Broncos' long, labored search for a worthy successor to Peyton Manning continues for an eighth year

Published Aug. 5, 2024 5:35 p.m. ET

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ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — It's been almost eight and a half years since Peyton Manning threw his last NFL pass and the Denver Broncos are still searching for a suitable successor.

It's the most precarious position in the NFL, one that's featured 13 starters over the last seven seasons.

In the mix at training camp this year are rookie Bo Nix, reclamation project Zach Wilson and journeyman Jarrett Stidham.

These aren't exactly the ones breaking the bank and resetting the quarterback market. Nix will earn $795,000 in 2024, Zach Wilson is due $1.12 million and Stidham $4.49 million.

Of course, the Broncos are paying all but $1.21 million of Russell Wilson's $39 million salary while he suits up in Pittsburgh this season, part of their costly divorce that features a record $85 million in dead cap charges over two years.

Zach Wilson, whom the Jets drafted second overall in 2021, has shown off the strongest arm of this year's candidates but he's fallen behind Stidham and Nix, who's starting to show more flashes than flubs and has emerged as a slight favorite.

Nix's NCAA-record 61 collegiate starts are evident when he steps up to the line, nickel back Ja'Quan McMillian said: “There was one practice where he saw that we would blitz and he checked out of it and was able to get the offense right and make a good play. So, seeing him getting better each and every day is a good thing to see.”

Especially if the Broncos are going to roll with the rookie from the get-go. If so, Nix will become the 14th different player to start at quarterback for Denver since Manning retired in 2016 after winning Super Bowl 50.

The only other NFL QB who retired after starting and winning a Super Bowl was John Elway in 1999. Two decades later, he returned to Dove Valley and built another Super Bowl champion with Manning as the linchpin.

His QB luck pretty much started and ended right there.

By his own recent admission, Elway's biggest regret was not drafting Josh Allen with the fifth pick in 2018 when he bypassed his model QB — tall, strong, tough and versatile — for pass rusher Bradley Chubb, a mistake that changed the fortunes of the franchise.

Some signposts along the twisted road the Broncos have roamed in compiling a 52-79 record since sending Manning out a champion.

Bigger Blunder?

The seeds of Elway's misstep with Allen were planted two years earlier when Brock Osweiler followed Manning out the door, signing with the Texans. Elway acquired Mark Sanchez and drafted Memphis project passer Paxton Lynch, both of whom were beaten out by Trevor Siemian, who would go 13-11 for Denver.

Unhappy Homecoming

Lynch started just four games in two years, so Elway didn't know if he had a bona fide QB on his hands when 2018 rolled around and the Broncos passed on Allen, who's taken the Bills to the playoffs five years in a row. After one season in Houston, Osweiler ended up back in Denver, going 0-4 in 2017.

Franchise Fizzle

Elway accidentally introduced Case Keenum in 2018 as “Case Keesum.” After following up his breakout season in Minnesota by going 6-8 in Denver, Keenum declared, “I learned what it is to be a franchise quarterback.” He'd soon learn he was being replaced by veteran Joe Flacco.

Flacco Flops

Flacco never hit his groove in Denver, going 2-6 before a neck injury ended his 2019 season. Brandon Allen went 1-2 until rookie Drew Lock returned from an injury himself and won four of his five starts, giving the Broncos hope their QB carousel was finally coming to a halt.

Lock Socked

Turnovers did in Lock in 2020, when he went 4-9 and was suspended along with Denver's three other QBs for a game against New Orleans when they broke the NFL's Covid-19 rules. Running back Phillip Lindsay started in the Wildcat formation and gets credit with the start — and the loss.

Bridge to Nowhere

Teddy Bridgewater was Denver's starter in 2021 but suffered a concussion and Lock finished up the season. Both would be gone by 2022 after GM George Paton sent a haul of players and picks to Seattle for Russell Wilson in what would turn out to be one of the worst deals in NFL history.

Wilson Wreck

Paton sent four premium picks and three vets, including Lock, to Seattle, but buyer's remorse must have set in quickly as Wilson stumbled through his worst season as he and rookie head coach Nathaniel Hackett proved a bad fit. Hackett was sacked late in the season and coach Sean Payton replaced him in 2023.

Coach-QB Clash

Per Payton's wishes, Wilson quieted his social media megaphone and lost weight last season. He bounced back, throwing for 26 TDs with just eight interceptions, but he often clashed with Payton, who benched him for the final two weeks in favor of Stidham.

Bright Future?

Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye, Michael Penix Jr. and J.J. McCarthy were all gone when Denver was on the clock at No. 12. Payton insisted Nix was his guy all along, and now he's trying to develop him into a franchise QB, one who can finally end the long, labored search for a worthy successor to Manning.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

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