Summer arrived a day early for the Broncos.

The veteran head coach for the first time since arriving in Denver in 2023 called off the last of Denver’s slated three-day mandatory minicamp and instead excused his team for the summer after a slate of Wednesday afternoon meetings.

Payton cited multiple factors in wrapping up the minicamp after two days rather than three, including the Broncos’ deep playoff run last season and also the fact that this week is the final in the club’s current locker room and facility.

“It����ap unusual because there’s a lot of packing, a little bit more than normal when you’re moving into a new facility,” Payton said.

Indeed, when the Broncos return from summer break and report for training camp late next month, they will do so to the gleaming new headquarters across the field from the building they’ve been in since 1990. The initial move-in may not happen exactly on the initial schedule of this weekend after a subcontractor died at the construction site Monday night. Work was still paused while Denver practiced Wednesday, which is nearly done and with training camp more than five weeks away.

Payton said even in a normal year, he likes to have something fresh ready when players return for training camp.

“I like the idea of always coming back to something new,” he said. “Pretend it wasn’t that new facility — we’d have new signage or try to create (something new).

“Here, we’ve been slow to even talk about putting things up in the hallways because you don’t know which ones are getting the traffic. For all of us, I’m sure there will be some quirks.”

Payton also cited the Broncos’ deep playoff run during the 2025 season as the reason for finishing a day early. That����ap been a consistent factor in how the coach and his staff have conducted this offseason.

They reported for Phase 1 — Payton’s always consists of six weeks of just running and lifting — two weeks later than any other team in the NFL. They held two weeks of OTAs rather than the maximum three. Then two days of minicamp instead of three.

In total, Denver was on the field for eight days this offseason between OTAs and minicamp. That����ap about as few as possible for an NFL team these days.

“It was the most amount of days we’ve been in the building for the regular season, so there’s a balance there,” Payton said. “I think it����ap just about trying to read the team. We have a lot of things that we have to get to and a lot of work to do.

“Fortunately, I think we’ll be coming into training camp pretty healthy. There will be some guys that are here (this summer) training and working on rehab.”

Before OTAs even started, inside linebacker Alex Singleton said he felt like the defense was weeks, months or years ahead of other teams because of the extensive continuity among the group.

Quarterback Bo Nix on Tuesday said he felt like his offense was further along than it had been this time of year in either of his first two seasons despite the fact he’s missed most of the offseason program while rehabbing from a pair of ankle operations.

“I thought it was a great couple of weeks of work,” right tackle Mike McGlinchey said Wednesday. “It����ap always hard to tell, especially from an O-line and D-line perspective when you’re just hanging out in t-shirts and stuff. I think we all have a really good understanding of what we do. Obviously there wasn’t a lot of roster turnover this year moving forward. Having the experience that we have in the building and playing together for as long as we all have is a good thing to keep building on and starting on a higher point than each year before.

“If you’re not improving, you are getting worse in this league and I think we took steps to improve from OTAs last year to training camp to the whole season. Then we played last season, the (17th) game was better than the first game and that����ap the goal this year as well. We have to be better in training camp than we were in OTAs and so on and so forth.”

The next step can wait for a few weeks. The Broncos will decamp for a few weeks of mostly rest and relaxation, then reconvene in the final week of July to start the long march toward what they hope is once again championship contention.

“I like where we’re at,” Payton said.

Sean Payton wants no part of them this summer.

The Broncos head coach on Thursday said his team will not practice against any of its three preseason opponents in August.

Instead, the Broncos will travel to Atlanta and host Green Bay and Minnesota without seeing any additional work against those teams.

Payton said the decision to skip what����ap become a training camp staple around the NFL in recent years stems from Denver’s long postseason run in January.

The Broncos were the last team to start their voluntary offseason program by two weeks when they began lifting and running May 4. They cut out a week of OTAs, too.

All of that, Payton said, means Denver needs a relatively uninterrupted training camp.

“When you do have a joint practice, you miss maybe two days of installation,” he explained. “So this year we know we have the preseason games, but we’re not going to have a joint practice.”

Payton is among the coaches who still plays his starters in preseason games. Many around the league now prefer to let their top guys get work in the more controlled joint practice environment, then play only backups in preseason games.

Payton, though, said he doesn’t pay attention to other teams’ workloads or care when, for example, Green Bay played all of its starters during joint practice work but then held out its top players for a preseason game in Denver two summers ago.

“When we have a joint practice, we pay attention to the reps that we get and the reps they get in the game the next couple days,” he said. “We’ll do the same if we’re not. Obviously we haven’t had a joint practice every preseason week. So we’ll manage their snap counts.”

Doesn’t he think that joint practices are good for evaluating players?

“So are the games,” Payton said. “We play them in the games.”

Jonah Elliss is (mostly) an outside linebacker after all

The Jonah Elliss inside linebacker experiment did not go very far.

Or, at least, it hasn’t so far.

Elliss spent Thursday’s practice working with the Broncos outside linebackers and Payton indicated that����ap mostly where he’ll stay.

“That����ap where his home will be initially,” Payton said. “There may be some packages where he’s inside and we have some flex. But he’s doing too well outside.”

Payton earlier this year said Elliss would get time playing inside and teammates including Nik Bonitto and Alex Singleton talked about believing Elliss could make the transition smoothly.

Instead, he’ll mostly be an outside linebacker along with Bonitto, Jonathon Cooper, Dondrea Tillman, Que Robinson, Drew Sanders and others.

Broncos will attempt to ‘Go the Distance’

Safety Talanoa Hufanga stepped to the podium Thursday to speak with reporters after practice. He did so wearing a cutoff navy t-shirt that “G.T.D.” in white block lettering.

What does that mean?

“It����ap our strength staff, they come up with a slogan during the offseason,” Hufanga said. “This year it����ap ‘Go the Distance.’ Just being able to finish. We didn’t go the distance last year, so we’ve got to make sure we get that this time.”

Hufanga took his share of responsibility for Denver coming up short last year, saying he needed to do better taking the football away. The safety played high-level football in his first year for the Broncos, but he dropped several potential interceptions, too.

“I got back on the JUGS (machine),” Hufanga said. “The reason I couldn’t get on the JUGS last year — and this is an excuse, I’ll be honest — was I was coming off my wrist surgery. A lot of it was just coming off of wearing a club during the game. That was really uncomfortable and really hard to learn again. My hand-eye coordination was really not great. But that is an excuse. I own up to it and I have to be better.”

Hufanga said he had plenty of chances that were anything but difficult.

“I don’t know I dropped all of them because some of them were gimmes,” he said. “I’m being real with you, man, they dropped right in my lap and I didn’t come out with them.”

It remains the defining characteristic of the Broncos. It is why on Tuesday they gave their best player Pat Surtain II a $5 million raise before his new $96 million contract even kicked in.

He outperformed his deal, ownership recognized it, and rather than risk creating a rift or causing a holdout — something Surtain said he was not considering — the Broncos paid him closer to his worth.

Over the past two years, the Broncos have awarded nearly a half-billion dollars in contract extensions.

For this, they have earned praise and, um, threatened to undermine expectations. They change their cast of characters less than “Friends.”

Trust began defining the Broncos’ roster after co-owners Greg Penner and Carrie Walton Penner fired Nathaniel Hackett and hired Sean Payton.

What began this week with OTAs can end only in one place for this season to be a success: at SoFi Stadium in Super Bowl LXI on Feb. 14, 2027.

That would sure beat a box of overpriced chocolates.

Another ring is the expectation they put on themselves.

This is what happens after back-to-back playoff berths and a division title. And yet the Broncos followed an AFC Championship Game loss with an offseason of crickets chirping.

They took one big swing, acquiring receiver Jaylen Waddle.

The Patriots added A.J. Brown, Romeo Doubs and Alijah Vera-Tucker.

The Bills signed a battery of veterans, including old friend Bradley Chubb. The Ravens brought new coach Jesse Minter aboard, edge rusher Trey Hendrickson and multiple depth pieces.

And the Rams went full arms race to dominate the Walton Christmas Day dinner conversation by trading for reigning Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett and two-time All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie.

Did the Broncos really do enough?

