{"id":950369,"date":"2026-07-20T05:06:27","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T05:06:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/950369\/"},"modified":"2026-07-20T05:06:27","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T05:06:27","slug":"sam-ehlinger-could-unseat-jarrett-stidham-as-broncos-qb2-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/950369\/","title":{"rendered":"Sam Ehlinger Could Unseat Jarrett Stidham As Broncos’ QB2?"},"content":{"rendered":"

After re-signing<\/a> Sam Ehlinger<\/a> in March, the Broncos have their three-man quarterback group from 2025 in place: Bo Nix<\/a>, Jarrett Stidham<\/a>, and Ehlinger. Stidham has worked as Denver\u2019s second-string passer in each of the past three seasons, operating as Russell Wilson<\/a>\u2019s QB2 in 2023 and then as Nix\u2019s backup over the 2024-25 campaigns.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>According to Parker Gabriel of the Denver Post<\/a>, that could change in 2026. In Gabriel\u2019s opinion, Ehlinger will overtake Stidham for the backup job.<\/p>\n

Gabriel makes it clear his prediction is not based on Stidham\u2019s performance in last season\u2019s AFC championship game, in which the former Patriots draftee was thrust into action due to the ankle injury Nix had suffered the week before. In that contest, which was ultimately derailed by snowy conditions, Stidham completed 17 of 31 passes for 133 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. He also committed a costly fumble, but MVP runner-up Drake Maye<\/a> did not fare well either, and New England won the contest by a slim 10-7 margin.<\/p>\n

Other teams do not seem to be holding his title game showing against Stidham, as he reportedly generated trade interest<\/a> earlier this year. And, as Gabriel concedes, the soon-to-be 30-year-old has earned a great deal of equity with the Broncos during his three-year Denver stint.<\/p>\n

But the Broncos\u2019 staff \u2013 including newly-promoted offensive coordinator Davis Webb, as Gabriel observes in a separate piece<\/a> \u2013 thinks highly of Ehlinger as well. Ehlinger impressed Webb & Co. last year, his first in Denver, with his mobility standing out as a particularly appealing trait. Even though he did not make the 53-man roster at the end of the 2025 preseason, he opted to remain with the team\u2019s practice squad<\/a> and continue working under Webb and head coach Sean Payton rather than accept an active-roster opportunity elsewhere.<\/p>\n

The fact that Ehlinger did receive active-roster offers indicates the Broncos would not be overvaluing him if they were to elevate him to the top backup job. Indeed, Gabriel says whomever ends up as the third-stringer may be another team\u2019s No. 2 by the end of August, thereby suggesting Denver could eventually entertain trade offers for one of its understudies.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gabriel acknowledges he is going out on a bit of a limb with his projection and that Stidham is still seen as the favorite for the backup post. Of course, the Broncos will strongly consider keeping all three on the 53-man roster.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Stidham is due to earn just shy of $6MM in 2026, the last year of his current deal. Ehlinger\u2019s new one-year accord is worth $2MM.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After re-signing Sam Ehlinger in March, the Broncos have their three-man quarterback group from 2025 in place: Bo…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":950370,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2062],"tags":[232,231,258,2426,7,3872,6,3875],"class_list":["post-950369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-denver-broncos","tag-broncos","tag-denver","tag-denver-broncos","tag-denverbroncos","tag-football","tag-jarrett-stidham","tag-nfl","tag-sam-ehlinger"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116950570755388562","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/950369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=950369"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/950369\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/950370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=950369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=950369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=950369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}