The Denver Broncos created quite the quarterback conundrum for themselves this season. Veteran Russell Wilson, who was acquired in a blockbuster trade during the 2022 offseason, is already being run out of town.
The Broncos opted to bench him for the final two weeks of the season to avoid him getting injured and having guarantees in his contract kick in. It is something they were threatening him with for weeks, but once he helped turn the team’s record around, he remained the starter.
With Wilson’s time in Denver now complete, as he is expecting to be released eventually, the Broncos will have to look elsewhere for a starter. Knowing they need to have some bodies in the mix going into the offseason, they have already made one move.
NFL News & Rumors: Sean Payton, Jarrett Stidham, Ben DiNucci, Denver Broncos Updates
Ben DiNucci will be back for the 2024 season. He shared on social media that he signed a contract with the team, citing the source as himself for the news.
DiNucci was a seventh-round pick of the Dallas Cowboys in the 2020 NFL Draft and has started one game in his career, a 23-9 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles his rookie season. He completed 21-of-40 passes in the loss for 180 yards, adding 22 yards on the ground. But, he did turn the ball over multiple times, fumbling twice.
That was the last NFL regular season action DiNucci received. He spent the entire 2023 season on the Broncos’ practice squad and will be looking to move up the depth chart this offseason. The team will assuredly bring in more competition for him and their starter the last two weeks, Jarrett Stidham, to face.
Alas, Stidham is confident that he can win the starting job for the 2024 season after finishing out the 2023 campaign in that spot. It was a similar position to what he was in during the end of the 2022 season, when he replaced Derek Carr with the Las Vegas Raiders, who also didn’t want to pay a guarantee in their veteran quarterback’s contract.
NFL News & Rumors: Sean Payton, Jarrett Stidham, Ben DiNucci, Denver Broncos Updates
“I’m very confident that I can be the guy for us next year, I have no doubts about that,” Stidham told reporters on January 8. “But I’m going to continue to work as hard as possible this offseason and learn as much as possible. I’m excited for the opportunity for sure.”
The Broncos went 1-1 with Stidham leading the way in the final two games. While he didn’t blow anyone away with his statistics, he showed that he is capable of running Sean Payton’s offense with some success.
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