The Broncos have found their quarterback.

When the free agency period officially begins Wednesday afternoon, former Vikings quarterback Case Keenum plans to sign with Denver, NFL sources confirmed.

ESPN first reported the impending deal.

Although Kirk Cousins has been touted as the top quarterback to hit free agency this year, the Broncos, after extensive evaluation of all their options, felt more comfortable with Keenum.

He played for coaches Vance Joseph and Gary Kubiak in Houston at the beginning of his career (2012-13) and already has a feel for the staff and offensive system. Keenum guided the Vikings to recent success in the playoffs — an experience Cousins still lacks after six years in the NFL. And he comes at a cost that affords the Broncos more flexibility in reshaping their roster and adding to it in the upcoming draft. His new deal is expected to be a shorter-term contract, with approximately $18 million per year in average pay.

“We all understand how the quarterback position has a direct influence on how your team plays,” Joseph said in February. “Obviously, we have to get better there, whoever is going to be the quarterback. That being said, we can get better in a lot of areas, like protecting the quarterback, continuing to run the football better and to play dominant defense. Having a quarterback that can help us become a more efficient offense and help us score more points and not turn the ball over, that can only help us get better. But we have to focus not only on that, but also on other parts of the football team.”

Within the first 12 hours of the NFL’s legal tampering period Monday, the Broncos held preliminary talks with Cousins but moved in on Keenum and quickly reached an agreement by late that night. No offer was extended to Cousins.

In landing a player they see as their starter, the Broncos expanded their options with their first-round draft selection this year. Though they could still add a quarterback at the No. 5 overall pick, if they’re not in love with any of the projected first-round quarterbacks, they no longer need to draft one to simply fill a hole. They can select the best player available, add an immediate impact player or even move out of the top five and acquire more picks in a trade.

“I still think we’re not too far away. Obviously, we have to get better at that (quarterback) position,” general manager John Elway said at the NFL combine. “We didn’t play well there last year. That doesn’t all go on the players. There were some things that we should have done that we should have done differently that we didn’t do. I feel like we can get right back in the thick of the things rather quickly. I think we still have a good defensive football team.”

But Keenum’s arrival means the likely exit of another quarterback on the Broncos’ roster. According to a source, the Broncos are expected to move on from Trevor Siemian, a former seventh-round pick who started 24 games, and have already fielded calls from interested teams.

Since Peyton Manning’s retirement in 2016, the Broncos have featured a revolving door of starting quarterbacks acquired via free agency, a trade and the draft, and none of them has excelled. After reaching the peak of Super Bowl 50 two years ago, the Broncos have sunk on the heels of two playoffless seasons. The offense, with its rotating cast of quarterbacks, has lacked an identity and consistency that the Broncos have desperately sought to solve, to little avail.

To try to right the ship, Elway made it clear last month that he intended to scour the free-agent market to find his guy. Cousins was undoubtedly the top quarterback soon to become available, but with his spot atop the list of most teams came a price tag that could have ended up being too high for the Broncos’ plans; while they have options, they also have plenty of needs and limited salary cap space, unlike some other quarterback-needy teams. Related Articles Broncos Analysis: Minus key players, focus is on Vic Fangio to lead staff, roster through adversity

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And according to those close to the situation, Cousins simply wasn’t viewed as the best fit for the Broncos. Keenum was billed by Kubiak and others who have worked closely with him to possess the leadership sorely needed and the grit to handle the pressure of playing one of the lead roles in Denver.

Keenum, 30, was among the second tier of available quarterbacks, though not necessarily in the eyes of the Broncos brass. After beginning his NFL tenure with the Texans as an undrafted free agent out of the University of Houston, Keenum reached the pinnacle of his five pro seasons by helping the Vikings to the NFC championship game and producing the Minneapolis Miracle, a game-winning, 61-yard touchdown pass to Stefon Diggs in a divisional playoff game against the Saints.

But before Keenum found glory in Minnesota, he played for three other teams in hope of a consistent gig. After a rookie season on the Texans’ practice squad, he got his first start in 2013 when starter Matt Schaub went down with an injury. But a loss in Keenum’s debut spiraled into eight consecutive defeats and Kubiak’s firing before season’s end. The Texans finished that year 2-14.

“One thing I learned about Case is that he’s such a mentally strong person,” Kubiak, now a senior personnel adviser for the Broncos, told the Houston Chronicle after Minnesota’s divisional playoff win. “A lot of guys would just go in the tank with a start like that, but Case kept battling because that’s the kind of guy he is. He’s very comfortable in his own skin. I don’t care who he plays for, you’re not going to put Case in an uncomfortable situation. He’s got a lot of confidence in who he is and how he carries himself. Guys respond to that.”

From 2014-16, Keenum bounced between the Texans and Rams, starting 16 games collectively in that span before getting benched in place of Rams first-round pick Jared Goff in 2016. Last March, Keenum moved on to his fourth NFL team and signed with the Vikings for one year and $2 million as their backup.

He was anything but as he started 14 of 15 games and guided the Vikings to a 13-3 record, their best finish in nearly two decades. In the regular season, Keenum completed 67.6 percent of his passes for a career-high 3,547 yards, 22 touchdowns and only seven interceptions for a 98.3 passer rating. In Minnesota’s two playoff games, he tacked on 589 more yards, two touchdowns, three picks and a 60.2 completion percentage.

Now the Broncos hope he can replicate that play for the foreseeable future in Denver. Case Keenum is taking over.