Super Bo or bust. The gauntlet apEO Greg Penner threw down in early August had diamonds for knuckles, twinkling in the Colorado sunshine.
“Our goal is to compete for championships every year,” Penner had said a few weeks back when asked what he’d view as a successful season in 2026. “And if we put ourselves in that position, I think we’re going to be successful. And we’re going to win Super Bowls.”
As in, plural.
The AFC West needs a new daddy. The Chiefs were broken before Patrick Mahomes blew out his knee. The Chargers are the Buffalo Bills of Beverly Hills, forever cursed. The Raiders are still the asylum Maxx Crosby
Meanwhile, Bo Nix is 26 and under contract through 2027. Pat Surtain II and Nik Bontto are 26 and signed through 2029. Garett Bolles is 34 and locked up through 2028.
Let’s see: Franchise QB. Shutdown corner. Premier edge-rusher. Pro Bowl left tackle. That’s the NFL’s Holy Quaternity sorted, the four biggest boxes of football roster-building ticked off with giant gold checkmarks.
And we didn’t get into the fact that Zach Allen, one of the most under-pubbed defensive superstars in the NFL, is inked through 2029. Or that Quinn Meinerz is signed through 2028. Or that Talanoa Hufanga is only 26. A house is only as strong as its foundation. The Broncos are building on top of a steel spine.
“Well, nine (AFC West titles) in a row for the Chiefs was pretty good. That’s hard to replicate,” told me as we watched the Broncos practice at Dove Valley recently. “And it’s tough to even just win a division — forget winning the Super Bowl. Everything’s got to break your way.
“But if I’m looking at this (Broncos) team in the division, I’m saying I’m picking them to win this year. We’ll see what next year brings about as well. So to predict seven (or more) in a row is just so hard to say. But they’ll be in the hunt. They’ll be in the mix if everyone’s healthy and whatnot, yeah.”
The wonks keep whispering in my ear that the Chargers are due, that Justin Herbert is due, that Jim Harbaugh is due, that new OC Mike McDaniel is due. I say the football gods have had it in for the Spanos family even before they shoved a machete into the hearts of San Diegans. The Raiders might somehow figure it out someday, but that someday is nowhere close to now.
It’s not hard to see the Broncos rattling off five division titles in a row, the way they did under Tebow and Manning. The AFC West’s old money isn’t worth what it used to be. Chiefs Kingdom still flies its crimson flags high, but towers of BBQ-stained bricks have become faded and worn. Munitions are low. The devil has come to collect his due, interest compounded by a decade of Mahomes’ miracles. No. 15’s reconstructed knee is a bigger riddle than Nix’s new ankle. Defensive tackle Chris Jones just turned 32. Kansas City traded one starting corner to the Rams (Trent McDuffie) and watched another corner (Jaylen Watson) sign with L.A. as a free agent.
Tight end Travis Kelce — congrats on the nuptials — will turn 37 in October. At 37, Antonio Gates saw his targets (52) and touchdowns (three) drop by half from what they were during his age-36 season. At 37, Tony Gonzalez retired. At 37, Shannon Sharpe had been working at CBS for about a year. Rob Gronkowski turned 37 this past May.
“I mean, it’s Mahomes’ injury and Kelce’s age, and that was going to happen. Again, when you look at their roster, there are a lot of question marks,”
“You have that receiver group — of course, they brought Kenneth Walker III in to kind of supplement that. But you look at that receiver group, you’re like, that’s not scaring anybody. And as great as Kelce’s been, you’re like, ‘He’s not the same Kelce of old.’ The defense has some holes. Do they have enough pass rush, still? So there are a lot of question marks with the Chiefs — where in years past, there weren’t that many, and Mahomes could take everybody up to a different level. No one’s scared of them anymore.”
To wit: In 2024, Kansas City trailed or was tied entering the fourth quarter in five regular-season games that season. The Chiefs went on to win all five. In 2025, over Weeks 1-14, while Mahomes was still active, they tied or trailed after three quarters eight different times — and went 1-7 in those contests.
Payton’s been here before. Actually, he’s been here a lot. The Saints had notched just two division titles in their history from 1967-2005. Sunshine Sean won seven of them in the Big Easy from 2006-2021, including a run of four straight from 2017-2020.
“It’s going to be a heck of a dogfight,” said of the AFC West. “It might be whose defense plays better. But, yeah, as far as a window goes, I think the Chiefs are right there. As long as Herbert’s healthy with the Chargers, they’ll be a contender. And I like what I’ve seen so far from Bo Nix and Sean Payton. As long as they’re together, they’ll be a contender.”
The most pressing concern for Broncos from ’27-29 probably won’t be Mahomes, Herbert or Fernando Mendoza. It’ll be math. Nix’s rookie deal is up after the ’27 campaign, with a club option for 2028. He’s slated to feature a cap number of $5.08 million this fall and $5.92 million in ’27 — one of the biggest bargains, and QB bargains, in the entire NFL. But if you’re a proven QB1, those savings don’t last.
“These young stars that have emerged (for the Broncos), that have become part of this team, that have become a force in the NFL, they’re slowly but surely going to start getting plucked off,” Ruiz noted. “They’re going to cash in on big free-agent contracts
“Can (the franchise) draft well enough to sustain that success over a period of time? That’s what will determine how sustainable this run is for the Broncos. But (GM) George Paton and Sean Payton have worked very well together. There’s no reason to believe at this point that they can’t draft and develop the way some of the top teams do.”
With a year remaining on Mahomes’ initial four-year, $16.4-million rookie contract, the Chiefs ripped it up in the summer of 2020 and inked him to a 10-year pact that averaged $45 million per season.
The franchise went to four more Super Bowls over the next six seasons, winning two. But in this league, those Bills have a habit of catching up with you. Those Broncos, too.
