The three biggest takeaways from the Denver Broncos' locker room clean out

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — On Monday morning, for one final time, the 2023 Denver Broncos gathered at the Centura Health Training Center to clean out their lockers, say their goodbyes and enter into the offseason.

One day after Denver’s season ended in a 27-14 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders — the team’s eighth-straight loss to their division rival — emotions inside the locker room among the players was all over the place.

Players expressed disappointment for another losing season. Players expressed encouragement for finishing the season 7-4 down the stretch. But there was also frustration and uncertainty.

Here are the three biggest takeaways from the final day of the 2023 Broncos.

Starter Stiddy?

Jarrett Stidham entered his first season with the Broncos as the No. 2 quarterback, far behind starter Russell Wilson.

Stidham, however, finished the season as the team’s starting quarterback ahead of a healthy Wilson who Payton benched in favor for the career backup.

With the team expected to move on from Wilson this offseason, Stidham believes he can be Payton and the Broncos’ starting quarterback next year.

“I’m very confident I can be the guy for us next year,” Stidham said on Monday, as he gathered his belongings from his locker. “I have no doubts about that. But I’m going to continue to work as hard as possible this offseason and learn as much as possible… So, I’m excited for the opportunity for sure.”

In Stidham’s two starts to end the season, he threw for 496 yards on 60.6 percent completion with two touchdowns, one interception and an 87.7 passer rating.

“I feel like I definitely grew in those two weeks and am looking forward to this spring,” he said.

Stidham, who is under contract for one more season in Denver added it will be “huge” to be in the same system under Payton next year.

“Whenever we come back in the spring, nothing is going to be new,” he added.

The Broncos will almost certainly add competition in the quarterback room for Stidham this offseason. The question of the offseason will be who.

Jerry for Jarrett

A day after scoring his first touchdown of the season on a pass from Stidham, Jerry Jeudy voiced his support for his new quarterback.

“I think Stiddy’s a very smart quarterback,” Jeudy said on Monday. “He knows the game, he knows how to read defenses, he knows how to make plays and put the ball in playmakers’ hands. I feel he can do it all as a quarterback.”

Despite Denver going 1-1 in Stidham’s two starts, Jeudy had his best two-game stretch of the season with No. 4 under center. In the final two weeks of the season, Jeudy had six combined catches on 12 targets for 133 yards and a touchdown.

“It had been like six months since I scored a touchdown,” Jeudy said, clearly frustrated after another disappointing season.

When asked about dealing with the noise surrounding his future — whether it be an extension or a possible trade — the former first-round pick said: “I don’t give a fuck about none of that.”

Jeudy and Courtland Sutton’s name swirled in trade speculation for the entirety of last offseason. That could once again be the case this offseason.

Greg Dulcich’s hamstring is “great”

Jerry Jeudy had as many catches in the Broncos’ season finale (three) as Greg Dulcich had all season (three) as injuries once again sidelined the former third-round pick for a majority of the season.

After two stints on the injured reserve for lingering hamstring injuries, the good news is Dulcich’s hamstring is finally feeling “great.”

The bad news is an unrelated foot injury popped up his first practice back when he tried to return a few weeks ago.

“It was weird. Of course it had to happen the week I was coming back to practice,’’ Dulcich said on Monday. “Some weird swelling. I have, unfortunately, some bony feet and my cleat irritated it in a freaky way. Just a bummer.”

Hamstring injuries limited Dulcich’s rookie season too, only allowing him to play 10 games in 2022. Once the injury popped up again this year, he saw every specialist he could to try and fix the issue.

“I mean, it worked. My hamstring feels great,” Dulcich stated.

His focus and plan this offseason is all about staying healthy.

“The plan is going to be try and get healthy and stay healthy and make sure I put this stuff behind me,’’ the talented receiving tight end said.

Without Dulcich, Denver’s tight end room was almost nonexistent in the passing game as Adam Trautman led the room with a mere 204 receiving yards.