Nix's Second Surgery Hasn't Cleared, and Denver's Contingency Plan Is Jarrett Stidham

Bo Nix had the bone spurs cleaned up in June. The expectation was that he'd be ready for training camp. He is not. His status sits at Questionable heading into late July, which is a notable word to attach to your franchise quarterback before a single padded practice.

I wrote earlier this week that Denver had no good answer behind Nix, and the depth chart hasn't changed. Jarrett Stidham is the nominal starter in Nix's absence, with Sam Ehlinger behind him. That's the contingency plan for a team that went 14–3 last season — a record built, it's worth remembering, on winning close games at a rate that the underlying numbers say won't repeat. The margin for error was already thin before the second surgery.

What makes this more than a routine camp note is the 2027 opener sitting on the horizon. If Nix isn't throwing freely by the time full-team work begins, Denver has real decisions to make about how much they can ask of a shoulder that has now been operated on twice in one offseason. The Broncos committed to the run game by locking in J.K. Dobbins, and that identity can carry some weight. But it cannot carry a season if the passing game is quarterbacked by someone producing at a fraction of what the position requires.

Nothing here is resolved. Nix could be in pads next week and this becomes a footnote. But right now it is not a footnote.