“I think we’ve got a great team all around,” Surtain said when I asked him that question. “So it����ap more than enough, honestly.”

It goes back to trust.

The Broncos view Team Retention as a solution. I have questions. At tight end in the passing game. At running back in the training room. At how they plan to maximize the return on investment with Jahdae Barron.

Can the Broncos take the next step without upgrading at certain positions? Denver tripled down on loyalty, keeping Alex Singleton, Justin Strnad, J.K. Dobbins, Adam Trautman, well, really everyone but John Franklin-Myers and P.J. Locke.

How is this going to work? The Broncos went so far on the field and made such improvement that anything less than a Super Bowl will be a disappointment.

But shouldn’t they have done more?

“We believe in each other. Love challenges,” cornerback Riley Moss said. “There are no complainers.”

Payton made clear when he arrived that he wanted players who loved football, were tough and lived to compete.

“And he’s done that. Now, we’ve had a year of winning where we got close,” linebacker Alex Singleton said last week. “Instead of trying to fix something that isn’t broken with new pieces. ….”

They kept the band together. There is a reason Mötley Crüe is still touring, right?

Continuity has only strengthened camaraderie and chemistry. No one has said it out loud yet, but we will hear it soon enough.

It is the Broncos vs. Everybody.

Now more than ever.

No one likes these players more than this GM, this coach, and, well, these players.

But is their confidence misguided? ESPN’s offseason power rankings placed the Broncos 15th behind six teams in the AFC alone. Their over-under for wins is 9.5

If the Broncos pull this off, they will cement their standing as one of the best teams in franchise history. If not, their static free agency will taint them as a collection of high-character guys who couldn’t finish the job without more outside help.

It was a huge risk by staying internal, save for Waddle.

So, again, how do the Broncos continue the climb against opponents who appear to be more all in?

It goes back to players like Surtain. To trust. “To a locker room with the same mentality and work ethic,” Moss said.

These types of statements roll eyes. But I have seen it work, most notably with the 2007 Rockies. Players who grew up in the minors, stayed together, were bonded by friendship and did the unthinkable because of the power of playing for each other.

That same kind of dynamic is at work here. The premise is simple, if not fraught with danger. That standing pat will allow them to move forward. Even Surtain.

“We haven’t seen his best yet,” said Pat Surtain, the star cornerback’s father, and former NFL stalwart, who attended PS2’s foundation Topgolf event that raised money to provide resources for students in financially disadvantaged communities. “We haven’t.”

Really? How so?

“What would happen if he is targeted more and gets like six interceptions?” the elder Surtain said.

Or is healthy. Surtain missed three games last season, the longest absence of his football career at any level, with a partially torn pectoral muscle. It was a remarkably fast recovery.

“It should have been season-ending,” Pops said. “But he came back.”

This is why the Broncos gave him a raise before he was due. Surtain is all in for the team.

Bo Nix is the face of the franchise. But Surtain is the best player, a future Hall of Famer. He knows what a title looks like, having won a national championship at Alabama in 2020.

Waddle was his teammate. That is where the confidence comes from when he believes the Broncos did enough.

Waddle will help Nix. And force teams to use more man coverage on Courtland Sutton.

Based on conversations with multiple players over the last month, they also believe Davis Webb will make the offense more explosive. It must be to survive an opening six-game gauntlet that smacks of cruel and unusual punishment.

“In order to reach the top you have to play the best and our schedule definitely says that,” Surtain said. “I am looking forward to it. That is the exciting part of the game. You have to prove yourself every year.”

No matter what happens in the opening two months, the Broncos will be good and remain a contender. But for this to work, they have to improve after an offseason where they were complacent.

“I am telling you,” Surtain said with a smile, “this is a special group.”

In other words, trust him.

Denver started the first of two weeks of organized team activities on Tuesday. The team is on the field three days this week and three days next week for voluntary work, then has its mandatory minicamp slated for June 16-18.

The next three weeks, then, are the only time Sean Payton’s team will be on the grass in any formal capacity until training camp begins at the end of July.

It����ap football without pads. It����ap more than three full months before the regular season begins. There is a lot of time left in the offseason and the rush to blow small developments or highlights out of proportion this time of year runs rampant across the league.

Nonetheless, these three weeks do mark important waypoints on the Broncos’ path toward training camp and, ultimately, a “Monday Night Football” opener Sept. 14 at Kansas City.

So, here are four storylines that could realistically be moved forward over the coming weeks.

Is Bo Nix nearing the end of his rehabilitation?

It’s the story that will be a story until it����ap not. And even then, questions about the third-year quarterback’s ankle will linger until he puts another long stretch of healthy play together this fall.

Payton indicated last month that he expected Nix to be around for OTAs, but also that he was more confident Nix would be actually involved in some capacity later this month during the minicamp.

“If it were up to him, it’d be earlier,” Payton said May 9. “But we’re going to be smart.”

Nix fractured his ankle in January late in a postseason win against Buffalo and had surgery shortly after. Payton and others originally indicated that Nix would be full speed at the start of Denver’s offseason program, which started in early May, but a second procedure on the ankle in late April pushed that timeline back.

“You’ll see him (in June),” Payton said. “I’m sure you’ll see him in, probably minicamp maybe, but he’ll be full speed throwing everything in July before we even get back here (for training camp).”

The Broncos have expressed confidence in Nix’s rehab both after the initial surgery and after the second. The coming weeks will give a bit more clarity on where the 26-year-old is in that process.

Who will win playing time in the Broncos’ revamped wide receiver room?

Aside from Nix, the single biggest item of interest when reporters are allowed into OTA practice Thursday will be seeing Jaylen Waddle on the field for Denver for the first time.

The star wide receiver, acquired in March from Miami, will likely have to wait a bit longer to start building rapport with his starting quarterback, but his impact is sure to be felt right away in the receiver room.

Not only does he make a dynamic pairing atop the room with Courtland Sutton, but his arrival and sure-to-be-heavy workload have an impact on the rest of the room.

Exact roles and playing time will be up for grabs through the summer, but that competition is already on.

The list of contenders is long but starts with Troy Franklin, Pat Bryant and Marvin Mims Jr. The Broncos have used all three in different ways over the years and each has his strong suits. Franklin can fly and his production jumped last fall from 28 catches, 265 yards and a pair of touchdowns as a 2024 rookie to 65, 729 and six, respectively. Bryant is tough over the middle and in traffic, has run-after-catch ability and is the group’s best blocker. Mims is explosive and has shown he can play any of the spots or out of the backfield in addition to being a terrific returner.

Maybe by September it����ap as simple as rotating those three guys in with Waddle and Sutton depending on game situation. Maybe somebody grabs control of the No. 3 spot. It’ll be one of the best summer battles on the roster.

Can Jonah Elliss make the ILB transition stick?

There’s no substitute for actually playing full speed and, eventually, tackling, so this will be an ongoing process. The staff has confidence, though, that Elliss can play in the middle of the field and he can begin to show signs of that — or plant the seed for question marks — depending on how the next few weeks go.

One player who’s confident Elliss can make the move smoothly: Veteran inside linebacker Alex Singleton, who will be part of the group trying to help get the 2024 third-round pick up to speed.

“It����ap fun. Anytime a guy can learn more, all the better,” Singleton said Friday of welcoming Elliss into the inside linebacker room. “I actually played inside backer with his brother (Christian), too, so I know, kind of, the mindset he’s going to have about it.

Several players this offseason have noted Elliss’ overall talent and concluded that he needs to be on the field some way, somehow. If him moving inside helps create playing time for young edge rushers like Que Robinson, all the better.

The first steps: Learning the responsibilities and communications in the middle of the field. That’ll be Elliss’ challenge this summer before attempting to show he can play regularly inside during training camp.

Is Jahdae Barron headed for a similar role in Year 2?

The personnel in Denver’s loaded secondary has not changed. Pat Surtain II is the premier cornerback in football and has a new, $5 million raise, too. Riley Moss and nickel Ja’Quan McMillian are both valued players and are both entering contract years, too.

So, where does that leave Barron, Denver’s 2025 first-round pick? He played a modest 30% of defensive snaps as a rookie — and less than that outside of the stretch Surtain missed due to injury.

