The Broncos can’t have a practice without a quarterback, and with none of their active-roster passers eligible to take part in the upcoming rookie minicamp, they had to bring some in on a tryout basis.
One is a rookie with a Hall-of-Fame lineage. The other is a veteran who has the lowest passer rating among any of the 418 quarterbacks with at least 125 attempts since 1980 — a 39.4 mark that comes in one-tenth of a point below the next-lowest, Spergeon Wynn.
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The rookie, Fresno State product E.J. Warner, is the son of Hall of Famer Kurt Warner. The younger Warner started at Temple and Rice before transferring to Fresno last season. At 5-foot-11 1/2, he went undrafted and worked in Kansas City’s rookie minicamp last weekend on a tryout basis. NFL Network’s Mike Garofalo was first to report the move.
The veteran, Nathan Peterman, has hopscotched around the NFL since the Buffalo Bills selected him in the fifth round of the 2017 NFL Draft. He’s bounded through Oakland, Chicago, New Orleans, Las Vegas and Atlanta but spent last season out of the NFL after a 2024 campaign on the Falcons’ practice squad. KUSA-Ch. 9’s Mike Klis was first to report Peterman heading to Denver.
Peterman threw five interceptions in his first 14 passes during his infamous 2017 starting debut against the Los Angeles Chargers, a performance commonly regarded as among the worst in NFL annals. Unfortunately for him, it hasn’t gotten much better since then; he has three touchdown passes and eight interceptions in his work after that day.
Still, there is an opportunity here for both Peterman and Warner.
BRONCOS COULD NEED A THIRD QUARTERBACK FOR OTAs IN JUNE
There is intrigue for Peterman and Warner over the weekend, as Bo Nix’s ankle injury and the follow-up procedure he underwent late last month has his status in question for on-field work that begins June 2.
Should Nix be unavailable because of his recovery, the Broncos would need a third quarterback to properly conduct practices with three units. Thus, Peterman and Warner might be auditioning for a place on the roster.
Three years ago, Ben DiNucci parlayed a rookie minicamp tryout into a Broncos contract/a>. He was on the team as recently as January, when the teambrought him back to its practice squad in the wake of Nix’s ankle fracture.
So, if you get into the orbit of the Broncos and Sean Payton, you’ve got a chance to keep getting called back. For Peterman, it would be the latest in many opportunities he’s had since being drafted in 2017. For Warner, it would be a big break.
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Andrew Mason
Andrew Mason is the Senior Broncos Writer for denversports.com. Mase is in his 27th season covering the NFL and his 22nd on the Broncos beat. In addition to 12 seasons working with the Broncos and two working with the Carolina Panthers, Mase has also written about the Broncos for CBSSports.com, The New York Times, Mile High Sports, DNVR and The Sporting News. He’s also the author of “Tales from the Denver Broncos Sideline: A Collection of the Greatest Broncos Stories Ever Told.” You can follow Mase on Twitter/X, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube at @MaseDenver.