Quarterback Jarrett Stidham said he shifted his AFC West address from the Las Vegas Raiders to the Denver Broncos in NFL free agency primarily for the opportunity to work with “mastermind” Sean Payton.

Payton became the Broncos’ coach this offseason after taking a season off from coaching. Before his year as a TV analyst, Payton spent 15 seasons guiding the New Orleans Saints.

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“I think the main thing was coach Payton,” Stidham said about coming to Denver. “I’ve been a huge fan of him and his time in New Orleans from when I was a little kid whenever he was coaching Drew Brees throughout the years. Really, that was probably the main reason – getting to play under him and getting to work with him every day, I’m very, very excited about that.”

In his fifth NFL season, Stidham said he would be “just trying to keep enhancing my game. Be multiple in the different things that we do. Getting with a mastermind like coach Payton is kind of what I wanted, so it worked out great and happy to be here.”

Payton and the Broncos brought in Stidham to back up Russell Wilson, a nine-time Pro Bowler coming off the worst season of his career.

After closing his tenure with the Seattle Seahawks with four consecutive seasons with a passing-efficiency rating of 103 or higher, Wilson’s rating tumbled to 84.4 at the helm of the NFL’s lowest-scoring offense in his first season in Denver.

The Broncos finished 5-12 in 2022, most recently posted a winning record in 2016 and have lost at least 10 games in five of the six intervening seasons (and they lost nine in the exception).

But with Payton coming aboard with a 152-89 career record and a Super Bowl ring, Stidham has a different view of Denver than recent seasons would support.

“Just things are going in the right direction here and excited to be part of it,” Stidham said.

Stidham signed his contract with the Broncos on Thursday. Reports indicate Denver got the quarterback to move during free agency for a two-year deal that included $5 million in guaranteed money.

Stidham left Las Vegas coming off the first two starts of his NFL career.

The former Auburn standout completed 53-of-83 passes for 656 yards with four touchdowns and three interceptions and ran for 84 yards on 14 carries against two of the NFL’s best teams as the Raiders lost 37-34 to the San Francisco 49ers on Jan. 1 and 31-13 to the Kansas City Chiefs on Jan. 7. Stidham became the second player in NFL history with at least 350 passing yards and three touchdown passes in his first start.

Stidham made the starts as the initial steps in the Raiders’ plans to part ways with Derek Carr, the franchise’s quarterback for nine seasons. Las Vegas released Carr last month, and he signed with the New Orleans Saints.

The Raiders obtained Stidham in a trade with the New England Patriots last offseason, reuniting him with Las Vegas coach Josh McDaniels, who had been Stidham’s offensive coordinator in his first three NFL seasons.

Bu the Raiders didn’t seem inclined to allow Stidham to continue to operate the offense into 2023. Instead, Las Vegas signed Jimmy Garoppolo, another free-agent quarterback who spent his first three NFL seasons working with McDaniels in New England.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1