Sean Payton explains what will decide which QB wins Broncos job

The rookie, the reclamation and the returnee, Sean Payton will have to pick one of those three options for the Denver Broncos starting quarterback job and on Tuesday he explained further what will go into his decision.

The second-year head coach of the Broncos and former Super Bowl-winning whistle-blower with the New Orleans Saints shared that the winner of the QB1 role might not be decided until just before Denver’s Week 1 contest in Seattle.

“I still think we always talked about the locker room and in the players in the locker room, and so I think when we get into training camp, and we get into the preseason games, I think oftentimes, the decisions take care of themselves,” Payton explained the battle for the job on Tuesday. “But the object is to win. And, and I understand the question relative to… but in our league it’s year-to-year and we’re competing to win this year. And and we’re gonna make the right decision relative to who gives us that opportunity.”

While the Broncos have banked a lot into Bo Nix, using their first-round pick on the Oregon star—it seems like Payton is trying to calm people down off the notion that he’ll be given a leg up for the job. Then there’s former top pick Zach Wilson, who flamed out with the Jets and was traded to the Broncos this offseason. He has NFL experience but has been bad in his time in the league. The two certainly have the most potential at the position but they don’t know the playbook as well as journeyman Jarrett Stidham, who finished last season as Denver’s starter.

“Every day we’re rolling ’em different with the ones, twos, and threes, but we’re, we’re kind of doing the same thing with a lot of the other position groups,” Payton said. “I just feel like this is the time of the year to do that. And I would say I have an end date that would be the week before the first game. But I don’t have a set date (for deciding who gets the starting job.)”

Nix is likely the favorite to start the most games in 2024, though he might not get the gig right away. No. 12 pick in the draft threw for 4,508 yards and 45 touchdowns to just three interceptions while tacking on another 234 yards and six touchdowns on the ground last fall. In 2022, Nix actually rushed for 510 yards and 14 touchdowns, showing he’s capable of getting outside of the pocket and is willing to put his body on the line.

Meanwhile, Wilson had similar numbers when he was back in college but has struggled big time in the NFL. The 24-year-old has thrown for 23 touchdowns while tossing 25 picks in his 34 games. On the positive side, he is a former AFC Player of the Week and has led five game-winning drives.

Then there’s Stidham, whose two starts against the Chargers and Raiders last year were pedestrian. He threw for fewer than 500 total yards and had two touchdowns and one interception. Denver scored 30 points in total.

“Not only at quarterback, the thing I see different in this offseason is in the secondary in the receiver group at the line. There’s a lot of competition for jobs and playing time,” Payton said. And that’s encouraging and I think you guys who followed and watched these a year ago, maybe you see something that’s different. Certainly, I feel like it’s been different.”

Denver is seeking to erase the sport’s second-longest playoff drought, in Payton’s first year in charge the team improved from five to eight wins. Many people expect it to get worse for the Broncos again before it gets better but Payton has been pretty positive thus far in preseason.

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