Story by
Sam Ehlinger turned big down money to stay with the Broncos
- Story by
- Sam Ehlinger turned big down money to stay with the Broncos
Sam Ehlinger turned down 53-man roster opportunities with two NFL teams to stay with the Denver Broncos on their practice squad. Such a scenario is rarely seen in the NFL -- Broncos coach Sean Payton had never experienced it before.
"I'm fired up to have Sam back," Payton said Thursday. "You guys know the stories. This is the first time I can ever recall — we spent a lot of time talking with him — where a player like Sam had an opportunity with two clubs to go be the two and chose to stay. That's a credit to the program."
Advertisement
Ehlinger apparently preferred to stay in Denver with Payton, quarterbacks coach Davis Webb and his QB teammates, Bo Nix and Jarrett Stidham , over landing an active-roster job elsewhere.
Ehlinger undoubtedly could have earned more elsewhere. As the Denver Gazette 's Chris Tomasson noted on Twitter/X , Ehlinger's minimum salary on a 53-man roster would have been $1.17 million. Ehlinger's practice squad salary is currently listed as $315,000 on OverTheCap.com , and the max a practice squad player can earn is $396,000.
There is recent evidence of a third-string quarterback getting paid after spending a season with Payton and Webb. Zach Wilson served as QB on Denver's active roster last fall. This spring, he left in free agency to sign a one-year, $6 million contract with the Miami Dolphins .
"I said to him, it's the same thing I said to Teddy Bridgewater or any of these guys, 'My job to make you a lot of money here or somewhere else,'" Payton recalled. "He's someone that I would say has been a real pleasant surprise with his ability, and I like the player a lot. I think the tape, obviously a number of teams that were looking for a two, whether it was an injury or not, but to hang on to a player on your practice squad where others… That's significant."
Advertisement
NFL teams sometimes reward practice squad players with a game-day roster elevation that gives them a pay boost. It wouldn't be surprising to see the Broncos max out Ehlinger's three practice squad elevations this season, even if they do not intend to play him. Denver general manager George Paton said the team thinks of Ehlinger as an active-roster player, and they don't plan to lose him.
"It was a priority for us to keep Sam, either on the 53 … we consider him a 53-man player," Paton said during a conference call Thursday. "Sam has been outstanding since he showed up. [I have] always been high on Sam at Texas, and then you watched him at the Colts . He didn't play a whole lot there, but you watch the preseason.
"Then, when you got him here, he was better than I anticipated. Always been a good athlete, I thought he was always efficient. I didn't realize he had the arm strength. I think he has developed that arm strength over the last couple of years. He played really well. We're glad he's here. We know teams are after him, and we plan on keeping him here."
Social: Follow Broncos Wire on Facebook and Twitter/X ! Did you know: These 25 celebrities are Broncos fans .
This article originally appeared on Broncos Wire: NFL: QB Sam Ehlinger turned big down money to stay with the Broncos
