Author: Charlie Grace

The Denver Broncos selected former Oregon quarterback Bo Nix with the 12th pick of the 2024 NFL Draft in Detroit, setting up an intriguing and young quarterback battle this offseason.

A week ago the Broncos’ quarterback room consisted of Jarrett Stidham and Ben DiNucci, fast-forward to Friday morning after night one of the draft and Sean Payton has a pair of 24-year-old quarterbacks who will go to battle for the starting job this offseason in Zach Wilson and Bo Nix.

Was it a reach?

Based on evaluations, you’d say that the pick was a reach at 12th overall and there were incredible players still on the board on both sides of the ball as well as the opportunity to trade back and accumulate draft capital. 

However, with five of the top six quarterbacks already off the board, it wasn’t worth the risk of trading back from 12 with a quarterback that they loved right there in their lap.

All of this while the Las Vegas Raiders and New Orleans Saints were at 13th and 14th overall respectively behind the Broncos and both needed a quarterback long-term. 

What does Bo Nix bring to the Broncos?

The Broncos needed to come out of the draft with a quarterback that Payton could mould into the signal caller who would run his offence just as he wants it to be run, similar to how Brock Purdy operates Kyle Shanahan’s offence in San Fransisco, Nix can have the same role in Denver but with more upside. 

Nix has an excellent processor and comes with incredible experience having started 61 career games in college football across his NCAA career at Oregon and Auburn.

He’s an accurate passer and works well even under pressure, not taking sacks or turning the ball over too much, as well as being extremely productive in the red zone and an efficient two-minute drill operator.

When speaking to the media in the aftermath of the pick Payton sounded like he was in awe of Nix and the traits he’s shown the Broncos throughout the draft process. 

What happens now for Denver? 

Due to staying put at 12 and taking Nix, the Broncos didn’t accumulate any extra draft capital on days two and three of the draft this year. 

So, pending any overnight or in-draft trades the Broncos will have to wait until 76th overall to make their second pick of this year’s draft. 

The roster still has plenty of holes that will need to be filled until this team is competitive in the league and chasing the playoffs again. 

The Broncos may try and package some of their later-round picks, future mid-round picks or even look to trade a player to get into the second round or early third round and get a difference maker on the defensive side of the ball. 

Every level of the defence needs young talent and there is plenty of that at the top of the second round, which might be out of reach unless the Broncos can manage to facilitate a trade-up. 

Johnny Newton is a premium pass-rushing defensive tackle who fell out of the first round, while Edgerrin Cooper and Junior Colson are good linebackers with true second-round talent.

Cooper DeJean and Kool-Aid McKinstry also sit on the board as the best secondary options, but it is unlikely they reach the Broncos’ range unless they manage to make a big trade-up into the top 10 of the second round.

Does the Nix pick change the prospects of the 2024 Denver Broncos?

It’s unlikely that Nix will come into the team and drastically change its outlook, especially for the near future in 2024, the roster is still a bottom-five group in the league and Nix will need to learn Payton’s offence and adjust to NFL-level play. 

However, it does give the Broncos flexibility heading into next year’s offseason with more free money to go after free agents while also having a potential top-ten pick to take a premium player at a position of need depending on how the team performs. 

Nix brings the Broncos a new dawn at the quarterback position, in particular looking multiple years into the future when this team can surround him with talent while still being on his rookie deal in year two and beyond of his rookie deal.

Sean Payton’s first year in Denver saw Broncos Country endure a true rollercoaster of a season, from a 1-5 start to 7-6 and then back down to a seventh losing season in a row.

Now we’ve entered the offseason, the multiple superstars have moved on and the Broncos are staring down the largest dead cap hit in the history of the NFL. 

To outsiders, it may seem like the Broncos are in free fall and fully embracing a ‘tanking’ season, but in the Mile High city Broncos Country is getting the rebuild they’ve been so desperately longing for since Peyton Manning left in 2016. 

Figures correct as of Thursday, March 15.

The outs

Almost two years on from dropping their major trade acquisition of Russell Wilson, the Broncos announced that they were cutting Russell Wilson. 

Wilson was designated as a post-June 1st cut spreading his cap hit across 2024 and 2025 slightly nulifying the blow of the largest dead cap hit in NFL history. 

