Former Broncos quarterback lands gig in Cincinnati

The Denver Broncos struggled to find a quarterback for the better part of a decade. The eight years that spanned between the Peyton Manning era and the Bo Nix era were filled with a dozen different starting quarterbacks (13 including Phillip Lindsay when he started at QB against New Orleans in 2020) for the orange and blue as they struggled to find stability at the most important position time and time again.

One of those signal callers was Brett Rypien, who started three games for the Broncos (one in 2020, two in 2022) and appeared in six more in his four years with the organization. He only led Denver to victory in one of those three starts, a 24-15 victory over Arizona late in the 2022 season.

Since Rypien’s time with the Broncos came to an end after the 2022 season, he has been a part of six different franchises, mostly on practice squads. He signed with the Cincinnati Bengals at the start of this season, and got a bigger opportunity to make an impact with the team on Tuesday.

Brett Rypien, who had been on the #Bengals practice squad, is being signed to the 53-man roster, source says. That puts him in line to be the backup to Jake Browning. https://t.co/EGMIrsUHnZ

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 16, 2025

Following the turf toe injury that is estimated to sideline star quarterback Joe Burrow for around three months, Rypien is now in line to be the backup for Cincinnati and Jake Browning. If things stay as-is for the next two weeks, he will be the backup signal caller when the Bengals come to town to take on the Broncos for a Monday Night Football showdown in Week 4.

All signs are pointing to Browning being the starter for the Bengals for the foreseeable future, as he has held the backup role for the last three seasons. If another injury were to happen, or if Browning were to throw another three interceptions like he did in relief of Burrow last week, the Broncos could end up facing their former backup in an important game.

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