Report: Denvers Broncos won’t pick up fifth-year option of new QB Zach Wilson

The Denver Broncos are not picking up the fifth-year option of Zach Wilson, their recently acquired quarterback.

This is according to a report from ESPN, which quoted unidentified sources. The fifth-year option is only for first-round draft picks. By league rules, teams have until Thursday to make a decision about these past first rounders.

Now, the Jets selected Wilson, the former Brigham Young star, with the No. 2 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. The option for a quarterback contract would have been a guaranteed $22.408 million. By league rules, the deadline to pick up the fifth-year option for 2021 first-round picks is Thursday.

This means Wilson’s deal with the Broncos only covers this season. He’ll be a free agent next March.

The 2021 NFL Draft was supposed to be the year of the quarterback. Coincidentally, it was somewhat similar to what happened last week. Three years ago, teams selected five quarterbacks in the first round. They were Trevor Lawrence (Jaguars), Wilson (Jets), Trey Lance (49ers), Justin Fields (Bears) and Mac Jones (Patriots).

Lawrence, the former Clemson star who went No. 1, is the only quarterback still with the same team. The 49ers traded Lance to the Cowboys last August. Then the Patriots sent Jones to the Jaguars and the Steelers traded Fields to the Steelers. The Jets finally unloaded Wilson. All five quarterbacks evolved into starters in the NFL.

So far, Lawrence is the only quarterback of the group to have his option picked up. The Steelers likely won’t do so with Fields. And the Jaguars did not pick up Jones’ final deal.

Meanwhile, the Broncos need a starting quarterback and Wilson still is in the mix. The Broncos parted ways with Russell Wilson, who ended up as a Steeler with Fields. They selected Oregon’s Bo Nix last Thursday with the 12th pick of the draft.

Coach Sean Payton now needs one of the three quarterbacks on the roster to win the starting job. He’ll have Wilson competing with Nix and Jarrett Stidham, the only QB left over from last year’s Broncos’ roster.

Wilson needed a new start. Reports out of New York suggested he asked for a trade. He had a chance to start with the Jets. But after Wilson struggled, the team traded for Aaron Rodgers. Then Rodgers ruptured his Achilles early in last season’s opener. That left Wilson to run the show.

The Jets finally found a trade partner in the Broncos in the days before the NFL Draft.

Denver sent a sixth-round pick to the Jets in exchange for Wilson and a seventh-rounder. Meanwhile, the Jets still will pay much of Wilson’s 2024 salary. But they are no longer on the hook for the fifth-year option. Wilson will earn $1.055 million this season.

In his three years with the Jets, Wilson threw 25 touchdowns. He also threw 23 interceptions.

“We were really happy to bring Zach on board,” Payton told reporters last weekend. “We know we wanted to add into the [quarterback] room. And I think I said that much even at the owners meetings. We really liked that opportunity. There were a number of veteran backups that signed contracts, and yet we saw talent with a player that just three years ago was the No. 2 pick in the draft. We really like his traits.”