During his time in Denver, Wilson threw for 42 touchdowns, and 19 interceptions, and finished with an 11-19 record playing under Nathaniel Hackett and Sean Payton as well as two games under interim-head coach Jerry Rosburg. 

Before even playing a snap in orange, Wilson was handed a five-year 4245 million contract extension on top of the remaining two years he had remaining on his existing Seattle Seahawks contract. 

Now, anyone who can put two and two together will have noticed that the trade happened two years prior to the cutting of Wilson, meaning the 35-year-old failed to play any downs on the blockbuster extension he signed with the organisation. 

Payton has steadied the ship in Colorado after a disastrous season in 2022 but cutting Wilson officially called an end to one of the most disastrous eras in Broncos history, leaving a mere $85 million dead cap hit in its wake.

The dead cap hit more than doubles the previous record and has led to the Broncos having to make numerous other readjustments to gather some meaningful cap room for the 2024 season. 

The biggest casualty of this was superstar safety Justin Simmons who was cut after eight years with the Broncos, who selected the two-time Pro Bowler with the 98th pick of the 2016 draft.

Simmons was the true definition of a ball-hawk safety and a key addition to the Broncos’ roster, however, due to the league’s reluctance to pay safeties and the cap hole the Broncos found themselves in, Simmons was an obvious trade or cut candidate. 

Veteran tight end Chris Manhertz was also cut while fellow pass catcher and former 2020 first-round pick Jerry Jeudy was traded to the Cleveland Browns for two later-round picks.

Jeudy never truly fulfilled his potential in Denver and will get another chance to prove why he was a first-round selection in Cleveland next year, as for the Broncos they were able to free up more cap space and gather some much-needed draft capital in the process.

Away from cutting and trading players two star performers of the Broncos hit the open market in interior offensive lineman Lloyd Cushenberry III and interior linebacker Josey Jewell. 

Cushenberry earned himself a big-money move to the Tennessee Titans while Jewell currently remains a free agent in a position that is, like safety and running back, deemed as less valuable in the modern game. 

The 2024 linebacker draft class is quite weak which will play into Jewell’s favour, while for the Broncos they will have to decide whether they give second-year player Drew Sanders the keys or whether they look to free agency or a potential gem in this 2024 class, to play alongside Alex Singleton. 

General Manager, George Paton suggested that Sanders may eventually move outside so perhaps an inside linebacker will be in play for the Broncos with some of their mid-round picks. 

Restructures and more cuts?

In the week leading up to free agency, the Broncos restructured the contracts of their three big free-agent acquisitions from a year ago. 

They began by reworking a one-year deal with Tim Patrick, then freeing up $11 million by restructuring Mike McGlinchey’s contract before restructuring both Ben Powers’ and Zach Allen’s deals to allow for an extra $20 million to become available. 

After almost a week of free agency the Broncos’ current cap number sits at around $26 million under the cap and that may grow with some more likely cuts. 

NFL insider Benjamin Allbright hinted at the potential of at least three more cuts that could happen soon from the Broncos roster. 

The most likely candidate for the Broncos to part ways with is defensive tackle, DJ Jones who would free up nearly $10 million in cap space while Garrett Bolles and Samaje Perine may also be restructure or cut candidates. 

Bolles was part of Denver’s amazing run-blocking unit last year and if Payton wants to build his team in his mould it would be strange to see Bolles cut, but his $20 million against the cap does pose as a big figure.

Some flirted with the possibility of Courtland Sutton being a trade candidate but those rumours seem to have been squashed, which is great news for the Broncos after his monster year in 2023.

Free agents  

In the first week of free agency, the Broncos acquired Brandon Jones on a three-year, $20 million contract and defensive lineman Malcolm Roach on a two-year, $8 million contract. 

They also resigned, fullback Michael Burton for one year, safety P.J. Locke on a two-year, $7 million contract, and former New Orleans Saints duo, kicker Will Lutz and wide receiver Lil’Jordan Humphrey, who both spent the 2023 season in Denver.

With the Broncos sitting at around $26 million in cap space and the free agent market dwindling, they perhaps won’t be going out and making any major deals. 

