Broncos head coach Sean Payton can’t fall for Jarrett Stidham trap

Denver Broncos quarterback Jarrett Stidham is setting a trap for Sean Payton.

Let’s hope it’s not one the head coach falls for.

Reports earlier this week, and photos, show Stidham organizing workouts with his fellow offensive players in Texas. The guys got together on and off the field for some learning and bonding. Let’s be clear: there’s nothing wrong with that.

In fact, it’s a good thing it’s happening. This Broncos offense needs all the work it can get as training camp creeps closer by the day.

But Stidham taking control of the workouts and organizing them himself feels like a message to the head coach that he’s the guy. That he should be the starter in Week 1 against the Seahawks.

This is nothing new.

After Stidham played Weeks 17 and 18 last year for the benched Russell Wilson, he made it clear he wanted to be the starter moving forward.

“I’m very confident I can be the guy for us next season. I have no doubts about that,” Stidham said the day after the Broncos got blasted by the Raiders 27-14 in the season finale.

In that game Stidham went 20-34 for one touchdown and one interception and finished with a QBR of only 30.3. He took five sacks and Denver was down 24-7 in the fourth quarter. The game was out of hand.

Overall, in his two starts against the Chargers and Raiders, Stidham was pedestrian. He threw for fewer than 500 total yards, had two touchdowns and the one interception. Denver scored 30 points, or 15 per game. One of Stidham’s two TDs was created by a phenomenal catch and run from Lil’Jordan Humphrey.

We’ve already seen what Stidham has to offer. He’s a career backup in the NFL, and that’s fine. But if the Broncos name him the starter for the first game in Seattle, that’s just delaying the inevitable.

Which is the arrival of rookie QB Bo Nix.

Why give Jarrett Stidham valuable game reps when Nix needs every snap of professional action he can get? Denver isn’t going anywhere this season, so let the rookie learn on the job and hopefully the hunt for the playoffs can begin in 2025 and beyond.

While Nix might be the choice of the fans, Stidham is clearly well-liked in the locker room. He’s not the people’s champ, but he might be the player’s champ.

Again, good for him, but just because Stidham is a leader doesn’t mean he’s the best choice for Payton.

Things would be different if this Broncos roster was littered with postseason experience. Heck, we saw that in 2016 when Gary Kubiak went with Trevor Siemian over Paxton Lynch to try to defend Denver’s Super Bowl 50 title.

Of course Lynch wasn’t, and never would be, the guy, and Kubiak knew it. He couldn’t trot out Lynch and sell that to a locker room that featured some big personalities, great players and champions. Von Miller, Aqib Talib, Chris Harris Jr., Demarcus Ware and plenty more wouldn’t have gone for it.

Unfortunately, the 2024 Broncos don’t have a roster with those kinds of resumes.

Payton can’t be pressured into picking Stidham just because it’d be more popular with the guys. He needs to do the best thing for the franchise now, and from now on, and that’s throwing Nix into the fire.

Good for Stidham for inviting Nix to Texas to join the fun, but his message remains clear. He’s confident he can be the starter, just like he told the media in January.

You have to like how he’s wired, unfortunately the eye-test on the field says differently. We’ve seen enough out of Jarrett Stidham to know he’s not the answer at quarterback, as much as he wants to be.

Stidham’s leadership is to be applauded, but his aspirations have to be put in check. That’s the cruel reality of the NFL, and Payton is just the right coach to make the tough decision.

And not fall for the trap.

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