The ESSENTIAL Football Show 2025 Cap Space: $12.7 million
2026 Cap Space: $69.6 million
2027 Cap Space: $138.6 million
2026 Draft Picks: Own Picks, Rounds 1-5, 7, plus 7th Rd Comp
It’s an understatement to call the addition of Sean Payton the most consequential move for the Broncos in the last decade.
When Payton took the job, the Broncos faced significant issues. The Russell Wilson trade had blown up in their face, which left them in a bind in terms of both the salary cap and the NFL Draft.
For the first month of 2024, it appeared that the key piece of Payton’s solution - quarterback Bo Nix - was a total dud. From his first appearance in the preseason, it appeared that the game was happening way too fast for Nix, and the breakdowns in footwork and accuracy that followed were downright alarming.
I can’t say what gave Payton the conviction to see things through, but after the head coach’s “Ferris Bueller” rant, the tide started to turn with Nix, and as he became more comfortable processing the game, Nix’s athletic traits started to show up. He wasn’t perfect, but by the end of the year, Nix was stretching defenses up the middle with deep shots and using his legs to pick up key first downs, and generally doing enough to give Broncos fans hope for what awaits them.
Denver needs to continue to build, but it’s far to say they’re out of the storm, as the 2025 offseason saw them make significant additions in both the draft and free agency. In an NFL where it’s difficult to find players on the open market, tight end Evan Engram is a dream fit in Sean Payton’s offense, and the duo of linebacker Dre Greenlaw and safety Talanoa Hufanga brings big-time potential in terms of explosive plays. All three of these signings have dealt with recent injuries, so they come with some risk, but if everything comes together, this has a chance to be one of the better rosters in the NFL.
Quarterback
Starter: Bo Nix
Backups: Jarrett Stidham, Sam Ehlinger
Running Back
Starters: Audric Estime, RJ Harvey (2nd Rd)
Backups: Jaleel McLaughlin, Tyler Badie, Michael Burton (FB)
Wide Receiver
Starters: Courtland Sutton, Marvin Mims, Devaughn Vele
Backups: Pat Bryant (3rd Rd), Troy Franklin, Trent Sherfield
Tight End
Starters: Evan Engram, Adam Trautman
Backups: Nate Adkins, Lucas Krull, Caleb Lohner (7th Rd)
Offensive Line
Starters: Garrett Bolles, Ben Powers, Luke Wattenberg, Quinn Meinerz, Mike McGlinchey
Backups: Matt Peart, Calvin Throckmorton, Alex Forsyth, Nick Gargiulo, Alex Palczewski
Offense Overview
It starts up front for this offense, where Denver has one of the more complete lines in the NFL. The standout is right guard Quinn Meinerz, who has developed from a small-school prospect into one of the most physical run blockers in the NFL. His counterpart, left guard Ben Powers, brings a similarly gritty style, and the presence of those two helped center Luke Wattenberg settle in as a steady player at the pivot despite missing four games due to injury. The tackles, Garrett Bolles and Mike McGlinchey, bring the most pedigree as former first-round picks, and are a quality pairing even if neither seems likely to push for All-Pro honors.
The hope is that they will have more juice and consistency from the skill positions in 2025; receiver Courtland Sutton had a banner year, producing at a level I wasn’t sure we’d see again after injuries derailed the stratospheric trajectory Sutton’s career appeared to be on after his second season. The Broncos did a solid job of using speed receiver Marvin Mims (as well as Troy Franklin) to stretch defenses deep in 2024, and between Nix’s improved downfield accuracy and the presence of Engram as a run-after-threat catch in the short to intermediate areas, Denver should be even more successful in tying all the aspects of their offense together.
