Clayton: Fitzpatrick makes sense for the Broncos while they await Watson

Today, a report surfaced from Woody Paige that the Broncos have made contact with Ryan Fitzpatrick. This move would make a lot of sense for George Paton. Fitzpatrick is scheduled to become a free agent and unlikely to head back to the Dolphins after losing his position to Tua Tagovailoa last season. “Fitzmagic” is a veteran that can still play, and would be a credible challenger for Drew Lock while they await the possibility of acquiring Deshaun Watson in August.

As discussed earlier this week, the Broncos are in the best position to wait for a possible Watson deal. The Texans will likely wait until August to see if he’ll hold out or not. They know Watson’s feelings; he doesn’t want to play in Houston anymore. However, Nick Caserio and David Culley want to keep Watson as their quarterback if they can. That bluff would have to go all the way into August.

What does that mean for Paton and the Broncos? Again, their biggest advantage is that time and patience is on their side because of Lock. And adding a veteran like Fitzpatrick to challenge him could strengthen their team in 2021, while not eliminating them from a potential blockbuster for Watson in August.

In other quarterback news, the trade market has surprisingly slowed down a bit around the league. The Texans aren’t taking calls on Watson and continue to say they’ll be keeping their disgruntled passer. As for Russell Wilson, the Seahawks are not going to move him. This despite the fact Wilson’s agent came up with four teams he’s accept a deal to: Dallas, Chicago, Las Vegas and New Orleans. Seattle would take a $39 million dead cap hit by trading Wilson, ruining their season while losing their franchise quarterback. That won’t happen.

As for some of the other names discussed, talk about Marcus Mariota being moved by the Raiders has come down. He has several incentives in his contract that would significantly inflate his cost should he start 16 games for a new team. It looks like Jimmy Garappolo will be staying in San Francisco after John Lynch’s comments this week, while we’ve also learned Ben Roethlisberger will be returning to Pittsburgh. And in New York, Sam Darnold may need to wait until the Jets have completed their evaluations of the top quarterbacks coming out in the draft and determine if they’ll select one with the number two pick.

What we’re seeing around the league is adjustments are being made right now by teams, including the Broncos. If you can’t pick up a quarterback in a trade that makes sense, what can you do to bring in some talent to compete for your quarterback position? In Denver’s case, providing a challenge to Drew Lock. Stay tuned, things are shaping to get interesting but at the moment the trade movement is slowing down.