Tag: Ben Dinucci

Broncos backup QB Ben DiNucci has a great idea for NFL and UFL

Could the NFL make the UFL a developmental league, allowing backups to play in the spring and return in summer? Ben DiNucci likes the idea.

Denver Broncos backup quarterback Ben DiNucci took to Twitter/X with a confession on Wednesday.

“Can’t lie,” the QB wrote on his social media page. “I miss the XFL.”

DiNucci, 27, played in the XFL for the Seattle Sea Dragons in 2023. After he led the league in passing yards (2,671) and ranked second in touchdown passes (20), DiNucci signed with the Broncos. He served as a reserve QB on Denver’s practice squad last year.

DiNucci will likely have a similar backup role in 2024. Meanwhile, the XFL and USFL have merged to join the UFL. Over the last three weeks, 23 former Broncos players have played in the UFL, and DiNucci seems to have a minor case of FOMO.

When asked by a fan if he would consider playing in the UFL again, DiNucci said if he knew his NFL career was over, he’d return to spring football. He’d already be playing in the spring league if he wasn’t employed by Denver.

“Trust me… if I didn’t have a job in the NFL I would be playing again,” DiNucci tweeted on Wednesday evening.

What if it was possible to do both?

Some fans suggested that the NFL adopt the UFL as a developmental league, allowing players to play spring football and then return to the NFL clubs for the start of the offseason program. DiNucci loves the idea.

That kind of format “benefits guys in my position big time,” DiNucci tweeted. “Reps are hardest thing to come by playing QB. Getting 12 games of tape last year was huge.”

DiNucci believes playing in both leagues is feasible.

NFL Europe did not last, but there have been talks in recent years of the NFL attempting to implement a developmental league again. If the UFL proves to be a sustainable league, perhaps the NFL will consider a partnership at some point in the future.

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NFL’s new practice squad rule is good news for Broncos backup QB

NFL teams can elevate a practice squad QB to the game-day roster every week in 2024, a big increase from the three-game limit in 2023.

The NFL has adopted 12 new rules and regulations ahead of the 2024 season, and one of the changes is good news for Denver Broncos backup quarterback Ben DiNucci.

The league adopted a proposal from the competition committee to “expand the Standard Elevation rules to permit clubs to elevate a bona fide Quarterback an unlimited number of times from its practice squad to its Active List to be its Emergency Third Quarterback.”

Previously, players on the practice squad could only be elevated to the game-day roster three times during the season. If a player was elevated a fourth time, he had to clear waivers in order to return to the practice squad.

The three-elevation rule no longer applies to quarterbacks, but it does still apply to every other position on the practice squad. Teams are also still limited to a pair of practice squad elevations per week, so only one other position can be called up if a QB is elevated each week.

DiNucci spent last season on Denver’s practice squad and he was elevated to the game-day roster three times. If he makes the practice squad again in 2024, DiNucci could be elevated every week this fall without having to clear waivers. If he makes the game-day roster six times, DiNucci would reach an accrued season, which would help him earn more once he hits free agency.

So the new rule allowing QBs to be called up from the practice squad will give the Broncos more roster flexibility in 2024, and it could help DiNucci earn more in the future if he ends up on the game-day roster more often.

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5-step quarterback plan for the Broncos in 2024

What should the Broncos do at quarterback this offseason? Here’s a hypothetical five-step plan.

The Denver Broncos have insisted that Russell Wilson could remain with the team in 2024, but we expect the quarterback will be released in March (Wilson expects that, too).

So if the Broncos do cut Wilson as expected, what’s the QB plan? Jarrett Stidham and Ben DiNucci are both under contract for 2024, but Denver will undoubtedly add more depth and competition to the position this spring.

We’ve put together a five-step plan for how we would approach the 2024 offseason. This is not a prediction or a report of what the team will do. Rather, it’s what Broncos Wire would do this spring.

The first step is releasing Wilson. Such a move will create a large “dead money” salary cap hit, but it’s hard to imagine the QB remaining in Denver. He should have suitors as a free agent.

After that, the Broncos will have to make a decision on Stidham. Our plan might surprise you.

Broncos sign 12 players to reserve/future contract

The Broncos signed 12 players to reserve/future contracts on Monday. They will officially join the 90-man offseason roster in March.

Following the conclusion of their 2023 season, the Denver Broncos have signed 12 players to reserve/future contracts.

Perhaps the most notable signing is that of quarterback Ben DiNucci, who spent all of the 2023 season on the practice squad and was elevated to Denver’s game-day roster three times.

