Where will Payton go quarterback shopping?
Q>> What are your thoughts on the Broncos possibly pursuing Justin Fields or other top prospects in the draft? — DJK, Prescott, Ariz.
PARKER>> It’s setting up to be a quarterback-centric offseason for the Broncos.
As a baseline, let’s assume that Denver cuts Russell Wilson before March 17. If the club takes the entire $85 million dead cap number in 2024 (doesn’t seem particularly likely, but it’s not technically impossible), the options are going to be slim from a financial standpoint. It’s still not pretty if they split it $35.4 million in 2024 and $49.6 million in 2025, but you could maybe squeeze a lowto-mid-market free agent in there.
There’s obviously an in-house option in Jarrett Stidham, who is under contract through 2024. And then there are a lot of other avenues to explore. The most logical answer here at this point is that the Broncos brass and Sean Payton are probably going to traverse many of them.
Free agency begins in midMarch. The draft is in late April. Besides that, as you suggested with Fields, there are any number of trades to kick the tires on. Maybe Chicago will opt to roll with him into the future. Certainly, his play late in the season doesn’t hurt his trade value any if the Bears decide to draft a QB with the top pick. Is it … actually an exciting time to be a Chicago fan?
One of the byproducts of all the quarterback injuries this year is that so many No. 2s have received serious playing time. That makes evaluating them at least a step easier. A quarterback-needy team might think differently about Jake Browning in Cincinnati than it did last summer. Or Gardner Minshew. The list goes on. There are also guys like Malik Willis in Tennessee, a thirdround pick in 2022 in a spot where Will Levis appears to be the guy long-term. Or Sam Darnold, who’s been trying to reboot in San Francisco. These are just a few examples, but they highlight the myriad ways you can go shopping for a quarterback and also the scarcity of no- doubt options.
Q>> I love Courtland Sutton, but we need more targets for whoever’s going to be our quarterback next year. Jerry Jeudy has been disappointing and Marvin Mims Jr.’s had growing pains during his rookie year. I know a healthy Greg Dulcich would open up the field but we need a solid No. 2 receiver and I don’t see any of our guys are better than a No. 3 option. What do you think? — Mike, Denver
PARKER>> Doesn’t it seem like the receiver room’s been teetering on the edge of big changes for pretty much a year at this point? Hasn’t happened yet, but perhaps it will this offseason. Or at least some changes.
The Broncos already picked up Jeudy’s fifth-year option at $12.987 million for 2024. It’s not impossible to push the next decision out to next fall’s trade deadline, but it feels like the Broncos should address the question this summer: Trade him or extend him.
There’s good news and bad news on the receiver front: The good news is 2024 is shaping up to be another loaded draft class at receiver.
The bad news: Denver’s got a lot of draft needs and not all that many darts to throw. They traded their second-round pick to New Orleans in the Payton trade but then had two thirdrounders. They traded one of them (whichever is lower) to Seattle to move up and draft Riley Moss.
So currently they have six picks and only two are on the first two days of the draft.
This is going to be the challenge this offseason. Can Denver generate the draft capital and financial flexibility to upgrade without simply pushing a ton of money to the future while working around the Wilson contract fallout?