Perhaps some extra defensive line and linebacker help will come through the door later in free agency on some veteran minimum or cheap ‘prove it’ deals but unless more cuts come it seems unlikely the Broncos will play a much bigger role in the rest of this year’s free agency. 

Draft prospects

Coming later in the draft cycle we will bring you more mock drafts, a full seven-round Broncos mock draft and more draft spotlights. 

As we remain a month and a half out of the draft in Detroit this Spring it’s difficult to properly project any prospects and with a team in need of capital but also in need of a top quarterback prospect, the Broncos are a tough team to place in the draft pecking order. 

They could go down the route of trading up for JJ McCarthy or Jayden Daniels if one starts to fall, but they likely don’t have the assets to properly facilitate that trade. 

So most likely, it’ll be a trade back to accumulate more capital before moving for one of the mid-range, second-tier quarterbacks, Bo Nix or Michael Penix Jr. to learn under veteran Jarrett Stidham in 2024. 

Elsewhere, the draft class is deep at receiver and with Sutton, Patrick, Humphrey, Brandon Johnson and Marvin Mims as the only receivers on the roster it is likely the Broncos will look to add one of the receivers out of the 2024 class.

The class is also deep at edge rusher, something the Broncos can always use more of, and it wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility for Paton to select someone like Jared Verse or Laiatu Latu at 12th overall if they liked them enough. 

With the linebacker class looking quite weak in 2024 in both the draft and free agency, it’ll be interesting to see how the Broncos fill that void. 

What do the next two years look like for the Broncos? 

2024 will be a year for rebuilding for the Broncos and Sean Payton, looking to add some franchise cornerstones through the draft before looking to 2025 with more cap room and bringing more quality into the team. 

The QB question heading into the 2024 draft is intriguing and with the prospects of a trade-up looking less likely, it’ll be interesting to see how the Broncos play the board with the top of the second tier of QBs. 

With the 2025 class of QBs looking weak, it would be surprising to see the Broncos pass on a signal-caller in this draft cycle. 

It would be expected to then see the front office use their extra cap room to surround him with talent when he takes a starting spot in 2025.

After a long and tumultuous 18 weeks, the Denver Broncos season has come to an end with a loss to the Las Vegas Raiders, wilting 27-14 to their division rivals and falling to third in the AFC West. 

The Broncos started the season 1-5 and inevitably dug themselves too big of a hole to climb out of. Despite their five-game winning streak in the middle of the season, they were always on the outside looking in and fell away again at the end of the year going 2-4 to close out the season, missing the playoffs again.

The losing streak to the Raiders continues 

Perhaps, the most disappointing part of Sunday’s loss is the continuation of the Broncos’ losing streak against their bitter AFC West rivals. 

Sean Payton’s team could have bucked two huge losing trends this season had they won on Sunday, having already put an end to their 16-game losing streak against the Kansas City Chiefs earlier in the season. 

It wasn’t to be however and they got thoroughly outplayed by the Raiders who looked better and more hungry in every facet of the game, from coaching to quarterback play and everything in between. 

To put the icing on the cake, the loss meant that the Broncos have now had a losing record for seven straight seasons ending Payton’s first campaign 8-9. 

The rebuild starts now 

Now the season is over, the conversations will turn to offseason movement in free agency and the NFL Draft which will take place in late April. 

As discussed last week, the Broncos have several big pending free agents who they likely won’t be able to retain if they also take the route of cutting Russell Wilson and eating his hefty dead cap hit. 

As a result, Denver will likely be constructing a roster of cheap veteran and rookie players next year, unless they can convince some of their stars that remain on the roster to reconstruct their contracts and give the Broncos some breathing room on their cap.

An 8-9 record partnered with a Superbowl-winning head coach, is a great base to rebuild on and defensively Vance Joseph found a formula that clicked in the middle part of the season.

Nonetheless, there are still plenty of holes on the roster that need filling on both sides of the ball, coaching can provide the players with a strong floor, the Los Angeles Rams showed that this season, and perhaps the Broncos will still be able to take positive steps next season.

January blues

It was sealed last week, but the Broncos will be without playoff football in January for the seventh year in a row, the second-longest post-season drought in the NFL currently.

Payton’s team gave it a good shot and for the first time since the 2016, Super Bowl 50 team, it felt like Broncos Country had a team that they could root for and a team that could bring some cheer back to Mile High. 

