Former Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby will have interest from a number of NFL teams, but the Denver Broncos don't appear to be one of them.
Sorsby has recently filed paperwork to enter the NFL's Supplemental Draft after his eligibility at the college level became a matter of major conflict with the NCAA. Sorsby was found to have made over 9,000 bets while at college over four years, including betting on his own team while he was at Indiana a handful of years ago.
After agreeing with Texas Tech to part ways, Sorsby's next football team will unexpectedly be his first NFL team as well. And he has quickly become one of the most interesting incoming NFL prospects in quite some time.
There hasn't been a player selected in the supplemental draft process since 2019 (Jalen Thompson), but Sorsby is not only likely to be selected -- he could be taken with a pick in the first three rounds. Broncos head coach Sean Payton was asked at the team's mandatory minicamp about Sorsby, and while he didn't say directly that the Broncos aren't interested, his comments say all we need to know.
Sean Payton gives his thoughts on Brendan Sorsby at Denver Broncos mandatory minicamp
Here is Payton's full quote regarding Sorsby from Broncos mandatory minicamp:
“It’s been a minute from the supplemental standpoint that we looked at someone that’s been discussed… I know it’s why [QB Brendan Sorsby] is entering the supplemental also. But he obviously must be talented. I really haven’t had a chance to evaluate an underclassman like that. But I think teams will do their due diligence and look at the body of work and also all the other things, relative to making a decision like that in the supplemental draft. It’s not unprecedented; it’s precedented. There have been other players that—it’s been a minute—but I think the same criteria will have to go into anyone’s decision making relative to, what’s their vision, and do they like him and does he fit.”
- Broncos HC Sean Payton (via team PR)
There are a couple of things to pay attention to with Payton's comments here, and they really give away the Broncos' lack of interest in the situation.
First of all, Payton acknowledges that he hasn't watched Sorsby at all. That doesn't mean he won't, but the fact that he hasn't is telling enough.
Second, the language Payton uses in this quote is a lot of "they" language. "Teams" will do their due diligence...What's "their" vision...Do "they" like him...
That type of language in the way Payton is talking is that of an onlooker at a situation rather than someone who is actively participating in it.
The Broncos aren't in the market for spending a 2nd-round pick on a quarterback prospect. The team has been bullish about Bo Nix's recovery process, and even though he had a second procedure this offseason, they're not looking at any sort of backup plans with this kind of price tag.
The gambling aspect of the Sorsby discussion is very obviously one of the first hurdles teams will have to clear before even considering drafting him as a prospect, but that is also something the Broncos have experience with. Defensive lineman Eyioma Uwazurike was suspended for a full calendar year by the NFL entering his second season in the league for gambling, including betting on Broncos games during his rookie year with the team.
The Broncos have seen a situation like this through in the past, and the assumption from almost everyone at the time Uwazurike was suspended was that the Broncos would abandon him. But Sean Payton didn't believe in that. In fact, he was very openly negative toward the NFL's policy:
"That eight-page handout we received [from the NFL] was more confusing after I read it than it was before I looked at it. And we’re going to send them home for a year, where they can’t be around. The idea that you just go away, shame on us.”
- Sean Payton (from 2023 Eyioma Uwazurike situation)
From that perspective, you could understand why the discussion regarding Sorsby and the Broncos ends more with the idea of the team spending capital on a quarterback as opposed to his gambling situation. It's not that the Broncos don't care, but they have shown in the past that they want to actively help these players when possible.
Payton was not part of the Broncos when they drafted Uwazurike. Nor was the ownership group in place when that selection was made. There was no obligation to keep him around, especially as a 4th-round pick from the previous regime.
Sorsby is going to need similar backing and belief from an NFL franchise, but unless he goes undrafted and gets to pick his next team, a future in Denver appears less than unlikely.
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