Will he again compete with McMillian for the nickel job in camp? Will he compete for a starting job outside against Moss and Kris Abrams-Draine? Is he perhaps the third option behind starters Talanoa Hufanga and Brandon Jones at safety after P.J. Locke’s departure this spring? All of the above?

Barron’s time is likely coming with McMillian and Moss both in line for big paydays after the 2026 season, but what does the shorter-term future have in store for him?

Instead, it went directly to representatives of Special Olympics Colorado — waiting to see if he’d be back in Denver so .

“Or else, I might’ve been having it in some other city,” Singleton said.

He spoke to reporters Friday very much present and accounted for in Denver, on-site at his second annual cornhole event with Special Olympics Colorado. Two months earlier, the Broncos captain received $11 million in guaranteed money on a new contract. The Special Olympics team got the green light. But for a brief period, this was all far from a certainty.

At February’s NFL Combine, Broncos general manager George Paton said point-blank they’d “love” to re-sign Singleton and fellow ILB Justin Strnad, both impending free agents. Words that drift through the haze of NFL contract negotiations, however, rarely equate to actions. Strnad told The Post on Friday that he “wasn’t nervous to go to the market.” Hours into free agency opening March 9, Singleton remained unsigned — and had a skeleton deal lined up with another NFL team in free agency if negotiations with the Broncos fell through, according to a source familiar with the process.

Paton’s word never wavered, though. Denver finalized multi-year deals with multi-year mainstays Strnad and Singleton, cut 2025 signee Dre Greenlaw, and immediately set the precedent for an offseason of unprecedented veteran retention.

Broncos head coach Sean Payton may hate the term “run it back,” as he said at the start of April. But his linebackers, for one, appreciate the sentiment.

“I think it’s everything,” Singleton said Friday. “Coaches say it all the time, like — ‘Ah, if we could just run it back, we could go be better.’ And then they let half the guys go, and sign all these free agents, and you’re just like, ‘Well, were they lying to us? What was the upstairs thinking?’

“But instead,” Singleton continued, “we’re in an organization right now that, what they’ve said is completely true. What Sean has said since Day 1 — he’s going to keep the guys here, they’re going to win football games for us — he’s done that. And now, we’ve had a year of winning where we got close. Instead of trying to fix something that isn’t broken with new pieces, we just kinda put together the band. And we’re going to see what happens.”

The heart of a defense that is the heart of these Broncos, then, is back to try to climb through a Super Bowl window everyone in Denver knows is open. Everyone across the NFL, too, if you ask Singleton.

“We’re not chasing targets anymore,” Singleton said Friday, asked about the team’s self-expectations. “We’re the target, now, I think, in the AFC. So we need to know that.”

Beyond a blockbuster trade for Dolphins receiver Jaylen Waddle, the Broncos placed a rather massive offseason bet on retaining their own pieces to successfully dodge that target. That begins with Singleton and Strnad, two veteran buddies who’ve been handsomely rewarded for their efforts and will now be tasked with rewarding the organization’s faith.

For years, Broncos fans have argued across social-media keyboards that the middle of coordinator Vance Joseph’s defense is, in fact, broken. Joseph himself has acknowledged that opposing offenses have attacked his scheme with tight ends across the past two seasons, and Singleton and Strnad have both had spotty records covering TEs in space. The two, however, also happened to be the two best inside linebackers on the NFL’s No. 3 defense in 2025, and Joseph has attached Singleton to his hip as his on-field defensive play-caller.

The Broncos could’ve easily signed a different linebacker in free agency for a similar cost. They did not. They could’ve drafted an early-to-middle-round linebacker, even as Texas’s Anthony Hill Jr. was ripped away two picks before the team’s second-round selection in April. They did not.

“We feel really good about Alex and Justin,” Broncos assistant general manager Reed Burckhardt said post-draft, on evaluating draft ILBs. “And so, it wasn’t a gotta-have-it.”

Singleton’s floor and ceiling are both obvious: a 32-year-old captain who struggled in coverage situations but put together arguably the best year of his career against the run in 2025 (just a 7.5% missed tackle rate, according to Pro Football Focus). Strnad, though, may have another leap to take entering his first season as a clear starter.

Entering his sixth season as a Bronco, the 29-year-old Strnad has still only started 21 games. He filled in capably for the oft-injured Greenlaw in 2025, and made himself impossible to take off the field in obvious coverage and pass-rushing situations even when Greenlaw was healthy.

Strnad told The Post Friday, at Singleton’s tournament, that it was “awesome” to see the organization “take care” of him after years earning his stripes. And Singleton said he thinks Strnad will take a “huge leap,” now that his role is finally set.

“Because you have that confidence where a team finally gives you what you deserve,” Singleton said. “You have that confidence all offseason. So he’s had that already. There isn’t that question of, ‘Oh, what snaps am I going to play?’”

The organization’s confidence in the locker room’s pre-established culture has even trickled down to offseason scheduling. At Payton’s behest, the Broncos will start Phase Three of its offseason program (organized team activities) later than any other NFL team, on June 2. Singleton, though, said Friday he believes the Broncos are weeks and months — if not years — ahead of “a lot of teams in the league.”

They’ll need to be, to reach Super Bowl heights.

“I don’t think we like, really get too caught up in the, like, whole ‘window’ thing,” Strnad said. “But I definitely think it����ap obvious that it����ap time for us to do what we want to do.”

They have very few starting spots up for grabs, at least on paper.

They have, relatively speaking, very few question marks.

And yet, Sean Payton’s fourth team will have plenty of competition throughout the early portions of the summer and into training camp.

There are, by The Post����ap count, somewhere in the neighborhood of seven to nine spots up for grabs on the 53-man roster at the moment and a pool of perhaps 18-20 players vying for them. Those counts come before any of the inevitable injuries that will crop up between now and the end of August.

This early projection comes before any potential substantial roster move, of which Denver has typically made at least one between OTAs and the start of the regular season. A year ago, for example, the Broncos signed running back J.K. Dobbins in June and then traded receiver Devaughn Vele in August.

It also comes before any big training camp surprise, a young player who makes a strong push or a veteran who suddenly appears out of gas.

Before Payton’s team starts OTAs on Tuesday, here’s an early attempt at a 53-man roster projection. The point of this exercise at this calendar waypoint is merely to mark a starting point and to attempt to determine where the most uncertainty — and opportunity — lies on the Broncos’ current 91-man roster.

Finding 53 among this group requires tough decisions even before any actual football activity has started. There are players that were difficult to leave off the roster and some groups — offensive and defensive lines, in particular — that are deep enough to impact other spots. Payton and general manager George Paton have shown time and time again they value quality players in the trenches.

There are a handful of veterans who could theoretically be considered cut candidates because of a combination of depth and salary, like tight end Evan Engram ($14.14 million cap hit) and left guard Ben Powers ($18.16 million). Denver could trade a veteran or quality player from a position of strength to help fortify elsewhere or accumulate future draft capital.

Among the players who look from this distance likely to exist somewhere around the bubble, however, none has a bigger cap number than offensive lineman Matt Peart����ap $2.39 million or more guaranteed money than quarterback Sam Ehlinger’s $1 million.

So, away we go. Players in the bubble conversation, both above and below the roster cut in this exercise, are in italics.

OFFENSE (25)

Quarterback (3)

Bo Nix, Jarrett Stidham and Sam Ehlinger

The question, really, with Denver’s quarterbacks is this: two or three? Denver started last year with two when Ehlinger agreed to start the season on the practice squad. If a similar scenario plays out — he’s got $1 million guaranteed — then the Broncos could well take two. Denver values Ehlinger, though, and he’s going to get a bunch of work in OTAs and likely minicamp after Bo Nix had a second ankle procedure last month. This makes for tougher calls at other spots on a deep roster, but let����ap not mess around with the quarterback position when you’ve got players you like. If nothing else, using three as the starting point in this exercise ups the difficulty level the rest of the way.

Running back (4)

J.K. Dobbins, RJ Harvey, Jonah Coleman and Adam Prentice (FB)��

Also: Jaleel McLaughlin, Tyler Badie and Cody Schrader

Coleman’s selection in the fourth round changes the complexion here by quite a bit. He’s a potential third-down back right away and the Broncos are high on him if he’s needed beyond that early on. With a cleaner-fitting trio of backs, McLaughlin and Badie both have a tough road to the roster. If Denver wanted four plus Prentice, McLaughlin probably heads into the summer with the lead.

