he Denver Broncos are heading into a unique couple of seasons where they will be paying former quarterback Russell Wilson $85 million not to play for them.

Head coach Sean Payton spent years tearing up the league in New Orleans with Drew Brees as his quarterback, so this is certainly not the scenario he wanted to come out of retirement for.

The franchise will now be looking for their next signal-caller, and it very well could still come in free agency as The DNVR beat reporter Zac Stevens shared a quote from Payton from Monday where the coach said, “there are still a few possibilities relative to guys who are currently in this league or have played in this league.”

Found this quote from Sean Payton on Monday very interesting when talking about the QB position:

"There are still a few possibilities relative to guys who are currently in this league or have played in this league."

That last part… "or have played in this league"

— Zac Stevens (@ZacStevensDNVR) March 30, 2024

What did he mean by, “or have played in this league?”

Is it possible Payton has a currently retired quarterback on their way to make the save?

Could it be Philip Rivers?

Peyton Manning?

A Drew Brees reunion?!

It’s always fun to speculate, but the more realistic path would be signing another veteran bridge quarterback and then selecting a rookie early in the draft.

There are a ton of big-name QB prospects in this draft, and each one appears to be moving up the mock draft boards quickly following a slew of impressive Pro Day performances.

The free agent QB market is fairly dried up, but there are still a few guys out there who would be a valued addition to a QB room, including Ryan Tannehill, Brian Hoyer, Blaine Gabbert, Carson Wentz, and former Bronco Trevor Siemian.