Paxton Lynch will serve as Siemian’s backup, which left Sanchez as the odd man out.
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Broncos coach Gary Kubiak told the team of his decision on Monday morning. “I saw Peyton do it”. “I knew he was a good kid”.
While a surprise to some the move by Kubiak makes sense because of Siemian’s experience in the Broncos’ system. “He’s probably got some commercials to shoot or something”.
That incremental improvement from day to day earned Siemian the job not through one a-ha moment, but gradually, through a summer’s worth of work. And he has no designs on changing his understated style, no plans to switch from the quiet, leader-by-example type to one who’s more vocal. “It wasn’t like, ‘OK, that’s it, throw in the towel.’ I think a lot of people interpreted it that way, but that’s never been my attitude”.
“That’s a tough question”, Siemian said. Siemian got in one regular season game previous year and had no passes and one rush for -1 yards. He didn’t play a single snap in the Broncos’ preseason win over the Rams. He’s kind of that backyard football kind of guy.
“I know that everyone in the huddle enjoys when he comes in there, because he’s always cool, calm and collected”.
With Lynch needing some seasoning as he adjusts from the spread offense he ran at Memphis, the QB competition came down to Sanchez, who has 72 career National Football League starts, and Siemian, who wasn’t even a full-time starter in college. The Broncos acquired Sanchez from the Philadelphia Eagles for a conditional 2017 draft pick, and they’d have to pay him $4.5 million if they don’t cut him. They need a guy who is a-ok with stashing a few more million in his bank account and bringing some level of a veteran presence into Denver’s quarterback room.
“Yeah, it was an unbelievable challenge”, Siemian said.
“I remember seeing him last year, when I first started seeing him throw, and he was the guy that I was throwing with prior to games last year”.
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Kubiak said Lynch will play the entire preseason finale at Arizona on Thursday night. He didn’t say if Sanchez has a future in Denver. In the Broncos most recent preseason game Sanchez didn’t play at all showing how little their coaching staff thinks of the veteran signal caller. “Yes, it is”, Kubiak said.
