Ex-Broncos first-round draft pick tears LCL in third arena football game

Paxton Lynch's football comeback has suffered another setback.

Lynch, who joined the National Arena League's Colorado Spartans this year, the 31-year-old quarterback tore his LCL in his third game, according to the Denver Post's Luca Evans. The injury happened before Lynch had a chance to make his home debut on April 11 in Denver, and his 2026 arena football season is now over.

“I was pissed off,” Lynch told Evans. “And it sucks. I didn’t want it to be like this.”

Lynch was earning $600 a game, and before the injury, he told a teammate he would play until he's 45. Following the significant knee injury, though, Lynch told Evans he doesn't know yet if he'll attempt to play again in 2027.

The Denver Broncos picked Lynch in the first round of the 2016 NFL draft out of Memphis. As a rookie, Lynch lost a quarterback competition to Trevor Siemian (a seventh-round pick in 2015), who started for two seasons. Denver then brought in Case Keenum in 2018, and Lynch was later released. He went 1-3 as a starter with the Broncos, completing 61.7% of his passes for 792 yards with four touchdowns against four interceptions.

Since being cut by Denver eight years ago, Lynch has spent time with two other NFL teams, one CFL team, three UFL/XFL teams and one NAL before tearing his LCL. This injury might mark the end of his pro football career.

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This article originally appeared on Broncos Wire: NFL news: Ex-Broncos first-round pick tears LCL in arena football game