From Backup Plan to Playoff Spotlight: Jarrett Stidham Gets His Moment Against Former Team
There’s some serious football poetry unfolding in the AFC Championship Game this weekend. Jarrett Stidham - once considered a backup option for the Patriots this past offseason - will now be starting against them, leading the Denver Broncos into the conference title game.
Yes, that Jarrett Stidham. The same quarterback who was on New England’s radar last spring as they sorted out who would sit behind rookie Drake Maye.
The Patriots ultimately passed, and Stidham returned to Denver. Now, nearly ten months later, he’s the one standing between New England and a trip to the Super Bowl.
The twist? Stidham hasn’t thrown a pass in a game since January 7, 2024.
That’s 749 days without a live-game throw - the longest gap for a quarterback starting a playoff game since 1950. But with Bo Nix sidelined due to an ankle fracture suffered in Denver’s divisional-round win, the Broncos are turning to their backup-turned-starter with a Super Bowl berth on the line.
Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel couldn’t help but acknowledge the irony of it all.
“It was kind of ironic, just speaking with his agent,” Vrabel said. “They’re like, ‘Well, if you don’t want your starter to get hurt, sign Jarrett.’ That was before yesterday or two days ago.”
Now it’s Stidham’s show.
The 29-year-old quarterback has had a winding road to this moment. Drafted by the Patriots in 2019, he never quite broke through in New England.
He followed Josh McDaniels to the Raiders in 2022, then landed in Denver last season. While he’s only played four snaps this year, Broncos head coach Sean Payton has been bullish on his potential from day one.
In fact, Payton made Stidham one of his first signings after taking over in Denver, bringing him in on the first day of free agency. This past offseason, the Broncos doubled down, handing him an extension that briefly made him the league’s highest-paid backup quarterback. Payton’s belief hasn’t wavered.
“Stiddy’s ready, and we’ll be ready for the next challenge,” Payton said after confirming Nix’s injury. “I’ve said this at the beginning of the season - I feel like I have a No. 2 that’s capable of starting for a number of teams.
I know he feels the same way. So watch out.
Just watch.”
The Patriots, for their part, aren’t underestimating him.
Vrabel, who faced Stidham during his time coaching the Titans, praised the quarterback’s vision and decisiveness.
“Just going back to when Josh had him and playing against that,” Vrabel said. “I think he sees things really well.
I think he’s athletic enough to extend, like we talk about a lot of quarterbacks. Accuracy.
I think the decision-making - he’s really decisive in the games that we went back and watched. This is even going back to when I was in Tennessee as well.”
Linebacker Christian Elliss echoed that respect, noting that with Sean Payton preparing the game plan, the Broncos will be ready no matter who’s under center.
“Honestly, whoever’s at the helm, they’re going to be ready to play and they’re going to be a challenge in themselves,” Elliss said. “Everyone’s in this league for a reason. From my experience and from watching them, Sean has been just a really good coach at getting them prepared and getting them in the right state of mind.”
So here we are: a quarterback who hasn’t thrown a pass in over two years, stepping into the AFC Championship Game against the team that once drafted him - and passed on bringing him back. It’s a full-circle moment, the kind of unexpected twist that only the NFL playoffs can deliver.
Stidham’s waited a long time for this shot. Now, with a Super Bowl on the line, he gets to show exactly what he’s made of - and he’ll do it against the franchise where his NFL story first began.