Broncos rookie quarterback Bo Nix had a debut to forget.
Nix struggled throughout the game in today’s 26-20 loss to the Seahawks, completing almost exclusively short passes and never threatening the defense downfield, looking very much like the first-time starter he is.
A fourth quarter Broncos possession ended when Nix threw a particularly terrible interception with three Seahawks defenders in the area. Nix did use his legs to lead a touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter, but it was too little, too late.
Nix completed 26 of 42 passes for 138 yards, with no touchdowns and two interceptions, and also ran five times for 35 yards and a touchdown.
Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith wasn’t great, but other than an early interception he did enough not to lose the game, and he also scored a touchdown on a career-long 34-yard run. Seattle running back Kenneth Walker topped 100 rushing yards and looked explosive with the ball in his hands.
The Seahawks have to be pleased with the win, but they also have to know they won’t benefit from many opposing quarterbacks playing as badly as Nix played today.
The Broncos have to be concerned, as Year Two with Sean Payton and Year One with Nix is off to a rough start.
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin didn’t want to talk about who will start at quarterback next Sunday after the Steelers’ 18-10 win over the Falcons and Justin Fields didn’t want to talk about it either.
Fields got the start because Russell Wilson is dealing with a calf injury and led the Steelers to six field goals in Sunday’s road win. Fields threw for 156 yards and ran for 57, but said his only concern was winning “no matter if I was going to throw for 300 yards, 100 yards, no yards.” He had a similar answer when it came to starting against the Broncos in Week Two.
“I’m not even worried about that,” Fields said. “I just came in wanting to win and I’m glad that we’re leaving here with a win. In terms of who’s starting, who’s not — all I want to do is win at the end of the day.”
Tomlin said he’ll discuss quarterback plans on Tuesday, so it will be a little bit before there’s any further update.
Here’s something you don’t see every day: Denver has scored two safeties in the second quarter of today’s game at Seattle.
The first safety came early in the second quarter, when the Seahawks were backed up at their own 1-yard line and guard Anthony Bradford was called for holding in the end zone.
Then, late in the second quarter, the Seahawks again had the ball on their own 1-yard line, and running back Zach Charbonnet was hit in the end zone and tackled just short of getting the ball across the goal line.
The last time a team scored two safeties in one game was in 2017, when the Dolphins did it against the Broncos.
The Broncos have a 10-9 lead just before halftime on the strength of two safeties and two field goals. The Seahawks have scored a field goal, and a touchdown on a 34-yard Geno Smith run, after which they failed on the two-point conversion. It’s been a strange game in Seattle.
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin didn’t make any Week Two quarterback announcements after the team’s 18-10 road win over the Falcons on Sunday.
Justin Fields got the start after Russell Wilson was ruled out with a calf injury and avoided big mistakes on a day when Kirk Cousins threw a pair of interceptions. Fields completed 17-of-23 passes for 156 yards and ran 14 times for 57 yards as the Steelers rode six Chris Boswell field goals to a season-opening win.
Tomlin was asked in his postgame press conference if Fields’s performance could lead to a lasting change at the top of the depth chart.
“You can come ask me that question on Tuesday,” Tomlin said.
Wilson’s health will have a role in any decision that the Steelers make and an extended absence along with more wins under Fields could make it harder for him to get back in the lineup.
Broncos rookie quarterback Bo Nix will have fullback Mike Burton and wide receiver Lil’Jordan Humphrey available to him in Sunday’s debut against the Seahawks.
The Broncos elevated Burton and Humphrey from the practice squad to the active roster for Sunday’s game at Seattle.
Each week, teams can elevate up to two players from the practice squad to the active roster to play in that week’s game. Players can be elevated at most three times in a season.
Burton is one of the Broncos’ top special teams players and will also likely get some snaps at fullback. Humphrey provides solid depth in the receiving corps and caught 13 passes for 162 yards and three touchdowns last season for the Broncos.
With Nix making the first start of his career, the Broncos are six-point underdogs on the road against the Seahawks in the opener, which is a 4:05 p.m. ET kickoff.
Wide receiver Tyler Lockett is listed as questionable to face the Broncos on Sunday, but it doesn’t sound like there’s any concern about him missing the game.
Lockett was a limited participant in practice on Wednesday and Thursday, but his thigh injury was doing well enough for him to fully participate on Friday. Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald said after practice that all went well in practice and that he thinks the veteran will be in the lineup.
“Tyler looks good,” Macdonald said, via the team’s website. “We expect him to play, he’s been limited all week, but I expect him to be out there.”
