AP

The decision makers in Denver have declared repeatedly that Tim Tebow will enter training camp as the Broncos’ No. 1 quarterback, but they want to have someone who can compete with him. Now Broncos coach John Fox has said he doesn’t just want one quarterback to compete with Tebow, but two.

Fox told Mike Klis of the Denver Post that he expects two new quarterbacks on the roster this year.

“Numbers wise that’s accurate,” Fox said of the Broncos acquiring two quarterbacks. “Who, what, where, when, what market — it’s still way too early how we get those quarterbacks.”

Those comments are consistent with what both Fox and front office boss John Elway have indicated all along: Tebow did enough last season to earn the No. 1 job, but not enough for the Broncos to declare that the franchise is all-in on Tebow. He has to keep earning the No. 1 job with an impressive offseason, because Fox would be open to the idea of someone else beating Tebow out for the No. 1 job in training camp.

The question is who those two new quarterbacks competing with Tebow will be. Maybe one will come from the draft and one from free agency, but if you’re a free agent quarterback who’s hoping to compete for a starting job somewhere, do you really want to do it in Denver, where you know the fans will stridently oppose you in your quest to wrest the starting job away from the beloved Tebow? And given that the Broncos will go into the offseason planning an offense that will revolve around Tebow’s unique skill set, it’s going to be tough to convince other quarterbacks that Denver is the right place for them.

Regardless of who’s involved in the quarterback competition, Fox says he’s confident he’ll see a better Tebow in 2012 than he saw in 2011.

“He’s going to come into our camp as the starting quarterback,” Fox said of Tebow. “He’s young. He can get better.”

And if he doesn’t get better, he’ll have two other quarterbacks trying to take his job.