Ex-NFL first-round pick suffers season-ending knee injury while attempting pro comeback in arena league

The Denver Broncos took a flyer on quarterback Paxton Lynch during the 2016 NFL Draft, selecting him in the first round that year in one of the event’s biggest shockers.

However, the former Memphis Tigers standout would only play five NFL games before he bounced around the league from practice squad to practice squad. He was last seen on the Pittsburgh Steelers’ roster in 2020.

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Lynch was attempting to find a route back into the NFL and landed with the Colorado Spartans of the National Arena League before the 2026 season. He was in his third game with the Spartans when he suffered a torn LCL.

"I was p---ed off," he told The Denver Post. "And it sucks. I didn’t want it to be like this."

Lynch appeared to take solace in being able to play again – even if it was in an indoor football league. He suggested he was up for the challenge.

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"I was like, ‘OK, if I play this year in arena football, I’m going to play as Paxton Lynch. I’m going to have full confidence in myself. I don’t really care.’ And that’s what I did," he told the paper.

"It felt good to do that again."

He had three touchdown passes in three games with Colorado. Javin Kilgo replaced him at quarterback. Through five games, Colorado is 2-3.

Lynch told The Denver Post he wasn’t sure if he would play in 2027, but if the National Arena League is where his career ended, he said he was just fine with that.

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