When we think about quarterback Zach Wilson headed into the 2025 season, the vibes are totally different than they were one year ago.
Headed into 2024, the former No. 2 overall pick was keeping his career on life support with the Denver Broncos, who obtained Wilson and a 2024 seventh round pick from the New York Jets in exchange for a 2024 sixth round pick in April 2024.
One year and some change later, Wilson’s career seems like it’s on a much different path. After spending one dutiful year buried on the depth chart for the Broncos behind rookie Bo Nix and Jarrett Stidham, he’s the clear QB2 on the Miami Dolphins behind Tua Tagovailoa.
Bleacher Report’s Brent Sobleski called Wilson the NFL’s most important backup quarterback headed into 2025 after he signed a 1-year, $6 million contract with the Dolphins on March 10.
“Zach Wilson may be the most important backup in the NFL considering who he is backing up this season,” Sobleski wrote on August 28. “Tua Tagovailoa’s injury history, specifically concussions, is well-documented. The Miami Dolphins’ starting quarterback has played a full regular-season slate only once during his five-year career.”
There is no quarterback in the NFL who seems more prone to injury than Tagovailoa due to his history of taking hits to the head — a history many think should have already ended his NFL career.
Wilson Fell Flat In 3 Seasons As Jets Starter
Wilson has already been a starting NFL quarterback once, in 3 seasons with the New York Jets from 2021 to 2023 after he was selected out of BYU at No. 2 overall and he signed a 4-year, $35.1 million rookie contract.
Wilson’s first bite at the starting apple didn’t go well — he went 12-21 and was benched 2 out of the 3 seasons before being traded to the Broncos. Of the 5 quarterbacks selected in the first round of the 2021 draft, only one, No. 1 overall pick Trevor Lawrence, remains with the team that picked him.
Spotrac projected Wilson’s current market value as a 1-year, $3.3 million contract in 2025— a number he almost doubled.
Broncos Had Choice Between Stidham and Wilson
It’s a testament to both Wilson and the Broncos coaching staff that he went from non-commodity to commodity over one season in which he never even played snaps outside of preseason games.
It also presented a choice to the Broncos headed into 2025 with both Stidham and Wilson becoming coveted free agent backup options. Although the Broncos ultimately went with Stidham on a 2-year, $12 million contract — reflecting a similar market value to Wilson.
From the Locked on Broncos podcast in February: “Everything kind of points here to Zach Wilson, and nobody’s talking about it enough … you see Denver looking at the free agency market at QB to say, hey, these are the guys we want to bring in as a backup?… To me, it doesn’t make sense necessarily to go with an older guy right now. I think with Zach Wilson, he’s young with similar traits and skill sets to Bo Nix. I think that’s where you have to go if you want to maintain status quo offensively.”
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