George Paton, the general manager who’d just traded for Waddle hours earlier, was there. So was running back J.K. Dobbins, whose ground game stood to benefit from Waddle’s field-stretching speed. So was newly-minted offensive coordinator Davis Webb, suddenly gifted a precise route-runner in his first year as a play-caller. And so was quarterback Bo Nix, of course, who Waddle got an instant picture of.

“He’s different, in a good way,” Waddle told The Post on Thursday, on his first sitdown with Nix. “He’s in tune. He’s a family man. He loves playing football.

“He loves just being around, and he’s got one of them personalities you just gravitate to.”

The last time the Broncos mortgaged this much of their future on a player also brought a celebratory dinner at a steakhouse. It was Elway’s, for quarterback Russell Wilson in 2022. That outcome ended in disaster. The Broncos no doubt hope Waddle’s outcome will be different, because the situation is. Wilson was tasked with the entire foundation in Denver; Waddle simply needs to be the organization’s final piece of the puzzle, slotting in next to Dobbins and Webb and Nix.

“There was a crystal-clear vision prior to the trade,” head coach Sean Payton reflected Thursday. “As to — ‘All right, this is what we see, this is where he plays, and these are the things we feel like he’s exceptional at, and then let’s apply them into what we’re doing.'”

Three months later, the integration process is coming along smoothly. Payton said Thursday the 27-year-old Waddle “picks things up quick,” and there is no supplement for accelerated learning like accelerated talent. Nix won’t actually throw to Waddle in live situations until later in June, as the quarterback is still rehabbing his broken ankle. He was on the field to watch Thursday, though, as Waddle veered all across formations in 11-on-11 periods, broke off lighting-quick cuts on out routes and torched cornerback Riley Moss so badly on one in-breaker that Moss simply resorted to grabbing him.

After the third day of OTAs wrapped up, safety Talanoa Hufanga gave his initial impressions of Waddle.

“Everything he’s expected to be,” Hufanga said.

Fast and smooth

On Thursday, Waddle smiled and shrugged off a reporter’s question about whether he viewed himself as a “hired gun.” And teammates have not described the sixth-year receiver as some sort of savior, because the Broncos do not need him to be. They need him, simply, to do what he’s good at to upgrade the Denver offense, a process that has already turned plenty of navy-blue helmets.

“He’s a special dude,” veteran receiver Courtland Sutton said Thursday. “There’s a lot of things that he has, his qualities, that are very unique to himself. And I say that in a very specific way, because he has some qualities that only he could do. And it����ap fun to be able to watch it up close and personal, and I think Coach Webb and Coach Payton have done a really good job of trying to figure out the things that he can do well.”

The things Waddle can do well, Sutton smiled, are obvious. At Episcopal High in Bellaire, Texas, former offensive coordinator Kary Kimble dubbed Waddle “Magic.” Defenders saw him, until they didn’t. He was named an All-American returner as a sophomore at Alabama 40-yard-dash, and led all qualified NFL receivers in yards-per-catch (18.1) in his second year with the Dolphins in 2022.

The niche Waddle fits in Denver, though, goes much deeper than surface-level speed. Payton places a premium on smooth deceleration in evaluating wideouts; after Troy Franklin’s shaky first season in Denver, for example, Payton told the young receiver he wanted him to learn how to start “stopping like a Tesla.” The brakes are already innate to Waddle, who Payton praised Thursday for his ability to stop fast.

That single trait adds a complete unpredictability to Waddle’s breaks. The receiver grinned when asked by reporters on that Thursday, joking he couldn’t “give away the sauce.”

Hufanga, though, defined it well enough.

“I think his ability to make every route look the same is pretty important,” Hufanga said. “As a defender, when you can make a 10-yard stop look like a go, a 10-yard dig (route) look like a go, a 10-yard out-route — it����ap just, everything looks the same. And it puts pressure on your backpedal, as a DB.”

The best version of Waddle to date came in 2022, immediately after the Dolphins’ trade for Tyreek Hill but before the eventual decline of the Mike McDaniel-Tua Tagovailoa era in Miami. Hufanga, who faced the Hill-Waddle tandem firsthand while playing for San Francisco back then, noted the duo’s ability to accelerate and decelerate to disguise in-breaking routes as deep routes and vice versa. In Denver, now, Waddle can play off another “elite playmaker” — as he termed it — in Sutton, as the two give Payton and Webb options to interchange through a variety of alignments and route concepts.

“You could start slot to outside, or outside to slot,” Payton said, describing the vision for Waddle. “Just pick.”

The 30-year-old Sutton, of course, is nowhere near as quick as Hill. Few are. Quietly, though, Sutton finished second in the NFL in 2024 and tied for 10th in 2025 in catches on balls thrown more than 20 yards in the air, according to Next Gen Stats. It’s an open secret that Sutton is usually Nix’s go-to look on third downs, which could conversely pen up one-on-one looks for Waddle in high-leverage spots.

On the flip side, opposing secondaries keyed in on Sutton in 2025, often putting a natural cap on Denver’s offense. If Sutton was bracketed, Nix often didn’t have a consistent deep threat last year, and finished 17th in the NFL in completion percentage of throws 20-plus yards downfield.

Enter Waddle.

“I think that he and I being able to manipulate the outside is going to help the run game,” Sutton said Thursday. “And then ultimately, whenever we do get a chance to get these one-on-one looks, I think it����ap going to be interesting to see where that safety does decide to shade.”

