Now two games into the 2018 preseason, it is painfully obvious that Paxton Lynch is not going to ever be a capable player for the Denver Broncos. After being demoted to the No. 3 spot behind Chad Kelly on the depth chart, Lynch came out and completely laid an egg in last Saturday’s home loss to the Chicago Bears.
The former first round pick was 5-of-11 for 39 yards, took a pair of brutal sacks and finished the evening with a QBR of 54.7. Kelly on the other hand, was 7-of-9 for 90 yards and one touchdown, finishing the game with an impressive QBR of 145.4.
Kelly’s impressive play this August has certainly helped him win over most of Broncos Country and the eccentric, young QB looks like he may have been a steal for the Broncos in the seventh round. But with a variety of veteran quarterbacks on the market, the team may opt to pursue someone with a little more experience to back up Case Keenum this season.
One potential option for the Broncos could be trading for Teddy Bridgewater. According to Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News, multiple teams have already contacted the Jets about making a move for the former Louisville star, and the Jets are willing to move him for the right price. The Jets currently have Bridgewater (25 years old), Josh McCown (39 years old) and Sam Darnold (21 years old) on the roster, and with Darnold likely to start in Week 1, it makes for the organization to try to make a move.
Mehtra’s report states that the Dolphins, Patriots and Broncos are all potential landing spots for Bridgewater. Miami and New England are both in the AFC East though, so it seems unlikely that the Jets would trade a player of Bridgewater’s potential within the division.
If the Broncos were to make a move for Bridgewater, the 25 year-old QB is currently on a one-year deal worth $6 million and includes up to $9 million in incentives. According to Mehtra, the Jets would potentially be willing to move the QB for a fourth round pick. If this actually the case, Broncos general manager should absolutely be on the phone trying to make a deal.
Kelly has looked like a promising young talent but Broncos fans are kidding themselves if they believe the team actually trusts him enough at this point to go out and fill in for Keenum in the regular season. By making a move for Bridgewater, the team would have a pair of capable NFL veterans, which means if anything goes wrong this season, the Broncos will have some flexibility. And in the meantime, Kelly would be able continue focus on his development and learning how to be a professional quarterback.
Some may argue that adding Bridgewater to the mix does not make sense because Bridgewater is not a backup quarterback and has no desire to be in that role. But this is a silly argument because every single player on the roster should want to be out there competing, so his desire to play only seems like a positive to me. At the end of the day, this is the NFL and there is no such thing as having too much talent in the quarterback room. If Bridgewater is on the market, the Broncos should be interested.