One particular phrase has been drilled into Sean Payton’s subconscious enough times, evidently, that the Broncos’ head coach repeated a version of it three separate times to reporters across the 2025 season. The offensive line, Payton has repeated, permeates the building. Mis-evaluate the offensive front, and it becomes impossible to properly evaluate one’s quarterback, running game, or receivers at large.
“Everything we’re doing is hard to accomplish,” Payton said in June of last year, “when that group is not what it needs to be.”
It has been, in Denver. Under offensive-line shepherd Zach Strief, the Broncos have spent handsomely to build one of the most stable fronts in the NFL. The franchise has committed over $341 million in total contract value for starters Garett Bolles, Ben Powers, Luke Wattenberg, Quinn Meinerz and Mike McGlinchey since 2023. And the front office has had its faith rewarded for choosing to preserve that group, rather than splinter it for cheaper options.
That investment has suddenly never been more important heading into 2026.
On Monday, the NFL world erupted as the Los Angeles Rams tossed in Pro Bowler Jared Verse and several draft picks for Cleveland Browns titan Myles Garrett. If this were any previous season in Payton’s tenure, this would’ve meant little to Denver. But the league’s rotating schedule ensures the Broncos will face the Rams in Week 3, and now have to mark up a protection plan for the man who .
The Garrett trade, now, only adds another layer to a brutal early-season stretch for Denver — and specifically for the Broncos’ offensive front. Strief, in truth, might not be able to take an actual breath until late October. Consider this run of pass-rushers:
- Week 2 vs. Jacksonville and OLB Josh Hines-Allen, who tied with Nik Bonitto for the fourth-most quarterback pressures in the NFL in 2025 (80)
- Week 3 vs. the Rams and Garrett, the NFL’s reigning Defensive Player of the Year
- Week 4: at San Francisco and former Defensive Player of the Year Nick Bosa, healthy again after missing all but three games in 2025
- Week 5 at Chargers, who recorded the two highest pressure rates on Bo Nix of any game on Denver’s regular-season schedule last year
- Week 6: vs. reigning Super Bowl champion Seattle, who recorded the fourth-highest pressure rate of any team in 2025
Such a gauntlet of a schedule is ultimately a major reason Denver has so much money tied up in its offensive front. In fact, the Broncos have the third-highest percentage of 2026 cap room tied up in their top seven offensive linemen, according to Spotrac cap-space data assembled by The Post.
| Team | Top 7 OL League Cap % |
|---|---|
| Carolina | 29.96% |
| Kansas City | 23.05% |
| Denver | 22.85% |
| Minnesota | 22.40% |
| Tampa Bay | 21.03% |
| Atlanta | 21.02% |
| Los Angeles Rams | 20.18% |
| Philadelphia | 19.16% |
| Chicago | 17.71% |
| Los Angeles Chargers | 17.01% |
This has been Denver’s philosophy since Payton arrived in 2023, as the Broncos’ rebuild began with the signing of McGlinchey and Powers to big-money free-agent deals.
“When Strief first came here and we brought in Mike, brought in Ben, the very foundation of our offensive line is being able to be ready for the biggest moment on the biggest stage,” Meinerz said in late January before the AFC Championship game against New England. “And so, as we’re continuing to play in these bigger and bigger games — our entire philosophy since they got here, for years at this point — thatap how we treat every single two-minute we work on in training camp. Thatap how we work every single third-down period is, we want to be perfect.”
They were not, in that season-ending 10-7 loss to the Patriots. New England shook free to shake up backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham one too many times, and Patriots defensive lineman Christian Barmore made clear postgame that .
“First-team All-Pro,” Barmore said, after Meinerz was tagged by Pro Football Focus with surrendering five pressures in New England’s win. “Our coach tells us all the time that All-Pro don’t mean (expletive), excuse my language. Doesn’t matter. Our coaches tell us every time, ‘They All-Pros, they the targets.’ So that’s the mission. He’s a hell of a player, but this is for us.”
On the whole, though, Denver’s offensive front largely met the moment in pass protection in 2025. According to a film review by The Denver Post, Broncos offensive linemen were only directly responsible for 14 sacks surrendered to players they were blocking in the 17-game regular season. And the Broncos held five of seven winning defenses they faced last year under their overall quarterback pressure rate in the regular season, according to data collected from Next Gen Stats.
They’ll need more in 2026, and their collection of opponents helps explain the Broncos’ offseason approach to their offensive line. As the calendar has now flipped past June 1, Denver could save itself over $30 million in cap space by cutting or trading McGlinchey and Powers. But the organization has long avoided cutting productive players solely to take money off the books, and would likely only consider moving Powers if reserve Alex Palczewski or fourth-round rookie Kage Casey clearly outplays him at left guard come training camp.
The gang is all back, then, for a third straight year with the exact same starting offensive line. And the Broncos will need all five pieces to topple a Thanos-level threat in Garrett.