Tight end (4)

Adam Trautman, Evan Engram, Justin Joly and Caleb Lohner��

Also: Dallen Bentley, Nate Adkins and Lucas Krull

One of the toughest projections. Lohner gets the nod for the moment after Payton raved about him earlier in May, especially because Payton was particularly impressed with Lohner’s physicality and blocking. This, like many bubble decisions, could come down to who Denver thinks it can get to the practice squad between Lohner and Bentley, the No. 256 overall pick in April. With a bounce-back summer, Adkins could re-establish himself as a key role player. He could end up competing for a spot with Prentice, though, as much as it seems he could play some fullback; the Broncos just haven’t asked him to do it much so far in his career.

Wide receiver (5)

Courtland Sutton, Jaylen Waddle, Pat Bryant, Troy Franklin and Marvin Mims Jr.

Also: Michael Bandy, Lil’Jordan Humphrey, Michael Woods, Cam Ross, Kolbie Katsis, Joseph Manjack and Dane Key

Assuming no trades, it����ap hard to see how anybody besides the top five makes the initial 53-man roster. Waddle was the Broncos’ big offseason splash and, though he will impact playing time for the rest of the room, Denver’s brass has been consistent in saying they’re not looking to move on from any of the regulars. Bandy and Humphrey are no strangers to starting the season on a practice squad and eventually seeing time on the 53-man roster. It’ll be interesting to see if an undrafted rookie like Ross can make the Broncos think twice about going status quo, but that����ap a tall task.

Offensive line (9)

Garett Bolles, Ben Powers, Luke Wattenberg, Quinn Meinerz, Mike McGlinchey, Alex Palczewski, Frank Crum, Kage Casey and Alex Forsyth��

Also: Matt Peart, Nick Gargiulo, Calvin Throckmorton, Tyler Miller, Gavin Ortega, Michael Dieter and Nash Jones

The Broncos have enviable depth on their offensive line, but, like with wide receiver, the roles are defined enough that it����ap difficult to imagine a ton of wiggle room. Palczewski and Crum are valued depth and development pieces and Casey, a fourth-round pick, joins them in a similar mold. Forsyth has been the clear No. 2 center for two seasons behind Wattenberg. That����ap nine. Peart and Throckmorton are veterans who have stepped in and played, while Gargiulo showed some promise before a bad preseason knee injury last summer. Miller and Ortega are interesting undrafted rookies but, outside a rash of injuries or major training camp push, it����ap reasonable to think they’re ticketed for the practice squad.

DEFENSE (25)

Defensive line (7)

Zach Allen, DJ Jones, Malcolm Roach, Eyioma Uwauzurike, Tyler Onyedim, Sai’Vion Jones and Jordan Jackson

Also: Matt Henningsen, Jordan Miller and Kristian Williams

A key part of the rationale for going heavy here again: Each of the past two years the roster cutdown has passed and Payton and Paton have made it clear that Jackson made the 53-man roster easily. We’ll bet for now that the same ends up happening this summer. They might decide they just have to have a player at another position. Maybe somebody else is a surprise cut, though among this group 2025 third-rounder Sai’Vion Jones is the only real candidate and that would be a major surprise given they traded up for him and also liked his development last season. So, Payton and Paton instead stick to their principles and go heavy up front once again.

Outside linebacker (4)

Nik Bonitto, Jonathon Cooper, Que Robinson and Dondrea Tillman

Also: Drew Sanders, Johnny Walker and Dasan McCullough

The first three are absolute locks and there’s not much doubt about Tillman, either. The going gets tough from there. Health has been a major obstacle for Sanders, but if he plays all summer, he’ll probably be productive enough to make the roster. The numbers just get tight elsewhere in a hurry. Keeping four here is really 4.5 in a way because Jonah Elliss can play on the edge if needed, plus a deep defensive line group can help take some work off the edge guys against heavier teams. Sanders is a training camp wild card, though.

Inside linebacker (4)

Alex Singleton, Justin Strnad, Jonah Elliss and Red Murdock��

Also: Jordan Turner, Karene Reid, Levelle Bailey, Taurean York

Once again, this is about roster management and who makes it to the practice squad after the top three. Murdock was Mr. Irrelevant in the draft at No. 257, but forced 17 fumbles in his college career at Buffalo. Turner’s got real promise, so it was not an easy call to leave him off. Reid was a special teams regular after making the initial roster as an undrafted rookie last year, but this is maybe a tougher roster to make despite the release of Dre Greenlaw earlier this spring.

Cornerback (5)

Pat Surtain II, Riley Moss, Ja’Quan McMillian, Jahdae Barron and Kris Abrams-Draine

Also: Reese Taylor, Jaden Robinson, Brent Austin, Ahmari Harvey and Paul Manning

Pretty straightforward here. The major storyline is more about beyond 2026, as McMillian and Moss are both entering contract years. For now, though, this is one of the deepest and most talented cornerback groups in football. Taylor has been a regular on the practice squad and was promoted to the active roster from mid-November on last year. The only question is if new secondary coaches Rob Livingston and Doug Belk see any of the personnel differently than Jim Leonhard and Addison Lynch previously.

Safety (5)

Talanoa Hufanga, Brandon Jones, Devon Key, Miles Scott and JL Skinner

Also: Tycen Anderson and Parker Robertson

There will be competition across multiple position groups based on special teams output. You can put Skinner, Anderson, Scott, Taylor, Turner, Reid, Sanders and more all into that group. The Broncos gave Anderson $650,000 guaranteed in part to be a key special teams player, so he might well make it. But over who? That signing was before Denver drafted Scott. Skinner is entering the final year of his rookie deal and is at a critical point in his career. The way coaches have talked about Key this offseason, he feels like the early favorite to replace P.J. Locke as the No. 3 safety. Denver signed Sam Franklin and gave him $1.34 million in guarantees last year, then cut him in August.

SPECIALIST (3)

PK Wil Lutz, P Jeremy Crawshaw and LS Mitch Fraboni

Also: LS Luke Basso

Not much mystery here. The Broncos signed the rookie Basso as summer competition, but Fraboni’s been solid and is under contract through 2027.

Last November, the Broncos’ captain was diagnosed with testicular cancer after an NFL drug screening flagged an elevated hormone in his blood. A relatively carefree man’s life flipped. In the months after emergency surgery, from conversations with testicular-cancer advocates, Singleton understands that random screening may have saved his life. He was given heaps of time, really, that he didn’t know he was in danger of losing.

These days, he and Sam pay for the express lane.

“Anything like that,” Singleton told The Post on Wednesday, “I’m taking the toll road from now on. Whatever it is.”

The pendulum has swung so many times, through Singleton’s life, that he has stopped straining to push it in any particular direction. He endured more than a dozen failed tryouts as an undrafted linebacker and a stint in the CFL before establishing himself in the NFL. Finally minted as a long-term starter in Denver, he tore his ACL in 2024. Then he got cancer.��Months later, after surgery to remove a tumor,��he earned a new two-year contract, and he and his wife .��There is no predicting life; there is only being “optimistic about what’s going to come next,” as Singleton mused, and preserving the time to do so.

He has now dedicated himself to helping others preserve that time, too.

In November, Kim Jones, founder of the Testicular Cancer Awareness Foundation, cold-emailed Singleton shortly after hearing of his diagnosis. The next day, Singleton hopped on a call with her for an hour and a half. He told her about symptoms he’d been feeling and shrugged off for a couple months. And Jones — respectfully — chastised him.

“I said, ‘You are the typical male that lets things go,'” Jones said. “And it could have spread a lot faster than what it did for him. So thank God he had that random drug screening.”

In October 2007, Jones’ son Jordan was diagnosed with late-stage testicular cancer two weeks before his 14th birthday. He fought, made a full recovery, relapsed close to a decade later, and died in 2016. Jones , an organization that has since established programs providing financial and educational assistance to testicular cancer patients and hosted conferences at cancer centers across the country. Singleton came away from that first call wanting to help

“I was just kinda gonna do whatever I could do,” Singleton said, “to be involved in that.”

