Kurt Warner's Son Has Great Opportunity to Stay With Broncos

E.J. Warner, son of Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner, needed to make the most of his opportunity during Denver Broncos rookie minicamp this weekend.

E.J. played college football at Temple and Rice before finishing with Fresno State in 2025. He went undrafted, but was given the opportunity to try out with the Broncos during rookie minicamp.

With Bo Nix still recovering from a fractured right ankle, the Broncos only have quarterbacks Jarrett Stidham and Sam Ehlinger on the 90-man roster to throw to receivers during voluntary OTAs this month.

League teams typically have three to four quarterbacks on the 90-man offseason roster, and Broncos head coach Sean Payton suggested the coaching staff would consider Warner’s tryout before opting to sign a free agent quarterback this spring.

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"I'm not saying we couldn't sign an additional quarterback,” Payton said, via Pro Football Talk. “We've discussed it, but really more in terms of, ‘Do we see something in these two guys?' This [E.J.] Warner reminds me a lot of Chase Daniel. Payton compared Warner to former NFL quarterback Chase Daniel.

“If you see his height, weight, size, speed, they're very similar. He's done a nice job. He's done a very nice job and especially considering he's coming off a weekend with different terminology, and he's kind of yawned at it. It's been real quick for him."

Payton didn’t rule out the possibility of having just Stidham and Ehlinger available during voluntary minicamp.

Ideally, Warner would earn a spot on the 90-man roster for voluntary and mandatory minicamps this spring.

The Broncos could keep him on the roster for training camp, allowing him to play late in preseason games to save Stidham and Ehlinger from potential injury while giving the coaching staff an opportunity to evaluate Warner as a player to keep on the practice squad for the regular season.

Warner started in 10 games for Fresno State in 2025, throwing for 2,030 yards, 13 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He added 126 yards and one touchdown on the ground.

Kurt Warner had a similar start in the league. The Green Bay Packers signed him out of Northern Iowa as an undrafted free agent in 1994. Kurt spent three seasons with the Iowa Barnstormers before getting an opportunity with the St. Louis Rams in 1998.

He started and led the Rams to a win in Super Bowl XXXIV and made another Super Bowl appearance with the Rams and one more with the Arizona Cardinals.

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This story was originally published May 10, 2026 at 11:14 PM.