Payton brought a sense of optimism back to the Broncos and he has begun to change the culture of this team, it’s clear for all to see when they look at the tape, and the midseason turnaround personified it. 

So while the short-term future of the franchise seems bleak, there are reasons to be optimistic and in a couple of seasons, there is reason to hold out hope that Payton can bring the Broncos back into the AFC playoffs in the future.

Thank you! 

Finally, a thank you from me to anyone reading this week’s takeaways or to anyone who read one of my takeaway pieces this season.

If you’re a general NFL fan then I hope you enjoy the storyline-littered NFL playoffs, and if you are a member of Broncos Country then have hope and get mock drafting!

I hope to see you back again reading takeaways throughout the offseason and into 2024.

Denver were so close to finally making the playoffs, all they had to do was win their final three games, all against backups and all against AFC teams with losing records. 

After the loss to Detroit, Sean Payton’s team had to be flawless if they were to make the postseason, unfortunately, they fell at the first hurdle and an old nemesis, the New England Patriots sealed the Broncos’ fate. 

Here are my takeaways as the Broncos’ playoff hopes came grinding to a halt in primetime.

Reality Check

Perhaps this result was a message from the football gods, a reality check to remind Broncos fans of the reality of this roster, in truth it just simply isn’t good enough yet to make the playoffs, they showed us that earlier in the season.

Despite a rejuvenation that showed there is hope for the future, when it gets to crunch time this team still lacks the pieces to get themselves over the line and show they’re a proper playoff unit. 

There are reasons for Broncos country to be optimistic for the future, and for nine weeks Sean Payton and Vance Joseph had the team riding a wave, unfortunately, the playoff train is over. 

Third quarter woes

The Broncos went into halftime winning seven to three, it was a lacklustre offensive first half but the defence kept an underwhelming New England offence in check. 

It seemed like the recipe for success was just for the Broncos’ offence to move the ball on one or two drives early in the second half and they could get over the line.

In reality, the opposite happened and a disastrous third-quarter showing took the Broncos from a probable playoff team to middling mediocrity.

Bailey Zappe did well navigating the soft Broncos pass rush climbing up in the pocket on a couple of drives that resulted in Ezekiel Elliott and Mike Gesicki touchdowns to give the Patriots a 17-7 lead before Marvin Mims fumbled the kickoff into the oncoming Patriots who carried it in for another score putting the Patriots up 23-7. 

A snowball of errors paired with some questionable playcalling and poor quarterback play saw the Broncos fall too far behind the Patriots to mount a comeback. 

Some good high-tempo offence and more explosive playcalling saw the Broncos march down the field twice in quick succession to draw level, but in the end, the Patriots managed to get into field goal range and put the game away for good.

Offensive play calling

It wasn’t until those two drives in the fourth quarter when the Broncos were backed into a corner that the gameplan shifted from running between the tackles on first down, outside on second down, then a long developing route concept on third down, before Riley Dixon stepped on to punt on fourth down. 

Sean Payton deserves a lot of credit for how he’s changed the culture of this group and they’ve come a long way from where they were under Nathaniel Hackett last season. 

Nonetheless, in the last few weeks the offensive play calling has been questionable and when the opposition stops the run Payton seems to be reluctant to call any high-tempo offence or any explosive offence that threatens to take the top off of the opposition’s defence.

Whether that’s because he doesn’t trust his quarterback or whether he just trusts indefinitely in his offensive scheme is up for debate but somewhere, the playcalling needs to change and become less predictable. 

Offseason movement?

Now the Broncos don’t have to think about the post-season, they can start to look to the offseason beyond and think about who will move on the roster. 

The biggest questions come on the offensive side of the ball, what happens at quarterback? Are there any more offensive line additions? Where do they look in the draft? 

The future of Russell Wilson is in question, his contract is so big but this offseason is the cheapest ‘out’ they will have across the entire extension he was given in 2022. 

There’s a very real possibility that George Paton (if he’s still there), takes the dead cap hit for 2024 and looks to the draft for a rookie to sit behind an affordable veteran for a year or two. 

It was announced on Wednesday that Wilson would be benched in place of Jarrett Stidham for the final two weeks of the season, this doesn’t necessarily mean that Wilson’s fate is sealed and some journalists have speculated that the front office is just protecting themselves against a $37 million that Wilson would get guaranteed if he got injured. 