In April, Singleton walked through Austin, Texas, with 50 other semi-naked men hosted in partnership with TCAF. In May, he flew to Indianapolis on two separate weekends to support the foundation’s outreach efforts at the Indy 500, telling his story to medical professionals and racing fans alike as part of . His Instagram has become a , with such photos of Singleton holding up a “Check Your Nads” sign at that April march.

The primary goal around testicular-cancer awareness, Jones said, is to break down any existing taboo around discussing one’s testicles so men learn to check themselves on a regular basis. Enter Singleton, a 32-year-old linebacker mature enough to captain a Super Bowl contender and disarming enough to, well, crack jokes about his nads.

“I am profoundly grateful to Alex – for Alex – for him using his platform to help support the fight,” Jones told The Post. “Because his voice will help prevent late-stage diagnosis. It will help save lives.

“I mean, if we had this before Jordan’s diagnosis and Jordan was diagnosed early, he would still be here today.”

There is an innate and complicated balance, Singleton is aware, to being an ambassador for a potentially fatal disease that becomes radically less harmful if discovered early. Testicular cancer is the most common form of cancer between men ages 20 to 40, but is approximately 99% curable when discovered at Stage 1, . The greatest defense, as Jones says, is education.

Another ultimately related defense, too, is humor. Nut-related slogans stick, Jones has found. And Singleton’s attitude toward such discussion was shaped by his doctor, who introduced himself to Singleton in a way the linebacker has not forgotten.

“He calls himself a plumber,” Singleton said. “Which was funny. He was like, ‘Yeah, I work on nuts, d— and ass.’”

At the Indy 500, Singleton became fast friends with Jack Harvey, a Dreyer Reinbold driver whose No. 24 Chevrolet partnered with TCAF and Fennec Pharmaceuticals for the “Indy’s Nuts” campaign. The first time they met was on a shoot for a “video about balls,” as Harvey put it. And Singleton fired off a joke, from his own lived experience through surgery, that Harvey would’ve never dreamed of making.

“I don’t exactly remember what it was,” Harvey said. “But it revolved around — a singular nut. And I was like, ‘OK, I guess we’re just diving straight in.’”

Singleton, by nature, is a man who does not take himself especially seriously. In an early-November game against the Raiders — while set for cancer surgery the very next day — he celebrated a tackle by cupping his hands under his privates in a “big-nuts” celebration. And the combination of both serious lived experience and unserious demeanor made Singleton the “perfect spokesperson” for the Austin march, as Nads co-founder Dan Baird said.

“That’s all it is,” Singleton said. “It����ap getting comfortable with talking about ‘em, and then being able to discuss stuff.

“Because, I think it����ap the same thing with breast cancer,” he continued. “I mean, when I was 10 years old, before the whole pink movement in the NFL — if you would’ve said, ‘breast,’ I would’ve thought it was funny at first. Or ‘boob.’ But I think we have normalized breast cancer in our culture. And I think that makes it good. It makes women be able to talk about it. It����ap comfortable if you have breast cancer to say, ‘I have breast cancer.’

“And I think a lot of men are kinda afraid to go to a doctor to have something wrong with them, because it����ap not ‘manly.’ But if we can normalize words like ‘Balls’ and ‘nads’ and ‘nuts’ — when there’s something wrong, you’ll say something.”

A living, breathing example of such a phenomenon: Singleton’s Broncos teammate Jahdae Barron, an Austin native who just so happened to be back in his hometown the day of the Nads march. While Singleton was walking back with the group in April, Barron came up — with no prior warning — and tapped him on the shoulder. His mother, Barron explained, had seen Singleton promoting the march on social media and asked him why he wasn’t going. So Barron hopped in an Uber downtown, fell in with Singleton and the group, and started chanting “Check your nads!” at random passersby.

Every day since, through the Broncos’ offseason programming, Barron has randomly yelled “Check your nads!” at teammates in the building, Singleton said.

“It’s funny,” Singleton said. “But it’s also like, man, if it just takes one guy one time in their career to feel a bump on their nuts and — they don’t have to tell Jahdae, they don’t have to tell me — but if they tell one of our trainers like, ‘Hey, I got this funny bump,’ just because he’s been yelling it every day, that����ap incredible.”

Singleton intends to continue doing several events a year to support TCAF, and Jones has offered him a spot on the foundation’s board of directors. Beyond TCAF, too, he wants to spread the message to give one’s self to something, as he told The Post. Not just money.

“Give your time,” Singleton said.

He has learned its value in all aspects, after all, heading into a season where these Broncos have only a few months to capitalize on lofty expectations.

“Knowing the team we have, and knowing how we’re evolving and how I want us to evolve, and using my messaging or my platform with the guys to do that – to just not let mundane days not make us better,” Singleton said. “Having that fear of losing it all just six months ago — now, I have two more years. So it����ap like, take advantage of those and make them as great as we can.”

The car belonged to 15-year-old Temple linebacker Taurean York. So Stewart, then Temple High’s head coach, asked York if the Sebring was having trouble. It was. But the car was always there, York explained, because he was training up on that field by himself each morning before summer workouts.

“Oh, (expletive), man,” Stewart told York, who was a linebacker at Temple. “I’m usually the first one here.”

“You’re not always the first one here,” York replied, grinning.

He drove the Sebring until the wheels fell off — literally, because someone wound up crashing into it in the school parking lot — and ran until his legs threatened to fall off those mornings, too. Sprints, dawn after dawn. York’s hip flexor flared up, and Stewart pleaded with him to stop running. The kid said he couldn’t. Not wouldn’t, but couldn’t. So Stewart called his mother to stop him from coming to the field early.

“Look, I need your support on this,” Stewart told Rebecca York, “and if I need to come whoop his butt at his house, I’ll do it.”

“Coach, you have no idea,” Rebecca responded, as Stewart remembered. “He does 538 sit-ups before he even comes to you guys.”

On April 23, 2018, a seventh-grade teammate won a Most Valuable Player award instead of York, and he decided then and there that he was going to dedicate his life to becoming a professional football player. In the eight years since, pure defiance has become sustenance. He is small for a linebacker, weighing 226 pounds and standing 2 inches under 6 feet.. Coaches have whispered about those 2 inches in recruiting meetings and draft rooms alike, touting the IQ but wishing he were just��a little longer, just��a little more athletic.

York has weaponized those 2 inches, in turn, into a kind of white-hot lava that his peers at Temple High and Texas A&M have never quite seen before.

“It is not a ‘Oh my God, I’m going to prove the world wrong,'” said Stewart, trying to explain York. “It is like — ‘I want to personify what you can’t measure.’”

Can a young man crack an NFL roster via sheer force of will? Denver is about to find out. York walked in as a three-star recruit at Texas A&M in 2023, seized a starting job as a true freshman in fall camp, started 39 straight games at inside linebacker over three seasons, and waited with family April 26 to hear his name called on Day 3 of the NFL Draft. And waited. And waited. And , pupils glassy, after 257 names went by and York agreed to an undrafted free-agent deal with the Broncos.

They were not quite happy tears.

“Honestly, it sucks to see a lot of guys get picked that I know I’m better than,” York told The Denver Post. “I’m going to keep it 100 with you. I keep things very transparent. But that����ap not up to my decision. The draft����ap out of my control.

“But what is in my control is how I respond, and how I work my tail off to go earn a job, and ultimately take a job.”

The bear has been poked. The measurables have defined York’s life with none of his own choice in the matter. Again. He is coming to Denver this weekend for rookie minicamp — and the coming months — to outrun those measurables. Again.

“�ճ�����’s zero doubt in my mind that he’ll play in the NFL,” former A&M linebackers coach Jay Bateman said, now Kentucky’s defensive coordinator. “�ճ�����’s zero doubt. I think the Broncos probably got a steal.”

Eventually, Rebecca York told Stewart why her son did exactly 538 sit-ups every morning. He’d once gone to a camp in San Antonio early in his Temple career to try and create recruiting exposure. A collegiate linebackers coach, there to evaluate talent, patted York’s belly.

“You’re a little fluffy,” the coach told York, as Stewart tells it, “to be a Division I linebacker.”

