3 Reasons Denver Broncos Won't Bring in Shedeur Sanders to Back up Bo Nix
Denver Broncos fans were mad with Jarrett Stidham last week. But Shedeur Sanders isn't the solution; this is still Stiddy City.
Shedeur Sanders to back up Bo Nix?
Nah. No, thanks. No way.
Jarrett Stidham struggled in Week 2 of preseason—as one of Denver's downs following the loss—but Broncos backupville is still Stiddy City.
3 Reasons Denver Broncos Won't Bring in Shedeur Sanders
Sean Keeler and Patrick Gabriel of the Denver Post discussed the Broncos bringing in Shedeur Sanders or Joe Milton to back up Bo Nix.
Sanders is a ridiculous thought. Milton seems just as unlikely.
Yesterday, the Browns picked Deshaun Watson—the man accused by 27 women of sexual assault—to be their starting quarterback over Sanders. (The NFL in February posted an article by the Associated Press to their website saying the last two civil cases vs. Watson were dropped.)
Watson has been booed by Browns fans, said he didn't care, then said lashed out against the fans. Even Sanders defended the veteran saying it was disrespectful and personal.
But Mina Kimes is right when saying he's not being booed because he's an alleged sexual abuser, but because he's bad at football.
"I think he's being booed because he's bad at football...I firmly believe that if he had come back after that first season, he had played well and he had not gotten hurt, he would have been praised. The football media and fans would have moved on."
Even all the negativity surrounding Watson and the fact that he's terrible at football now wasn't enough to make Sanders the starter.
Browns head coach Todd Monken explained starting Watson and benching Sanders:
"I think Sheduer's done a great job, come a long away, and we're excited about his future. But this is not a week-to-week decision."
So, could Sanders return to Colorado, where he played two years and somehow had his number retired?
After Stiddy struggled vs. the Packers in preseason—as well as that dismal performance vs. the Patriots in the AFC Championship where he fumbled the game away—Broncos fans were out for blood this week. They want Stidham gone.
Sanders to backup Bo? Don't be a bozo. It'd be a clown show.
1. Deion and Shedeur would be a PRIME distraction in Denver
The first reason why Shedeur Sanders won't be playing for the Broncos is he'd be a massive distraction.
This team is one that plays for one another and fights for one another. We hear it all the time in quotes from the players about one another.
We also saw it after the Monday Night Football win over the Bengals last year.
Marvin Mims and Pat Bryant talked about Mims' rushing touchdown and Bryant's unselfish block.
"It was either him or you," Bryant said. "I chose him."
"I appreciate that," Mims said with a smile.
Shedeur would only come in and wreck the locker room's vibe.
PRIME would be there, eventually asking for Sanders to start over Bo Nix. Hell, even the President might call Payton and ask for Shedeur to start.
Keep in mind that Payton and Deion PRIME Sanders are friends. After the Broncos 70-20 loss to the Dolphins in 2023 Sanders said:
“Hey, leave my guy alone. Leave my guy alone,” Sanders said of Payton. “I love the Broncos. I love their coach, and Sean Payton’s my guy. He’s going to get it right, I promise you that. I believe in Sean Payton.”
And Payton went to bat for Shedeur too, when Deion's son didn't go until the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft.
"We sat there. I watched right behind him throwing.... He had an outstanding pro day," Payton said. "I think we all are surprised, and yet the talent – holy cow, if you're a team that needs a quarterback."
Apparently the Sanders and Payton relationship came long ago when Payton had a Dallas area home.
"I saw [Shedeur] when he was in junior high, and then I saw him in high school, and then I saw him when he was a sophomore in high school when they were on their way to Florida," Payton said. "He's going to, like there'll be this chip on his shoulder, and beware because this guy is going to play in this league."
I disagree with Payton’s PR campaign for Sanders.
2. Sanders isn't an NFL-caliber quarterback
The second reason why the Broncos won't bring in Sanders is he's not a NFL-caliber QB.
Per Sheil Kapadia, Sanders EPA per pass play was 77th out of 78 qualifying quarterbacks the last two years.
In other words, he was god awful in terms of EPA.
Sanders' passer rating last year as a rookie was 68.1. That was behind all 33 players who qualified, including J.J. McCarthy (72.6). And his QBR was a dismal 18.9 (out of 100). Finally, his success rate (34.5) wasn't good enough to land in the top 33 either.
I look at all these metrics because he only played in 8 games last year, about half an NFL season. So it doesn't do much to look at passing touchdowns, or yards (though, if he qualified his 175 yards per game would've ranked 30th last year.) His efficiency in those 8 games show he's not good enough to be an NFL player.
Maybe a backup, but backups must take advantage of the few snaps they get. Sanders didn't.
Yes, Sanders was only a rookie. And yes, it was with the awful Browns. But real football-knowers were wary of his skills to translating to NFL success after playing decently at CU.
Now, the proof is in the pudding. Even if the Shedeur truthers try to paint him as a blossoming star.
There's a reason why he fell from the first round (lol) into Day 3 of the NFL Draft, and why the Browns even took Dillon Gabriel ahead of him before finally taking Shedeur. His play was borderline good enough to make it to the league and his oversized ego, fed by his overstepping dad were enough to see him fall so far.
Look, I'm not a fan of only giving a guy half a year to prove himself in the NFL. And it seems likely someone else will let Shedeur Sanders start some more games; maybe even the Browns will later this year.
But I don't think this guy has what it takes. It's an incredibly difficult and exclusive job, so he shouldn't feel too bad about it.
Rich Kurtzman
3. Jarrett Stidham is the backup for these Broncos
Maybe the most obvious reason why Sanders won't be traded for is that Stidham is Sean Payton's guy behind Nix.
Stiddy has been the backup quarterback for Sean Payton throughout his entire era in the Mile High City.
In fact, you'll probably remember that Stidham started three games in the 2023 season when Russell Wilson was benched. You'll remember that because it was talked about heavily in the lead up to the AFC Championship Game, when Stiddy was forced to start for an injured Bo Nix.
Sean Payton knew it was going to be incredibly difficult to win a conference championship with a backup quarterback who hadn't started in basically two seasons.
And yet, he rallied around Stiddy and had confidence in him to be ready for the game.
Payton is extremely loyal to his guys. Whether that be players or coaches. And he expects loyalty back.
It's not just that the old ball coach is loyal to his backup quarterback who lost the AFC Championship Game, it's that Stiddy knows the offense. If Denver were to cut ties with Stidham and bring in another quarterback, they wouldn't have time to learn the offense in case they were needed to play.
The offseason would've been the time to bring someone new in, but again, Payton likes Stidham as his backup QB. Hell, he probably wants Stiddy to get a chance to play again this year (maybe in Week 18?) and for the backup to get a win.
Ultimately, the drop off from starting quarterback to backup is a steep cliff. If a starter misses more than a few games, it spells doom for a team in 2026. Starters are given all the reps, all the practice to get the playcalls in their helmets, all the time to sync up with their receivers.
So it basically goes without saying; Broncos Country is hoping Bo Nix stays healthy for the entire season.
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Rich Kurtzman was born and raised in Denver Colorado and attended Colorado State University in Fort Collins in the aughts. He's been a professional writer since 2011, covering Colorado State football and men's basketball, as well as the Denver Broncos, for many outlets. Current Denver Broncos work can be found on Mile High Sports. Previous credits include CBS Denver and The USA TODAY Sports Media Group.
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