Whoever is the general manager next season has a dilemma to make at the quarterback position as well as with underwhelming receiver Jerry Jeudy (who attracted trade interest earlier in the season) and centre Lloyd Cushenberry III who will be hitting free agency in the offseason but will command a sizeable fee if his services are to be retained.

Week 17 preview

On Sunday it will be Stidham who takes the field against the Chargers with the Broncos’ playoff hopes hanging by a thread. 

Two weeks ago the Broncos brushed the Chargers aside 24-7, since that game both teams have lost two games in a row and the Chargers moved on from head coach Brandon Staley. 

It will be a game between backups as the Chargers will continue to field Easton Stick under centre while Stidham will take the snaps after Wilson’s benching. 

The Chargers will be hoping to not be swept by the Broncos for the first time since 2019, whilst the Broncos are looking to keep their playoff hopes alive in week 18 and chase a first winning season since 2016.

The Broncos have had two games in the last three weeks that have had a playoff feel about them and they’ve failed to show up in both games, this week they fell apart on national television to boot.

At this stage of the season, every loss stings that extra bit when you’re in a six-way battle for two wildcard playoff spots, but it’s not all doom and gloom, here’s what I took away from Saturday’s performance.

Huge playoff dent 

There’s no escaping it, the loss is a big hit to Denver’s improbable playoff run, especially because all but one of the fellow chasing pack won their games on Sunday, to add salt to Sean Payton’s wounds. 

The Broncos slipped from ninth to 11th in the AFC playoff picture and they are now a game back from both teams in the final two spots of the AFC wildcard picture as well as the Buffalo Bills and Houston Texans in the two places just out of the playoffs. 

It feels like the Broncos missed an opportunity on Saturday but because of the nature of their schedule in comparison to their fellow playoff chasers, they’re far from out of the race for the playoff places in a highly competitive AFC.

Offence misfires again 

This game felt like deja vu for the Broncos when recalling what happened only two weeks ago when they played the Houston Texans in what felt like a game with a similar magnitude given the playoff implications. 

Similar to the Houston game, the offence failed to keep up with their opponent early in the game and quickly fell behind the eight-ball on Saturday night. 

They failed to score any points in the first half and barely moved the sticks at all before halftime despite the Detroit Lions having a defence that other teams had managed to score points on in past weeks. 

In the second half, they managed to drive the ball with more efficiency but due to their subpar first-half display, they had left themselves with too much to do trying to keep up with the Lions.

Defence picked apart 

Like the offence, the defence also failed to turn up and properly make a difference in the game, barely laying a glove on the Lions. 

They failed to register a turnover and only sacked Jared Goff twice, rarely putting meaningful pressure on the Lions’ offence. 

As a result, Goff was able to systematically pluck apart the Broncos’ defence and with impressive YAC (yards after the catch) specialists like Amon-Ra St.Brown, Sam LaPorta, Jameson Williams and Jahmyr Gibbs at running back it’s difficult to defend all of their dynamic assets, a task that the Broncos couldn’t undertake.

Three winnable games down the stretch 

The Broncos have three games left of their season to complete their improbable in-season turnaround and make the playoffs for the first time since their Super Bowl-winning season in 2015/16.

All three games are against backup quarterbacks and teams with losing records all in the AFC, first up is the New England Patriots, followed by the Los Angeles Chargers at home before travelling to Las Vegas to try and beat the Raiders for the first time in nine attempts.

If they win out then the Broncos will give themselves a great chance at making the playoffs because every other playoff contender has to play at least one other team in the hunt, meaning the Broncos can take advantage of loses elsewhere.

Week 16 preview

In week 16 the Broncos face the team with the worst record in the AFC, the New England Patriots. 

The Patriots are a franchise in turmoil with rumours swirling about legendary head coach Bill Belichick and the Broncos couldn’t have a better game lined up to get their playoff run back on track after Saturday’s disappointing loss. 

Russell Wilson is playing with a chip on his shoulder trying to prove to the front office why they should keep him in the team going forward, while Sean Payton will be trying to gauge who he can build his offence around while he is the Broncos’ head coach.