Every recruit at that camp wore a number on their clothes to identify themselves.��York was No. 538.

“So, by God, he did 538 sit-ups,” Stewart said. “And not because he was self-conscious. Because — ‘Screw you. Watch this.’”

No shortcuts, no flash

A day after York went undrafted and a video of his bittersweet Broncos signing went semi-viral, The .

“let’s (sic) do it,” York texted. “the world needs to know what I’m bringing to Denver.”

On a 30-minute call that followed, York rattled off most every dot on his personal resume, pieces of a football life that do little to solve the puzzle of how an SEC starting linebacker and two-time captain fell undrafted. He described this game as his “calling.” He called himself a “football savant.” He is quick to recount, unprompted, that he was named a starter at A&M as a 17-year-old freshman on the sixth day of his first training camp. He is quick to recount, unprompted, that he’s called defensive plays for every single game of his career at every single level he’s played.

He is also quick to recount the amorphous mass of faces that have deemed his size simply not enough. And this, he and others in his life know, is the ultimate reason he’s consistently slipped through the cracks.

“It����ap definitely only the size,” York said. “It����ap not character. It����ap not off-the-field issues. It����ap not injuries. It����ap not leadership, or lack of smarts. It����ap solely the (size). I have plays I wish I could get back, but so does every prospect in the NFL Draft and in the NFL currently. And so, I just laugh, because it����ap just like, really, you’re still doing this? After seven years of me showing you that I played at the highest level …”

His words crashed together, not waiting for one to leave before the next arrived.

“…6A high school football is the highest classification in Texas,” York continued. “Went against the best, did it in high school. Four years, scot-free on the injury slate, three-year captain, superlative awards. Go to the SEC, they said I couldn’t do it again. 17 years old, I did it again. Took a dude’s job, stayed injury-free, two-time captain, no off-the-field issues. High-character guy.

“They try and do it to me again, now. What do you think I’m going to go do? I’m going to do it again.”

A few minutes in, asked about his family, York turned to those sitting nearby for a question.

“What city did Grandma Mary move from, in Mexico?” York asked.

He sounds it out slowly: El Salitrillo, Aguascalientes, a village so tiny at less than 60. His is a blue-collar family, York said. Here, his voice swells.

Fifty-six years ago, York’s great-uncles and great-grandfather immigrated from Mexico to Temple, got jobs and a house and documentation for their family, then returned to Aguascalientes on Christmas Day with a U-Haul. Eight children, including York’s grandmother Rosalinda Rodriguez, packed up their belongings. They did not say goodbye to neighbors. They exchanged a few hugs, left for the United States, and spent weeknight evenings in Temple learning English and getting certifications in after-hours classes at their local elementary school.

No shortcuts, York said.

“We’re living the American dream, man,” he said.

York’s mother, Rebecca, carries their pride in her DNA and speaks of any slight against her son as if it were a slight against her as a mother. York’s father, Robert, does not carry their DNA, but has spent the last 20 years of his life working a day job at the U.S. Army’s Fort Hood military base and working a night job at his own barbershop. His dad, York says, sleeps in his work clothes and wakes up at 4 a.m.

“That’s all I know, bruh,” York says. “I’m not no flashy person. I never needed the flash. I never needed other people’s verification of myself. Like, I know what I have. And you can’t shake me.”

Before football, York’s first love was trains. His grandmother Rosalinda’s house sat a short distance away from the train station in Temple, and he grew up hearing their horns. When he was little, he’d tote around a backpack filled with toys from “Thomas the Tank Engine.”

Her son liked trains, Rebecca said, because they are loud, and big, and strong. Undeniable.

‘I’ve never sat on the bench before’

Throughout the pre-draft process, York’s agent told him that NFL evaluators had said he’d be a top-100 pick if his physical measurables were different. He finished with at least 70 tackles and 7.5 tackles for loss in each of his three seasons at Texas A&M, and was graded by Pro Football Focus as one of the five best starting-level linebackers in the FBS in pass coverage in 2025.

But he is not very long or very tall. By Relative Athletic Score, which measures prospects’ pre-draft testing against every other prospect at their position since 1987, . Charles Davis, an analyst for NFL Network, told The Post he thought York’s “sawed-off frame” might have been a factor in him going undrafted.

“Which is cool,” York said.

His tone said it was not.

On Day 3 of the draft, York sat to watch picks come across the screen and began a mental analysis of each name called that wasn’t his.This guy will make it.��This guy might not be in the league in five years. Six picks before the end of the draft, the Philadelphia Eagles took International Player Pathway Program prospect Uar Bernard, a 306-pound native Nigerian who posted some of the most athletic pre-draft testing of all time but had never played a snap of professional football.

It was a pick, in every way, representing the direct antithesis of York’s profile. He knows it.

“Buddy might be the best thing from Nigeria,” York said, “but he didn’t play 39 straight games in the SEC.”

No. 538 can now become No. 257-and-counting in Denver. York’s belly still burns from that coach that patted it in San Antonio. Colleges that came through Temple during his high school career, Stewart said, would always ask if a young York was going to grow. Eventually, when a recruiter from Ohio State came to campus, Stewart stuck York in a separate room and had him listen over the office speaker to understand the truth: the Buckeyes had him as a lower-tier recruit simply because of his frame.

York accepted that. He had no choice but to. His response lay in his roots, growing up learning about his mother’s family and seeing his father work daily on four hours of sleep a night. As a sophomore at Temple, he texted Stewart at midnight repeatedly after Friday night games to ask where the game film was. Eventually, Stewart called his video assistant and asked him to send the tape directly to York once he finished uploading it to Hudl.

To do that, the assistant said, he’d have to label York as a coach.

“I said, ‘Then put him as a coach on there!'” Stewart recounted. “I started getting my ass chewed (out) by a sophomore in high school.”

When York first arrived at Texas A&M, coaches told him their vision for him was to be a third- or fourth-year starter, according to former Aggies receiver Micah Tease. Instead, York started running with the ones three months into arriving on campus. And York intends to do the same in Denver.

Borderline blasphemous, for an undrafted rookie. The leap from even the SEC to the NFL is immeasurable for a player already lacking in measurables. The Broncos have presumptive starters Alex Singleton and Justin Strnad locked in on multi-year deals.

York just knows nothing else.

“My entire career, I’ve started every game,” York said. “And I don’t plan on not starting. It����ap not like — in a negative way to the other guys. But that����ap all I know is, I’ve never sat on the bench before. Like, that����ap foreign territory to me. So, as soon as I get up there in Denver, man, it����ap go time.”

High football IQ

Tease thinks York can pull it off, for one, because of the apple.

Tease, a former receiver at Texas A&M who’s since transferred to Tulsa, moved in with York in 2024. Quickly, Tease noticed York did not waste any type of time. At night, Tease recounted, York would peel off a piece of paper towel and set out an apple and a bagel neatly on the counter, so it’d be ready for him to run out the door the next morning.

“He was somewhat, like, psychotic with his preparation,” Tease said.

When Tease would get burned out on watching receivers’ film, he’d sit with York and watch him break down defensive tape. The way that some musicians can innately pick up a rhythm, Stewart opined, is the way that concepts in football click in York’s brain. At Temple High, York had the reins to call out stunts for the defensive line and coverage checks for the secondary. At Texas A&M, later, York would flip blitzes and override stunts if he recognized pass formations.

In the Aggies’ meeting room, former linebackers coach Bateman told The Post that he’d sometimes tell every other linebacker to think about “good-looking girls in your class” so he could relay a few concepts to York.

“I would tell people all the time, ‘I’m teaching a 300 or 400-level college course, right?'” Bateman recalled. “But when he’s in there, and him and I are talking, man, it����ap graduate-level.’”

On several third downs in a 49-25 October win over LSU, Texas A&M didn’t even call a defense and simply relied on York to call different blitzes based on the positioning of the offensive line. In a 41-40 win over Notre Dame earlier in the year, Bateman said, York would point at the sky or point at the ground pre-snap to indicate pass or run solely based on how Fighting Irish quarterback CJ Carr was standing. , Carr checked a call at the line of scrimmage; York looked and pointed to his left at Notre Dame receiver Malachi Fields, isolated against A&M cornerback Will Lee III.