With Russell Wilson expected to be released in March, DiNucci and Jarrett Stidham will be left as the Broncos’ two quarterbacks going into 2024. Denver will likely add at least one more QB, either through free agency or the draft (or both) this spring.

Players who were not on an active roster at the end of the season are eligible to sign reserve/future contracts (every player on the practice squad is eligible, for example). These players will officially join the 90-man offseason roster when the NFL’s new league year begins on March 13.

Here’s a look at the 12 players the Broncos have signed to future deals.

Broncos make first quarterback move of 2024 offseason

The Broncos made their first QB move of the 2024 offseason on Monday, signing Ben DiNucci to a reserve/future contract.

The Denver Broncos made their first quarterback move of the offseason on Monday, but it might not be the move fans expected.

Denver signed Ben DiNucci to a reserve/future contract, the third-string quarterback announced on his Twitter/X page on Monday. After spending the 2023 campaign on the Broncos’ practice squad, DiNucci was eligible to sign a reserve/future deal.

DiNucci is now set to officially join the 90-man offseason roster when the new league year begins in March.

Denver is expected to release quarterback Russell Wilson in March, a move that would leave Jarrett Stidham and DiNucci as the team’s only QBs under contract for the 2024 season.

In addition to DiNucci, the Broncos also gave reserve/future contracts to 11 other players on Monday. Practice squad wide receiver Tre’Quan Smith was not among those players and he is not expected to re-sign with Denver, according to the Denver Gazette‘s Chris Tomasson.

DiNucci, 27, spent time with the Dallas Cowboys (2020-2021) and in the XFL (2023) before joining the Broncos last May.

Broncos made several roster moves ahead of Lions game

The Broncos added Lucas Krull to 53-man roster, moved Ronnie Perkins to the practice squad and elevated Ben DiNucci and Tyler Lancaster.

The Denver Broncos made several roster moves ahead of Saturday’s game against the Detroit Lions.

First, the team waived outside linebacker Ronnie Perkins from the 53-man roster on Thursday. To fill Perkins’ former spot on the active roster, Denver promoted tight end Lucas Krull from the practice squad to the 53-man roster. The Broncos re-signed Perkins to the practice squad on Saturday.

Additionally, the team elevated quarterback Ben DiNucci and nose tackle Tyler Lancaster from the practice squad to the game-day roster on Saturday. DiNucci and Lancaster will revert back to the practice squad on Monday.

Krull previously used up his three practice squad elevations, so the Broncos had to fully promote him to the active roster so he can play in Detroit. Krull is now set to serve as the team’s third-string tight end behind Adam Trautman and Chris Manhertz.

The Broncos have not yet activated tight end Greg Dulcich, who is eligible to return from injured reserve. Dulcich recovered from his hamstring injury and practiced on Wednesday, only to then suffer a foot injury that ruled him out for Week 15.

Saturday’s game will be nationally televised on NFL Network.

Report: Saints tried, failed to poach Broncos practice squad quarterback

The Denver Gazette’s Chris Tomasson reports the Saints tried and failed to poach Broncos practice squad QB Ben DiNucci, who didn’t see a better situation in New Orleans:

The New Orleans Saints explored multiple options when Derek Carr went down with a shoulder injury back in Week 3, looking to reinforce the depth chart with a backup quarterback behind Jameis Winston. The Denver Gazette’s Chris Tomasson reports that the Saints tried and failed to poach quarterback Ben DiNucci from the Broncos practice squad in September.

But DiNucci didn’t see a better situation on the Saints’ 53-man roster than he already had in Denver. The Saints signed Jake Luton from the Carolina Panthers practice squad and rostered him for three weeks while Carr played through his injured throwing shoulder; when rookie quarterback Jake Haener returned from a six-week suspension to start the season, Luton was waived.

A former seventh-round pick by the Dallas Cowboys in the 2020 NFL draft, DiNucci played college football at Pittsburgh and James Madison before trying his hand with the XFL’s Seattle Sea Dragons in 2023, where he led the startup squad to a 7-3 record and playoff berth. The Broncos signed him after a success tryout at rookie minicamp in May.

DiNucci would have had the same fate without the promise of a spot on the Broncos practice squad once he was available again, so it’s easy to understand why he would rather stay in Denver than relocate to New Orleans. It doesn’t help that Sean Payton’s Broncos are surging towards a potential playoff berth (their 7-6 record has them in ninth place in the AFC playoff standings) while the Saints are the last-ranked 6-7 team in the NFC (in eleventh place). Even if DiNucci had hung around with the Saints, if nothing else the vibes in Denver seems to be in a much better place.

