterbacks have generally done well in Sean Payton' system and there's really plenty of reason to believe it could happen agains with Stidham. Also with Russell Wilson, for that matter, but obviously Wilson is a bit of a wild card after his weirdly bad 2022 season.

Now, Stidham enters the fray and we'll see what the Broncos now do when it comes to the 2023 NFL Draft at the position.