Edge rusher Uchenna Nwosu (knee) and tight end Pharoah Brown (foot) were both officially ruled out on Friday. Both players have missed multiple weeks with their injuries.
Bo Nix is ending two long streaks with the Broncos this year.
Nix is set to be the first rookie quarterback to start a season opener for the team since John Elway in 1983 and he became the first rookie to be named a team captain since Floyd Little was named to that role in 1967. Head coach Sean Payton called a rookie being named a captain a “first for me” and Nix said that he recognizes the “honor” that comes with the title.
“I don’t take it lightly,” Nix said, via Jeff Legwold of ESPN.com. “I know it’s a big deal, hasn’t happened often, but I don’t take it for granted. I’ve got to come to work every single day and just prove you can be the captain.’'
The Broncos will be looking for Nix to prove them right about both his captain status and his spot as the starting quarterback. If he does, chances are good it will be another long run before anyone pulls off the kind of double that Nix pulled off heading into this season.
Broncos head coach Sean Payton said earlier this week that he’d let people know when he made a decision about the No. 2 quarterback behind Bo Nix and that word came from the Broncos on Wednesday.
The team released an updated depth chart for Sunday’s road game against the Seahawks and it shows that Jarrett Stidham is on the second rung. Zach Wilson is No. 3, which puts him on track to be inactive as the emergency quarterback this weekend.
Stidham seemed the likely choice for the role after he was Nix’s chief competition for the starting job this summer. Stidham also closed out last season as the starter in Denver.
Also of note on the depth chart is the inclusion of fullback Michael Burton and wide receiver Lil’Jordan Humphrey. Both players are currently on the practice squad, so listing them suggests they will be elevated to take part in Sunday’s game.
Patrick Surtain II is sticking around in Denver for the foreseeable future.
The contract is announced. And the details have made their way to PFT HQ.
Here they are, per a source with knowledge of the terms:
1. Signing bonus: $15 million.
2. 2024 training camp roster bonus: $2.463 million, fully guaranteed.
3. 2024 base salary: $1.055 million, fully guaranteed.
4. 2025 option bonus: $21 million, fully guaranteed (paid by March 31, 2025).
5. 2025 base salary: $1.17 million, fully guaranteed.
6. 2026 option bonus: $10 million, guaranteed for injury at signing and fully guaranteed on the fifth day of the 2025 league year.
7. 2026 base salary: $7.632 million, guaranteed for injury at signing and fully guaranteed on the fifth day of the 2025 league year.
8. 2027 base salary: $17 million, guaranteed for injury at signing and fully guaranteed on the fifth day of the 2026 league year.
9. 2028 base salary: $19.49 million, $2.179 million of which is guaranteed for injury at signing and $1.179 million of which becomes fully guaranteed on the fifth day of the 2026 league year and another $1 million of which becomes fully guaranteed on the fifth day of the 2027 league year.
10. 2028 per-game roster bonus: $510,000 total.
11. 2029 base salary: $23.49 million.
12. 10. 2028 per-game roster bonus: $510,000 total.
The new-money average on the four-year extension $24 million sets a new mark for cornerbacks or safeties — blowing the prior record out of the water for cornerbacks by $3 million per year.
The $77.5 million in total guarantees is the highest for any defensive back in league history.
Also, $39.5 million is paid out in the first nine months.
Surtain had two years left on his rookie deal. Through three years, he’ll make what he was due to earn plus one year of the projected franchise tag — plus $11 million more.
Most teams like to wait four years before signing a first-round pick to a new deal, since that fourth year is very cheap. The Broncos were willing to forgo that and get Surtain now the four-year, $96 million extension that he likely would have taken after the year, given that the market had been mired in the low $20 million range.
The Broncos have announced their captains and for the first time in a long time, the group includes a rookie.
Quarterback Bo Nix has been named a captain after Denver selected him at No. 12 overall in the spring and he won the starting quarterback job in camp.
Nix, 24, is the first Broncos rookie to be named a captain since 1967, according to the team’s announcement. That’s when Hall of Fame running back Floyd Little earned the honor.
Receiver Courtland Sutton, guard Quinn Meinerz, cornerback Pat Surtain II, linebacker Alex Singleton, and kicker Wil Lutz are Denver’s remaining five captains. Meinerz, Surtain, Singleton, and Lutz are all first-time captains for the franchise while Sutton remains a captain for the fourth consecutive season.
The Broncos will start their season in the Pacific Northwest against the Seahawks on Sunday.