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This is why the Broncos elevated QB Ben DiNucci and made him inactive

The Broncos elevated QB Ben DiNucci from the practice squad and then made him inactive on game day. Sean Payton explained why.

The Denver Broncos made a curious roster decision on Saturday when they elevated third-string quarterback Ben DiNucci from the practice squad to the game-day roster for Week 13 despite starter Russell Wilson and backup Jarrett Stidham both being healthy.

The decision to elevate DiNucci became even more puzzling on Sunday when DiNucci was inactive against the Houston Texans. Denver added him to the active roster only to immediately demote him from the game-day roster, and DiNucci reverted back to the practice squad on Monday.

So, what was the reason for the roster juggling?

Broncos coach Sean Payton was doing a financial favor for the practice squad QB, rewarding him for the work he has done this season.

“It’s a way for us to help a player relative to games up and games on active roster,” Payton explained Monday. “Sometimes it gets competitive with another team trying to take a player from you. I know it’s a little confusing. I think as soon as you guys saw him come up, it’s like, ‘Oh, is something wrong with the other two?’

“It’s a way for us to help invest in someone that we want [and someone who] we see being here as a young, developmental player. That would be the easiest way to explain it.”

NFL players can earn a “credited season” by being on the game-day roster three times. Players can earn an “accrued season” for being on the game-day roster six times. As Henry Chisholm of DNVR Sports pointed out on Twitter/X, credited and accrued seasons are both beneficial for a player’s minimum salary requirements in free agency and retirement benefits.

So DiNucci now has one game under his belt in 2023, even though he was inactive. Two more would give him a credited season, which could increase his salary in 2024. Payton also noted that another team had shown interest in DiNucci, but not recently.

“Yeah, a long time ago, though,” Payton said. “All good.”

So the Broncos do not appear to be in danger of losing DiNucci to another team, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see the backup quarterback on the game-day roster at least two more times this season.

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Broncos make 3 roster moves ahead of Texans game

The Broncos activated WR Brandon Johnson from injured reserve and elevated TE Lucas Krull and QB Ben DiNucci from the practice squad.

The Denver Broncos made three changes to the roster on Saturday ahead of their showdown with the Houston Texans.

First, the Broncos activated wide receiver Brandon Johnson (hamstring) from injured reserve to the 53-man roster. Denver had an open spot for Johnson on the active roster after losing safety Kareem Jackson to a four-game suspension.

Johnson becomes the fifth WR on the 53-man roster, joining Courtland Sutton, Jerry Jeudy, Marvin Mims and Lil’Jordan Humphrey.

The Broncos also elevated tight end Lucas Krull and quarterback Ben DiNucci from the practice squad to the game-day roster. Both players will revert back to the practice squad on Monday.

DiNucci is an interesting elevation because Denver has not made any additions to the injury report, so starter Russell Wilson and backup Jarrett Stidham are both healthy going into Sunday’s game.

It will be interesting to see if DiNucci ends up just being an emergency third-string QB or if the Broncos have some kind of package for him in the playbook. We’ll find out Sunday.

Broncos backup QB teases switch to coaching college football

Broncos backup quarterback Ben DiNucci (jokingly) teased himself as a hypothetical candidate to replace Curt Cignetti at James Madison.

Denver Broncos backup quarterback Ben DiNucci has (jokingly) teased himself as a hypothetical candidate to become the next James Madison football coach after Curt Cignetti left the program to coach Indiana.

“Not saying I would. Not saying I wouldn’t. Just saying my phone is open @JMU,” DiNucci tweeted from his official Twitter/X page on Thursday.

DiNucci, 27, played at Pittsburgh from 2015-2017 before transferring to JMU in 2018. In two seasons with the Dukes, DiNucci went 479-of-687 passing for 5,716 yards with 45 touchdowns against 18 interceptions. He also rushed 229 times for 1,002 yards and 16 touchdowns.

The dual-threat quarterback was picked by the Dallas Cowboys in the seventh round of the 2020 NFL draft and he ended up appearing in three games and earned one start as a rookie. After spending the 2021 season on Dallas’ practice squad, DiNucci played for the XFL’s Seattle Sea Dragons last spring, leading the league with 20 touchdown passes.

DiNucci signed with the Broncos in May after a successful tryout. He now serves as a third-string backup quarterback on the practice squad. His tweet was posted in jest, but DiNucci might have a future in coaching down the road. Denver’s current quarterbacks coach, Davis Webb, was a backup in the NFL last fall, and he’s just one year older than DiNucci.

Perhaps the backup QB will return to JMU someday in the future.

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