Sean Payton sounds like all three QBs will stay after preseason win

Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton likes his three QBs.

And it sounds like all of them will make the Broncos final 53-man roster.

Payton revealed that after the Broncos pounded the Cardinals 38-12 on Sunday afternoon at Empower Field at Mile High to finish the preseason a perfect 3-0.

Payton was asked if finances will play a role in selecting which quarterbacks are on the team, and he shot that down. Denver could save $5 million if they cut veteran Jarrett Stidham, but that doesn’t sound like a route Payton wants to go.

“No, I just heard it on the radio. No. We’ve got enough money to… I understand the question. We feel comfortable with those three quarterbacks,” Payton said.

Even though the Broncos are taking on a massive dead cap hit to pay Russell Wilson the next two years, Payton sounds like a man comfortable paying Stidham. In fact, he made it pretty clear that Stidham and Zach Wilson will both be on the Broncos behind rookie Bo Nix.

“I think I’ve told you already I see the three of them making it,” Payton said.

The Broncos and the rest of the NFL have to go from 90 players to 53 players by Tuesday at 2:00 p.m. MT, and you can basically put Nix, Stidham and Wilson with sharpies on the team based on that comment from Payton.

On Sunday against the Cardinals, Stidham played just one series but went 2-4 for 28 yards and led a drive in which rookie running back Audric Estime found the end zone.

Wilson was out there basically the whole day, and looked good. He finished 16-25 for 251 yards and two touchdowns. He made a gorgeous pass to Brandon Johnson, good for a 46-yard touchdown to put the game out of hand late. Denver took a 31-12 lead and never looked back.

It’s a revealing couple of comments from Payton. And while he has tough decisions to make at other positions, it doesn’t sound like QB will have much drama.