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Jeff Legwold, ESPN Senior Writer
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Jarrett Stidham has seen up close how fast football life for a quarterback can change.
And as the Denver Broncos move through their second round of OTAs this week, it just keeps changing for Stidham.
Stidham also experienced this in 2023 when he started the final two games of the season after Broncos coach Sean Payton benched Russell Wilson. And with the expectation Wilson would be released in the wake of the benching — he was, in early March — Stidham stood in front of his locker in January just hours after the season finale and declared he was “very confident that I can be the guy for us next year.”
Then, April rolled around, and the Broncos traded for former first-round pick Zach Wilson just before the draft and then selected Bo Nix with the No. 12 overall pick. Now, Stidham faces an entirely different landscape to keep himself in the Broncos’ quarterback conversation.
“I’ve dealt with this before when I was in New England when we drafted (former first-round pick) Mac Jones,” Stidham said after an OTA practice last week. “It’s a business, I totally understand it, but at the same time, I’m here to compete. I’m not going to just sit down and let someone else walk on in here — I’m going to work my butt off to get the job. I’m super excited about it.”
Stidham, who signed a two-year, $10 million deal before the 2023 season, suddenly finds himself a 27-year-old “vet in the room” trying to win a starting quarterback job that looked much more winnable just five weeks ago.
Zach Wilson is a former first-round pick — No. 2 overall, by the New York Jets in the 2021 draft — and Payton said Nix was Denver’s target all along in the first round of the draft. That puts Stidham in a somewhat curious place many former backup quarterbacks find themselves in: a mentor who could also be considered an upset winner of the job.
“That’s kind of the NFL,” Stidham said. “I think competition brings out the best in you … this is the first time I’ve been the vet in the room and that’s a little bit different. Probably having a little more knowledge of the NFL in general, (but) at the end of the day it’s a competition and that’s what I’m here to do is compete.”
As the team moves through the offseason program, Payton has promised an equal split of work for the three quarterbacks. In the three OTA days last week, Stidham worked with the starters the most on Tuesday, Wilson with the starters the most on Wednesday and Nix with the starters the most on Thursday.
How it all transpires once training camp opens in late July, as well as in the preseason games and the joint practices with the Green Bay Packers, remains to be seen. Payton has said it’s a three-player race and that “we go by what we see” as they each adjust to his offense, a task where Stidham has an advantage.
“They come from different systems, one is coming from college, one is coming from two or three NFL systems, and the other is coming from one system,” Payton said of Nix, Stidham and Wilson, respectively. “They’re all in a race to learn this system. I would say … they’re doing well.”
The Broncos were 1-1 in Stidham’s two starts as he had two touchdowns and one interception in the two games combined. The Broncos scored 14 and 16 points, respectively, in the two games.
Stidham said before the Broncos began their offseason program that he worked to clean up some general technique issues, including footwork, to arrive ready to compete.
“(I’m) way more comfortable, I’m not out there thinking as much,” Stidham said of the team’s on-field work so far. “I’m just out there playing free and playing more confident, which is great … It’s been fun, it’s been exciting, having two new guys in the room.”
As far as how the team’s quarterback depth chart changed in April, Stidham has taken pragmatic approach to let the proverbial football chips fall where they may.
“(It’s) how the business of the NFL is,” Stidham said. ” … Try not to get too caught up in who takes first reps this day or whatever, it’s what am I supposed to do whenever I’m out there with whoever. Trying to make the right play, throw it to the right guy, make the right read.”