According to Jason La Canfora, the Broncos could name Paxton Lynch their starting quarterback as soon as Week 10.
Lynch is still working his way back from a shoulder injury that has kept him sidelined for most of the season, but La Canfora mentions that the front office wants to increase his workload in the coming weeks and evaluate him as their starting quarterback this season.
Lynch began throwing a few weeks ago and Denver plans to ensure that he’s 100 percent healthy before turning the offense over to him.
However, Mike Klis mentions that Lynch still isn’t physically ready to return right now, and Brock Osweiler could keep the job if he plays well.
As of now, the Broncos will start Osweiler on Sunday after they benched Trevor Siemian last week.
Sources tell La Canfora that Osweiler is just a stopgap for Denver to buy them time until Lynch is ready to go.
One thing that could help Lynch is that he could end up being more effective on bootlegs and with a moving pocket, due to his mobility.
Lynch, 23, was taken with the No. 26 overall pick after the Broncos traded up from No. 31 overall to get him in last year’s draft. Lynch signed a four-year, $9.4 million contract that includes $7.88 guaranteed and is set to make base salaries of $880,741 and $1.31 million over the next two years.
The contract also includes a fifth-year option to pick up in 2019.
In 2016, Lynch completed 49-of-83passes (59 percent) for 497 yards to go along with two touchdowns and an interception for the Broncos over the course of three games.
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