By selecting Bo Nix 12th overall, Sean Payton and the Broncos added a potential franchise quarterback. Whether or not the uber-experienced college passer takes on starting duties as a rookie remains to be seen, though.
Denver used a rotation of Nix, Jarrett Stidham and Zach Wilson with the first-team offseason during spring practices. A report from earlier this month pointed to Nix being the favorite despite Stidham’s familiarity with Payton’s scheme. On that note, Troy Renck of the Denver Post confirms Nix “has ground to cover” relative to the 27-year-old who made two Broncos starts last season.
On the other hand, Payton has not been shy about praising Nix’s acclimation so far. The former Saints Super Bowl winner noted (via Renck’s colleague Parker Gabriel) the Oregon alum’s performances so far have matched the team’s expectations based on their pre-draft evaluations. As Renck adds, Nix could very well wind up getting the nod for Week 1. That would turn attention from Stidham’s perspective to a competition with Wilson for the QB2 gig.
Here are some other quarterback notes:
- The top priority for NFL teams during this part of the year is having players avoid non-football injuries. As a result, the contracts of several players list specific activities which are deemed off-limits. In the case of Patrick Mahomes, that list includes basketball. The three-time Chiefs Super Bowl MVP would have the guarantees in his deal voided if he were to be injured playing basketball, as detailed by ESPN’s Marc Raimondi. Mahomes’ monster extension was restructured again in March to create cap space, but it still runs through 2031. Plenty of rolling guarantees (in terms of both salary and bonuses) remain on the contract, giving him ample reason to play things safe.
- Trey Lance is on the books with the Cowboys for one more season, with the team having made the unsurprising decision of declining his fifth-year option. The former 49ers top-three pick did not play last year, and it remains to be seen if he will serve as Dak Prescott‘s backup. Clarence Hill Jr. of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram notes Lance is likely still behind Cooper Rush on the depth chart. The latter has made 26 appearances and six starts for Dallas, and he has one year remaining on his deal. With both Rush and Lance set to reach free agency next spring, their respective training camp and preseason performances will be key in determining the pecking order.
- Taulia Tagovailoa‘s pro football career will begin north of the border. The CFL’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats announced Tua Tagovailoa‘s younger brother signed with the team. Taulia began his college tenure at Alabama, but he transferred to Maryland and enjoyed a successful four-year run there. Tagovailoa, 24, broke the Big Ten’s all-time records for passing yards (11,265) and completion percentage (67.1%) with the Terrapins before going undrafted into the NFL this year. He received a look from the Seahawks and Cardinals during their minicamps, but his attention will now turn to earning playing time in Hamilton.
Personally, I’m excited to see another ‘HoF HC’ fail miserably w/o a HoF QB at the helm. But we’ll be told over and over again how great Sean was with Drew QB’ing. Let’s see what Sean does w/ a nobody QB.
We are going to see what Payton can actually do, cause he couldn’t do anything but bitch an moan with Russ, now he’s going to fail again, but he has a built in excuse for this year, but his times running out. He’s going to bd lucky to be considered mediocre
I’m sorry, are you blaming Payton for the washed up reject that is known as Russell Wilson? One of the most overrated QB of all time. Two hall of fame coaches have now traded away Russell Wilson. Seattle was a defense/running team that Wilson happened to be apart of when they won. Wilson did not win them anything. He failed at the broncos and he will fail again, because he’s a narcissistic loser, just like his washed up wife.
I’m not blaming Sean for a washed up Russ. I want to see him develop another QB; he won’t. He’s overrated. Plenty of 7-9 seasons w/ Drew under center for to boot.
As much as I hate Wilson, dude was not overrated as a seachicken. He KILLED the niners in clutch moments, especially on 3rd downs when he was more mobile. Definite HOFer when he hangs them up
Yes Brees was so great in San Diego
Bridgewater went 5-0
Hill did a great job
Winston was serviceable
Brees was better than Rivers. Not Drew’s fault the franchise went in a different direction.
