Christian Ponder to Broncos: Latest Contract Details, Comments and Reaction

After he was left off the Oakland Raiders' 53-man roster, it appeared Christian Ponder's NFL career may be over. The former first-round pick got a reprieve Wednesday, agreeing to a contract with the Denver Broncos, according to the team.

Ian Rapoport of NFL Network first reported the news. Ponder will serve as the third-string quarterback behind Brock Osweiler and Trevor Siemian while Peyton Manning is out of the lineup. 

Ponder, 27, spent his first four NFL seasons with the Minnesota Vikings. Selected in 2011 to be the team's franchise quarterback, he played in all of 38 games as a Viking—and not very well. He has compiled 38 touchdowns against 36 interceptions overall, good for a 75.9 quarterback rating. The Vikings moved on from him twice during his tenure, first trading for Matt Cassel and then selecting Teddy Bridgewater in the first round in 2014.

When Ponder returned with Oakland during the preseason, Minnesota fans greeted him with a chorus of boos.

"I was prepared for it, so it didn't really affect me," Ponder told reporters. "It made it kind of fun coming back. It was good to see a lot of the guys, a lot of the staff and a lot of the players and reconnect with them. But you know, it was expected, so I got a little chuckle out of it."

The Raiders signed Ponder as a backup to Derek Carr during the offseason, but he lost a position battle to Matt McGloin. The move cost Oakland $1.5 million due to Ponder's agreed-upon signing bonus. While that ultimately meant he would be paid like an NFL quarterback in 2015 regardless of his roster status, it was also an indicator of how little Oakland's coaching staff thought he could help.

Denver is committed to Osweiler starting while Manning is out, so at the very least, it's not in a position to need Ponder to play. Still, the pedigree of a first-round quarterback is hard to shake. Ponder is probably going to have coaching staffs take chances on him into his 30s even if past results say teams should go in another direction.