Fantasy Football News

Broncos QB Bo Nix needs surgery for a broken ankle suffered in Saturday's win over the Bills and will miss the rest of the playoffs, HC Sean Payton announced. It's unclear when Nix suffered the injury, as he didn't miss a single snap vs. Buffalo. We'll look for more info on Nix's injury and timeline for return, but it's unlikely to impact his 2026 season. It's obviously a brutal blow to the Broncos' playoff hopes, though. They'll turn to QB Jarrett Stidham in next Sunday's AFC Championship vs. the Patriots or Texans. Stidham has not thrown a regular-season pass since 2023. He started the final two games of the season for Denver that year, completing 60.6% of his passes at 7.4 yards per attempt with two TDs vs. one INT.

Update: Nix fractured a bone in his right ankle on the second-to-last play of overtime and will have surgery on Tuesday, Payton said.

ESPN's Adam Schefter reports that the Broncos will be benching QB Russell Wilson in favor of Jarrett Stidham for the season's final two games. You might remember Stidham playing the same role last year for the Raiders, who benched Derek Carr. And the reasoning on Wilson looks the same. Wilson is already guaranteed $39 million for 2024, but another $37 million would become guaranteed if Wilson can't pass a physical in March. So the Broncos don't appear to be done with Wilson like the Raiders were with Carr. Rather, they're trying to maintain some "financial flexibility," according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. Even if they'd like to trade Wilson, his contract basically prevents such a move. According to Spotrac, Denver would absorb $85 million in dead cap by unloading Wilson. So expect him to be the 2024 starter. As for the final two weeks of this year, Stidham will likely present a passing downgrade. WR Courtland Sutton has been just about the only usable piece for most fantasy football leagues lately, though. His injury leaves Jerry Jeudy as the expected Week 17 target leader. You'll find him low in WR3 territory in our Week 17 rankings.

Free agent QB Jarrett Stidham and the Broncos have agreed to terms on a two-year contract worth $10 million. This deal includes $5 million in guaranteed money and locks Stidham into serving as QB Russell Wilson's backup. Stidham started two games with the Raiders at the conclusion of the 2022 NFL season, tallying 584 passing yards with 4 TDs and 3 INTs. He should carry some appeal as a depth option in superflex leagues should any injury occur to Wilson in what should be a much-improved offense under new HC Sean Payton. Not all backup QBs are worth spending too much time thinking about for fantasy purposes, but Stidham is fairly intriguing here if nothing else.