Don’t forget romo too, Payton developed him as well. Arty just likes to make up stories because he and Jackson Mahomes do tiktok dances together on OF.
Romo started for Dallas after Sean was in Nola, 2006. Facts do help in an argument. Try again!
You don’t even have your facts lined up. Payton was the qb’s coach when romo was brought in and is credited for turning romo into a star caliber qb.
Wade Wilson was more involved with Romo, Sean Payton worked more alongside Vinny Testaverde and Drew Bledsoe with Dallas.
Yeah because so many assistant coaches get credit for developing UDFA’s QB’s that were 3rd on the depth chart for 3 years (’03-’06 prior to starting).
Facts are important. But if you think giving credit for ‘developing’ a QB w/ a 2-4 playoff record is good, so be it. I won’t waste my time w/ that argument.
Does BB get credit for developing TB12???
Seeing how romo credited Payton, and rooms been better than 90% of qb’s since, I mean… just say you want to d ride KC arty, you only comment about talking trash about Payton everytime his name comes up, but don’t want to admit he took a 3 win team with a trash qb to 8 wins. I mean you can only d ride Patrick and Jackson so much
Bo Nix starting Week 1 for Denver is not unfathomable. The Broncos’ first game is at Seattle — and Seahawk games are on TV throughout Oregon, where Nix starred for the Ducks the last 2 years.
Anyone know if it is possible for a pro player to ask for his release in order to go back to college in order to gain some experience and get paid some NIL money? Perhaps Trey Lance should explore that option…
Somehow going back to college for another 4 years and praying you don’t get injured during that time, doesn’t seem like a great option. It would probably make more sense for Lance to start a “GO FUND ME” campaign…lol.
Sean Payton: “Now Adam, make sure you mention I was a former Super Bowl winner because I’ll be sending out job resumes after the 5 win season that we’re about to have in Denver”.
Ehhh Nix bought him some time. And last wasn’t bad; Payton made Wilson look salvageable. It was pretty obvious to me that Payton was the source of this improvement; it was observable that Denver’s offense was much better at the start of games, as the scripted plays were run. When Payton’s script ended and Wilson took over, there was much more confusion, and more “risk it all” type gambles.
Most of the ire towards Payton is derived from the bounty scandal (which is pretty loosely tied to him versus Gregg Williams based on what evidence actually exists, though it did certainly happen with him as overseer) and his annoying, bombastic style. If we look at his offenses, though, there’s no doubt tgat he is an excellent schemer. The more play by play you see from Payton, the more creativity you can find. He understands matchups and leverage very well, better than nearly anyone. I do think that he’s gotten a bit arrogant over the years, and that having one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time has altered his perspective of what he can and can’t do. You can’t just invent another Drew Brees, and without another elite player at tgat position, your production is never truly going to measure up to what you did with him. Payton probably knows this, but we’ll have to see if he can adapt to Nix and not try to simply do what he did with Brees with him.
Brees was also not a rookie when he came to New Orleans; though he far, far, far outshined his San Diego production, he was still a decently productive QB in the handful of years that he had there. That allowed Payton to give him a hand in developing the offense, which of course grew stronger as their relationship progressed. You can’t do that with a rookie. I don’t think that Nix has anything close to Brees in terms of awareness (to be fair, nobody but Peyton Manning ever did-Brees was that smart), and I don’t think that Nix will ever be a top tier elite passer, but I do think that Payton will scheme guys open for him. If Nix can develop accordingly, he could have a good chance to be good enough to lead Denver long term with Payton planning the offense. I’m not sure that Payton bet on the right guy to make his stand, but he’s going to have to either make it work. I could see a scenario where Nix, if he’s truly terrible, is canned after a year and Payton gets one more chance, but that’s about as extreme a scenario as I can imagine. Payton pushed for this pick, and I think he knows as well as we do that everybody is watching how he handles it.