Carr pivoted on the snap, fired a slant to Fields, and Lee broke up the pass.

“The things that we were able to do on defense with him…are uncommon,” Bateman said. “And I think they’ll figure that out pretty quickly in Denver.”

York’s plan, Rebecca said, was always to enter the draft after three seasons at A&M. But multiple NFL scouts in the pre-draft process told York they hadn’t done much research on him. Bateman said he believed evaluators anticipated York would stay for a fourth season with the Aggies, and as such, didn’t have a full background.

The Broncos, however, were ahead of the curve, Bateman indicated. York said he heard consistently from Broncos national scout Deon Randall in the pre-draft process, and Bateman said Denver evaluators spent plenty of time on the phone questioning him about York.

“I just got a sense that they valued what he was,” Bateman said. “Like, they valued his process and his intelligence, his ability to run the room.”

Despite a wider view that Denver needed an inside linebacker this draft, the Broncos internally felt “really good” about Singleton and Strnad as starters and didn’t want to force an ILB pick, assistant general manager Reed Burckhardt said.��The��club still wound up with Buffalo’s Red Murdock at No. 257, and has youngsters Levelle Bailey, Jordan Turner, and Karene Reid returning.��Still, there’s as much opportunity for York to find a roster spot at ILB as anywhere on a loaded Broncos roster, especially after Denver cut veteran Dre Greenlaw during free agency.

It was easy enough to push York’s buttons at A&M, Bateman recalled. The linebackers coach would toss out jabs during game weeks when he could, sprinkles of lighter fluid atop an inferno.

Before they played Texas, Bateman would ask York: Did the Longhorns offer you?

Before they played Auburn, where York’s former Aggies coach, DJ Durkin, became the defensive coordinator, Bateman would ask York: Did Durkin offer to bring you with him?

“I had to be careful, now,” Bateman chuckled.

York needs none of that, now, entering rookie minicamp this weekend. Two days after he agreed to terms with the Broncos, York was sitting at home, complaining to his mother Rebecca that he was wasting time. Idle. Antsy. Not moving. He wanted the film. He wanted the playbook.

He wants a job, against the odds created for him.

“Don’t be fooled by the undrafted label,” York said, when asked for hi message to the Broncos’ fanbase. “OK? My resume, my history, is public knowledge. It����ap out there.

“If you have a question if I can play or not,” he continued, “just go look my name up.”

And still, he returned for a Broncos curtain call, on Monday, in the building where he helped lay the current foundation.

Ten years to the day that the Broncos drafted him in 2016, the 32-year-old Simmons announced the end of his playing days on Wednesday morning through a video announcement on the Broncos’ account. After a one-year stint with the Falcons and a year-long absence from football, Simmons also signed a ceremonial deal to retire with the Broncos.

Simmons welled up several times in a 30-minute-long press conference later Wednesday afternoon in Dove Valley, thanking a seemingly never-ending slew of backers: wife Taryn for supporting him, Broncos executive John Elway for drafting him, general manager George Paton for extending him, and the Denver fanbase for sticking with him.

“It just felt like there was a lot asked, and I feel like I fell short,” Simmons said, on his eight-year career in Denver. “So, that’s why — a lot of the emotional aspect of it. And so, I felt like I let a lot of people down over the years.”

“And so, to see that type of reaction for me is more than I deserve,” he continued, on the response to his retirement. “It’s heartwarming. I’m thankful. I’m blessed, I’m honored.”

The heartbeat of the Broncos’ defense

For eight seasons after Elway took him with the final pick of the third round in 2016, Simmons led the Broncos’ secondary, defense and locker room at large. His 30 interceptions are tied for seventh all-time in Denver franchise history. And he lives in rooms he’s never touched — still flashing across the tape that Cowboys defensive coordinator Christian Parker shows players, a deep-safety model for the defense that the former Broncos secondary coach wants to install in Dallas.

Parker has a simpler lasting memory of his years with Simmons, though.

By Jan. 8, 2021, the Vic Fangio era as the Broncos’ head coach was over. The locker room, Parker remembered, had a “feeling” about that, heading into a Week 18 matchup with the Chiefs. For a fifth straight season in Denver, they had nothing to play for. Simmons’ safety partner, Kareem Jackson, was hurt. Future Defensive Player of the Year Pat Surtain II was hurt. Ronald Darby, the other starting corner, was hurt.

And yet Simmons trotted out to play like everything was on the line.

“He was still scratching,” Parker said, remembering. “He was clawing, out there.”

One’s football legacy is strange, Simmons said. His is no exception. He was a two-time Pro Bowler and four-time All-Pro, and tied for seventh all-time in Broncos history in interceptions. He showed up, as Parker pointed out, playing 118 of a possible 131 games in Denver. He also had one season with a winning record but never made the playoffs.

It ate at him, as Simmons said. He told reporters on Wednesday that he believed each passing year would be the year. Behind the scenes, he had “a lot of talks” with Parker about a burning desire to simply make the postseason, as the Dallas defensive coordinator recounted.

“That����ap really all he wanted to do, to be honest with you,” Parker said. “I think if you asked if he would trade some of those career accolades relative to the interceptions and All-Pro nominees, and all that kinda stuff — to have that taste of January and February football, he would trade it in a heartbeat.”

That never came, and the Broncos cut Simmons for his price tag while rebuilding under Payton after the 2023 season. He signed in Atlanta in 2024 to try and chase a playoff berth — but found it “miserable,” as he said, to be away from his wife and FaceTime-parenting his three children, who were still living in Denver.

Simmons continued to train throughout the 2025 season but never signed with a franchise. The time he regained with family, though, was invaluable, as he recounted. Eventually, he found peace in realizing that it was “just time” to move away from his playing days, he said.

The safety had always wanted to retire a Bronco, even after being cut, Parker said. And the two years away from Denver helped Simmons find peace, too, with a tenure that lacked wins but had a much greater effect on the orbit around him.

“My overall goal was to leave here, and continue the legacy and to be a Hall of Fame player,” Simmons said. “Obviously, I fell short of that, I think. Not I think — I know I fell short of that.

“I think what I’m the most proud of, though, is the adversity that popped up in those eight seasons … it����ap hard to get recognized as a player when your team is not doing well,” Simmons continued. “It����ap a very difficult thing. So I’m proud of the way I was able to fight through some adversity in that aspect. It����ap hard when you have a lot going on. It helped me, though. It����ap part of my journey and my career. I’m thankful for it.”

Simmons has been a bridge between eras in Denver. He was drafted in 2016, the year after the Broncos’ Super Bowl 50 win. His time ended in 2023, the year before the Broncos returned to the playoffs. Denver went 52-79 in Simmons’ eight seasons, and saw six different coaches don a headset, and pivoted through a massive ownership change from the late Pat Bowlen to the Walton-Penner Group.

Still, Simmons became a “legend in his own way,” as former teammate Melvin Gordon told The Post. He organized Thursday bowling sessions and dinners with the defensive backs, and took care of the youngsters, Gordon said. Simmons was named a three-time captain and remained consistently accountable to local media during losing seasons. His impact ripples through foundational pieces still on the Broncos’ roster — Garett Bolles, Courtland Sutton, Surtain and Alex Singleton.

Gordon, a former Pro Bowler who played for the Broncos for three seasons, is quick to admit he fell into a bad place in Denver by his final year. He fumbled five times in 2022 and said he began to lose his “love for the game.”

Simmons, Gordon said, helped keep that passion burning through simple words and simple locker-room games of UNO.

“Sometimes, you do need a leader to show you the way,” Gordon said. “And I think he made his mark that way.”

The safety made his mark��in the community,��too, serving as��an active mentor at the Broncos Boys and Girls Club. And after retirement, Simmons said he intends to try to wedge a foot into the broadcasting world — and explore a potential position at a local high school program, similar to Cherry Creek High head coach Dave Logan.

“I want to be the guy in the community that����ap a consistent, reliable figure for kids to look up to,” Simmons said.

And he hopes he left a legacy, as he said Wednesday, of a man who cared.

“I passionately cared,” Simmons said. “I wanted to do well. I really wanted to win. Didn’t work out. And I’m so glad that they’re winning now.”

