KUSA — It will be as if Trevor Siemian never left.
And new Broncos’ quarterback Case Keenum may feel like he’s back practicing against the white-and-purple jerseys again.
The NFL announced its preseason schedules Wednesday and the Broncos open at hopefully-soon-to-be-renamed Sports Authority Field at Mile High against the Minnesota Vikings sometime between Thursday, Aug. 9 and Sunday, Aug. 12.
The game will be televised on KTVD-Channel 20, as all Broncos’ preseason games will be in 2018. The Broncos announced an agreement with 9NEWS to televise the club's preseason games locally for the eighth consecutive year. The entire Broncos’ preseason schedule:
- Minnesota ……… Thursday-Sunday, Aug. 9-12 ..… Denver
- Chicago ………… Thursday-Sunday, Aug. 16-19 … Denver
- Washington ……. Thursday-Sunday, Aug. 23-26 … Washington D.C.
- Arizona …………. Thursday, Aug. 30 ...................… Glendale, Ariz.
The exact date and times will be announced when the regular-season schedule is released in the next week or two.
Keenum was the Vikings’ starting quarterback last season, leading them to an 11-3 regular-season record and a Minnesota Miracle playoff win against New Orleans.
The Vikings opted not to bring Keenum back, though, allowing him to become a free agent. Instead, the Vikings signed free-agent Kirk Cousins away from Washington with a three-year, fully-guaranteed $84 million contract.
The Broncos gave considerable thought to pursuing Cousins, before ultimately deciding to sign Keenum to a two-year, $36 million contract. After signing Keenum, the Broncos traded away Siemian, their starting quarterback the past two years, to the Vikings.
As a backup, Siemian figures to play more against the Broncos in the preseason opener than Cousins will.
The guy to watch may be the Vikings’ third-string quarterback: Kyle Sloter. He tore up the preseason for the Broncos as undrafted rookie last year. But Sloter was among the Broncos’ final cuts and he wound up signing with the Vikings.
Other notes regarding the Broncos’ preseason schedule:
*It's not finalized, but the Broncos and the Bears are discussing holding two or three joint practices in Denver prior to their week 2 preseason game, a league source told 9News.
The Broncos practiced against San Francisco the previous two years before playing in week 2 of the preseason and practiced against Houston before playing preseason games in 2014-15.
*The Broncos play a road game against the Arizona Cardinals during the regular season, yet play them on the road during the preseason.
Offsetting this is neither team is expected to play their top 30 non-specialist players in the fourth and final preseason game.
*It’s unusual for the Broncos to play their third preseason game – deemed the most significant as most starters play close to a half – so far away in our nation’s capital, especially with a quick turnaround trip to Arizona for game 4.
*The Broncos opened their previous two preseasons at Chicago against the Bears and former head coach John Fox. Each time, the game was a huge test in the Broncos’ Great Quarterback Competition (which Siemian won each year).
There will be no such QB competition this year as even if the Broncos do take a quarterback with their No. 5 overall draft pick, Keenum will be the starter.
Last year, Bears’ No. 2 overall draft pick Mitch Trubisky had a nice showcase debut against the Broncos in the preseason opener. This year, former Kansas City Chiefs’ offensive coordinator Matt Nagy replaces Fox as head coach and Trubisky is his quarterback.
