Broncos sign Colts’ Sam Ehlinger to fill out quarterback room, source confirms

The Broncos’ quarterback hierarchy appears all but set for 2025.

On Monday morning, Denver signed former Indianapolis Colts free-agent quarterback Sam Ehlinger to a one-year contract, a source confirmed to The Denver Post. After re-signing backup Jarrett Stidham earlier in March to a two-year deal but seeing Zach Wilson leave for the Miami Dolphins in free agency, Ehlinger is poised to step into the Broncos’ room as QB3 and potentially push Stidham for the backup job behind Bo Nix.

FOX Sports’ Jordan Schultz first reported the news.

The 26-year-old Ehlinger will enter his fifth season in the NFL after four years battling in the Colts’ quarterback room, seeing the only three starts of his career in 2022 and going 0-3 with a 76.1 quarterback rating after Indianapolis benched then-starter Matt Ryan. He didn’t see the field in 2024, backing up the Colts’ Anthony Richardson and Joe Flacco.

A sixth-round pick in 2018 out of Texas, Ehlinger’s signing likely indicates the Broncos won’t target a quarterback with one of their picks in April’s NFL draft. Denver, though, has been active in meeting with prospects who could slip into UDFA territory, such as Canadian Taylor Elgersma and Minnesota product Max Brosmer.

The Broncos still wield significant financial flexibility as free agency winds to a close, with both Over The Cap and Spotrac pinpointing they sit with around $17 million in cap space. The door seems near-shut, however, on any further splashy signings in areas of need, as head coach Sean Payton said at Monday’s owner’s meetings in Florida that the Broncos believed this year’s free-agent crop of running backs was “pretty lean.”

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