Jonah Coleman looks like he could be the second coming of C.J. Anderson: A short, tanky back with big-time pass protection skills. It looks like we’re going into 2026 with J.K. Dobbins as RB1 again, but can he beat out RJ Harvey for that RB2 slot? Thanks.

— Ryan Smith, Commerce City

Hey Ryan, thanks for writing and getting us going this week.

The other Broncos running back that Coleman has drawn early comparisons to: Dobbins himself. In fact, head coach Sean Payton brought it up during the draft and assistant general manager Reed Burckhardt after the draft called the comp “very valid.” That����ap a pretty good starting point for the fourth-round pick out of Washington.

Dobbins will indeed lead Denver’s running back group into the 2026 season. It����ap early to know exactly how roles shake out, but to my mind the early blueprint is essentially Dobbins and Harvey in similar roles to what they did last year and then Coleman as the third-down back plus maybe a little more.

Let����ap just make the overarching disclaimer once, since most of the questions this week are about guys who have not yet stepped on an NFL practice field, let alone played in preseason or regular season games: It����ap April. Every rookie has a lot to do to get onto the field and there are months of work, development, signings, injuries and all the rest before we even get to the season’s starting point.

The Broncos would of course love it if Harvey took a big step in Year 2 and added every-down rushing efficiency to his obvious talent and explosiveness catching the ball and working in space. They would love it if Dobbins plays the entire season for the first time in his career. They’d love it if Coleman made himself difficult to keep off the field.

Coleman’s going to have to prove he can pick up Denver’s protection plan — not an easy task for a rookie — in order to lock down the third-down job, but the Broncos like his ability in that department. Add in 51 catches over the past two years at Washington and there’s a chance he can essentially consolidate the roles of Tyler Badie and Jaleel McLaughlin. In an ideal world, Coleman and Harvey can perhaps take a bit of the load off Dobbins and complete the orbit of needs around him and then also serve as complementary options should Dobbins miss time.

On paper, it looks good. If everyone is healthy going into the season and Harvey looks poised to take a leap, Coleman’s role right out of the chute might be third down only. But even that����ap an important spot, and the rookie could push for more.

Hey Parker! What do you think of our draft class? I like Jonah Coleman and I think he can be a contributor this year. But how do you feel about Tyler Onyedim? And what’s up with us not going for an inside linebacker until literally the last pick in the draft?

— Mark, Arvada

Hey Mark, thanks for writing and, more importantly, for agreeing with me on Coleman.

Onyedim, too, is going to have a real chance to carve out a role, even if it����ap not a massive one. Basically, he’s going to get thrown into the mix of players attempting to replace John Franklin-Myers, who got more than $20 million per year from Tennessee in free agency.

It����ap worth saying there’s no guarantee that Denver will play its defensive rotation exactly like it did a year ago. Franklin-Myers played very similar rates each of his two years in Denver — 46% in 2024 and 49% last year. That doesn’t necessarily mean the Broncos will see those 517 snaps as the exact shape of the hole. They could use Malcolm Roach even a bit more (career-high 50% play time in his 12 games last year) and Eyioma Uwazurike (36% playing time) figures to be a key in the equation, too. If Denver keeps Roach in essentially the role he excelled in last year, then it has three options to replace JFM’s approximate snaps: Uwazurike and Onyedim — former teammates at Iowa State — and 2025 third-rounder Sai’Vion Jones.

Uwazurike has the most experience, even after missing 2023 due to suspension and playing just 63 snaps in 2024. Overall, though, that����ap a good battle going into this summer. Plus, Uwazurike is entering the final year of his rookie contract this fall.

As for the linebacker conversation, there’s never a good way to say exactly how or why a team didn’t draft a position during a particular draft. Burckhardt made it clear afterward that Denver wanted a linebacker, but didn’t see it as a critical need after re-signing Justin Strnad and Alex Singleton earlier this spring. It����ap also worth considering how the second round developed.

Remember, GM George Paton said the club had a group of six players targeted as options at No. 62.

“They all started going,” Paton said Friday night after selecting Onyedim while noting that the defensive lineman was in that group of six.

Combine that with the fact that five ILBs (and four TEs) went in the 19 picks before Denver’s original slot. ILB Anthony Hill Jr. and TE Max Klare were selected in the spots immediately preceding Denver. It����ap not difficult to figure out where, at least in part, the Broncos were initially looking.

Do you think either of the tight ends we drafted will do much this year? I don’t know much about them.

— Phillip K., Denver

Hey Phillip, thanks for the question. They’ll each have a chance to contribute early, but I’m not sure you look at either as a surefire rotation member right out of the gate.

They are different kinds of players. Justin Joly, the fifth-rounder out of NC State, is a pass-catcher first and foremost. He’s, in positional parlance, an “F” who will move around the formation, play from the slot or wing and factor in the passing game. Dallen Bentley, the seventh-rounder out of Utah, is a “Y.” He’s the classic tight end who can line up in-line, attached to the tackle on either side of the formation.

The shorthand: Joly begins as an Evan Engram-type and Bentley begins as Adam Trautman-type.

Those aren’t Denver’s only tight ends, of course, though injuries limited the rest of the group in terms of playing time in 2025. That trio came in this way: Nate Adkins (199 snaps in nine games), Marcedes Lewis (81 snaps in five games) and Lucas Krull (53 snaps in three games).

Trautman’s 57% playing time checked in between 2024 (52%) and 2023 (70%). Engram played less in Year 1 with the Broncos than any healthy season previously in Jacksonville and with the New York Giants.

The Broncos need to figure out how to get more production out of this group. If that����ap via Joly or Bentley right away, great. Maybe they can help Denver play heavier or feature more TE variety. If it����ap as simple as unlocking Engram more, that����ap more than fine. As a starting point, I’m not sure there’s a massive role for either rookie right away, but perhaps one or both can make some summer noise and alter that conversation.

What can you tell me about this Red Murdock kid? I’ve been watching videos about him and it feels like we found a gem that fell through the cracks. He owns the NCAA record for most career forced fumbles! How did he not get drafted higher?

— Walter, Pueblo

Hey Walter, thanks for writing in. First thing, make sure to catch Sean Keeler’s column from early this week. It����ap a good one and will tell you a lot about Murdock the person. He’s a smart, interesting guy.

The stats are indeed wild. Murdock forced 17 fumbles over 34 games at Buffalo. He was credited with 298 total tackles in the past two seasons. So on and so forth.

Not only that, but plenty of services thought Murdock would go sooner than No. 257. The Athletic’s Dane Brugler, for example, had him graded as a fourth or fifth-round pick and the No. 138 overall player in the class. Murdock checked in two spots behind Boise State OL Kage Casey on Brugler’s overall list. The Broncos drafted Casey No. 111 overall.

As for why Murdock was available late, teams see players in increasingly disparate ways as the draft enters its latter stages. Murdock also doesn’t have a huge wingspan and isn’t a top-shelf athlete, comparatively speaking. He also dealt with a foot/ankle injury last year that he played through but which lingered long enough to cut his pro day short this spring.

Which of the undrafted free agents do you think will have the best shot at making the team?

— K.J., Cheyenne, Wyo.

Hey K.J., good question and definitely one to revisit after rookie minicamp, which will be next weekend. There’s always somebody who jumps out when reporters get a chance to watch guys on the field. That doesn’t always equate to making the 53-man roster, but it����ap always an interesting exercise. Plus, it����ap hard to complain about seeing football-related activities in May.

The first guide is typically money. If you see a big guarantee for an undrafted free agent — some teams committed as much as $300,000 in total guarantees this spring — that means the team believes that player will at least be on their practice squad. The base practice squad salary for a rookie is $13,750 per week, totaling $247,500 for the season. So some players are essentially being guaranteed an entire PS salary plus a little.

By that measure in Denver, you’d look to players like ILB Taurean York (Texas A&M), OLB Dasan McCullough (Nebraska) and OT Tyler Miller (Iowa State). Of course, offensive line and outside linebacker are going to be two of the toughest position groups to crack, assuming good health. So let����ap say York as an early candidate, but see what happens once the guys have been on the field a couple of times, too.