Broncos quarterback : ‘I can be the guy for us next year’

When the Las Vegas Raiders started quarterback Jarrett Stidham for the final two games of the 2022 season, it was part of the NFL team’s plan to part ways with QB Derek Carr in the offseason. The Raiders weren’t planning to give Stidham an opportunity to earn the job in 2023.

Instead, Las Vegas signed quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, and Stidham left as a free agent for the Denver Broncos in the offseason.

The Broncos benched nine-time Pro Bowler Russell Wilson to start Stidham in the final two games of the 2023 season. This time, Stidham will be back for another season, and the former Auburn standout wants the opportunity to stay in the lineup.

“I’m very confident that I can be the guy for us next year,” Stidham said on Monday in the Broncos’ locker room. “I have no doubts about that. But I’m going to continue to work as hard as possible this offseason and learn as much as possible and that sort of thing. I’m excited for the opportunity. …

“I’ll be back in April and ready to rock, so I’m excited for the opportunity to come back, for sure.”

Denver won Stidham’s first start this season 16-9 over the Los Angeles Chargers on Dec. 31. But in their season finale, the Broncos fell 27-14 to the Raiders, who sacked Stidham five times.

In the two games, Stidham completed 40-of-66 passes for 496 yards with two touchdowns and one interception

“Obviously, the goal was to go 2-0 in those two weeks,” Stidham said. “But I thought we did some good things – some stuff to build off of, for sure. But we’ll take a look at everything this offseason and evaluate and see if we can get better. …

“I felt like I definitely grew in those two weeks. It’s one thing to practice certain things, but once you’re out there playing it, making calls at the line and doing certain things and getting a feel for it in live action, I felt like I definitely grew and looking forward to the spring.”

Denver posted an 8-9 record in its first season under coach Sean Payton – the Broncos’ best mark since going 9-7 in 2016.

“It’s huge to be in a system now for a year,” Stidham said. “Some of us were talking: Whenever we come back in the spring, nothing’s going to be new. It’s all going to be stuff that we’ve heard before, stuff that we know how to do and why we’re doing it, and so half the time, that’s the battle. It’s good to kind of have that under your belt.”

After Stidham closed his career at Auburn by throwing for 373 yards and five touchdowns in a 63-14 victory over Purdue in the Music City Bowl on Dec 28, 2018, he joined the New England Patriots in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft.

In his first NFL preseason, Stidham completed 61-of-90 passes for 731 yards with four touchdowns and one interception as he led the AFC in passing yards and beat out veteran Brian Hoyer to serve as Tom Brady’s backup during the three-time NFL MVP’s final season with New England.

Stidham played in three NFL regular-season games in 2019 and five in 2020, when he backed up another former Auburn quarterback, Cam Newton.

In 2021, Stidham never got in a game after sustaining an offseason injury, and New England went with rookie Mac Jones as its starting quarterback and Hoyer as the backup. Stidham had surgery on July 28, 2021, because of a back injury and spent the first nine weeks of the season on the reserve/physically-unable-to-perform list.

Stidham joined the Raiders in May 2022, when Las Vegas sent a sixth-round choice in the 2023 NFL Draft to the New England Patriots for the quarterback and a seventh-round pick. The trade reunited Stidham with Las Vegas coach Josh McDaniels, his offensive coordinator for three seasons with the Patriots.

In 16 NFL regular-season games, with four starts, Stidham has completed 117-of-197 passes for 1,422 yards with eight touchdowns and eight interceptions and run for 97 yards on 32 carries.

Only four former Auburn players have more NFL passing yards than Stidham – Newton, Jason Campbell, Dick Wood and Dieter Brock.