The Broncos also hope to get a boost from running back R.J. Harvey, a second-round pick who is supposed to bring big-time explosion as an undersized (5’8, 205) back. Audric Estime (5’11, 230) will complement Harvey as more of a banger, and Jaleel McLaughlin remains in place as a backup “scat” back, but this strikes me as a potential landing spot for a Nick Chubb or a J.K. Dobbins; Harvey is not going to carry the load at his size, and unless Estime looks markedly more explosive in camp, I think it would be worth bringing in some competition to upgrade that spot. It shouldn’t be too hard a sell, given the quality of the offensive line.
The environment around him should be improved, and in an ideal world, Bo Nix will also walk into camp as an improved player. Nix made tremendous progress throughout his rookie season, and if he can be a bit more consistent in Year Two, this Broncos offense could really take off.
Defensive Tackle
Starters: Zach Allen, D.J. Jones, John Franklin-Myers
Backups: Sai’vion Jones (3rd Rd), Malcolm Roach, Jordan Jackson, Eyioma Uwzurike
Edge
Starters: Nik Bonnito, Jonathon Cooper
Backups: Dondrea Tillman, Jonah Elliss, Que Robinson (4th Rd)
Linebackers
Starters: Alex Singleton, Dre Greenlaw
Backups: Justin Strnad, Drew Sanders
Safety
Starters: Brandon Jones, Talanoa Hufanga
Backups: P.J. Locke, Devon Key, Sam Franklin
Slot
Starter: Jahdae Barron (1st Rd)
Backups: Ja’Quan McMillian
Outside CB
Starters: Pat Surtain II, Riley Moss
Backups: Damarri Mathis, Kris Abrams-Draine
Defense Overview
Denver already had a talented defense, with reigning Defensive Player of the Year Pat Surtain at cornerback, a blue-chip, do-it-all lineman in Zach Allen, and some really strong complementary pieces, such as versatile lineman John Franklin-Myers, the ultra-twitched up edge rusher Nik Bonitto, and a playmaker at the safety position in Brandon Jones.
There will be even more options heading into 2025. The Broncos used their first-round selection on Jahdae Barron, a do-it-all defensive back with positional flexibility, and added Talanoa Hufanga and Dre Greenlaw in free agency, moves that would push players like linebackers Drew Sanders and Justin Strand, and safety P.J. Locke, into backup roles after playing significant roles on last year’s defense.
It all needs to come together, but as it stands, Denver’s defense is going to be difficult to play against. They have a deep rotation of big bodies who can hold their own on the frontline, a lockdown corner in Surtain, and potentially four more impact players in the back end of the defense, assuming Greenlaw, Hufanga, and Barron all live up to expectations in their first year with the orange and blue, and that Brandon Jones continues to show up the way he has for Miami and Denver over the past two seasons.
Overall Outlook
The Broncos are another team who could wind up in the discussion for the NFL’s best roster in 2025. They’ve done a great job assembling depth; R.J. Harvey is the exception, as the running back room still doesn’t look great, but three of their top four picks (1st rounder Jahdae Barron, 3rd-round receiver Pat Bryant, 3rd-round defensive lineman Sai’vion Jones) can come along at their own pace, as the Broncos bring back starters they made the playoffs with at all of those spots.
There’s going to be the question of whether Bo Nix can get his team over the line once he faces someone like Josh Allen in the playoffs, but in reviewing that film, I thought the Broncos were closer than the 31-7 final score indicated. Buffalo was a cut above, but Denver was a doinked field goal off the post away from tying this game at 10 going into halftime, which was a rough way for an 8-play, 60-yard two-minute drive that began at Denver’s own 8 to end.
It’s not quite on the level of drafting Jayden Daniels, but in rewinding this to where Denver sat before the 2024 Draft, with the least draft capital of the quarterback-needy teams at the top of the draft, and where they are now, is remarkable. Broncos ownership wanted competence when they gave up a draft pick to acquire Sean Payton after they moved on from the Nathaniel Hackett experience; Payton has certainly given them that, and now we’ll see if he can push this squad to the next level and give the Chiefs a run for their money in the AFC West.