Low maintenance, high potential

The arrival of one star, of course, will naturally dim the light of those around him. On Thursday night, Sutton received the heartiest cheers and took the heartiest swings at UCHealth’s annual “Healthy Swings” home-run-derby at Coors Field; as he accepted a winner’s trophy, a fellow teammate off to the side cracked a joke labeling Sutton as “Mr. Bronco.” The eight-year veteran made a Pro Bowl in 2025 on the back of two straight 1,000-yard seasons, and Denver wouldn’t have made the Waddle trade if there was any risk that either receiver would lose sleep over lost targets.

Sutton, though, has established himself as one of the lowest-maintenance receivers in the NFL. Waddle, meanwhile, never publicly complained about diminished targets through two sub-1,000-yard seasons in Miami in 2024 and 2025.

“I think last year, we saw what it would take for a selfless offense to be able to get to where we want to get to,” Sutton said “It����ap not the — I don’t think we have any individual personalities that are saying, ‘Hey, I need this. I need that.’ I think we got a bunch of guys that are willing to put their pride aside and say, ‘Hey, look, what do I need to do for this team to be successful?’”

Payton often refers to locker-room favorites as “force multipliers.” Dobbins is one. So is boisterous defensive tackle Malcolm Roach, for instance. Waddle does not project in the same vein; former coaches describe him as quiet, and he doesn’t carry himself with any particular gravitas when speaking at a public podium.

That personality, though, is a fit in itself. And Waddle has already begun force-multiplying with his first routes down in Dove Valley.

“I just think he takes us — unlocks another dimension for us, especially with RPOs and stuff like that,” Roach told The Post Thursday night, at Coors. “I think the best is yet for him to come, and the best is yet for us to come.

“So I think it����ap going to be a good marriage.”

A team won’t hesitate to cut a player. Cold, calculated decisions are made on the daily.

NFL players, likewise, aren’t interested in charity when it comes to their employer.

Clubs try to pay players as little as they can. Players try to earn as much as possible.

That����ap the way the business works 99% of the time.

That����ap also what made the news earlier this month that the Broncos had given Pat Surtain II a $5 million raise — and added a 2027 escalator worth another $5 million if Surtain makes the Pro Bowl or an All-Pro team this fall — interesting.

It was a smart move by the Broncos, even if it wasn’t done out of pure grace.

Surtain knew he was underpaid after a boom in the cornerback market since he signed an extension in September 2024. So did Broncos officials. There was really no reason to play hardball with a guy the club is likely hoping plays another 7-10 years on the Front Range and retires a Bronco and a future Hall of Famer.

Surtain is 26 years old. He’s going to be due for a monster extension in the next 12-24 months anyway. Why risk souring the relationship now, just as the roster around Surtain has blossomed into a Super Bowl contender?

It looks from here like good employee management on the front office’s part to bump Surtain up this year — and likely next year, too, as long as he’s mostly healthy this fall. A four-year, $96 million extension signed in 2024 essentially becomes four years and $106 million, setting Surtain up to cash in again before too long.

There’s another key to the raise, though, and it����ap a very simple one.

The Broncos did it because they could. They started the week more than $25 million under the salary cap, and even after giving Surtain a raise, they can easily absorb another contract if they wanted to add a veteran this summer, add at the trade deadline this fall — or both.

“He’s obviously someone that we feel like is elite and at the top of his position,” head coach Sean Payton said Thursday, explaining why Surtain got a raise without a new deal. “Part of that is the salary cap and how that fluctuates and moves, especially in the last three years.”

As it pertains to Denver, specifically, the Broncos have worn $85 million in dead cap for Russell Wilson alone over the past two seasons. Now they head into 2026 with among the cleanest books in football. They have newfound flexibility and are putting it to use.

There is still plenty of roster maneuvering, cap management and future planning to do, however.

First, Denver will likely want to get back to rolling over a fair chunk of cap space year to year. They’d made a practice of it under George Paton until cutting Wilson. The past two years, they’ve rolled over less than $1 million. Before that, Paton was consistently rolling between $5-10 million over per year.

The Broncos’ use of option bonuses as a contract tool likely plays into their approach this offseason, too.

Option bonuses give a club flexibility on how it accounts for a player’s pay. Remember, base salary counts against the cap in the current year, whereas bonus money can be prorated over up to five seasons. Teams regularly convert base salary to bonus to lower a player’s current-year cap number and push cap charges down the road. Option bonuses basically let teams decide how to handle those decisions as they go.

Under Paton and vice president of player administration Rich Hurtado, the Broncos have used option bonuses with more frequency as they’ve locked up more than 10 core players on major extensions in the past two years.

Teams like option bonuses in part because, the way the CBA is written, the default assumption is that each option will be exercised and the money will be accounted for as a bonus. So teams get the flexibility of the proration built in until the option date, then can decide whether to actually use it.

That����ap a bit of a mouthful, so an example might be cleaner: Broncos receiver Courtland Sutton has a $12 million option bonus this year due Sept. 1. The money is guaranteed, so he’s getting paid no matter what Denver does.

Currently, that $12 million is accounted for as $2.4 million on the cap for this year and each of the next four. Add the $2.4 million to Sutton’s $4.735 million base salary, $6.075 million of prorated signing bonus and $765,000 in per-game roster bonuses, and you get his 2026 cap number of $13.975 million.

On Sept. 1, Denver can leave that just the way it is. But the team could also rescind the option bonus in total or in part. The Broncos’ options usually allow them to choose between prorating all, half or a smaller portion (around a third) of the bonus amount. So, if Denver rescinded the entire bonus, Sutton’s base salary would jump from $4.375 million to $16.375 million. His cap number would balloon from $13.975 to $23.575 million this year, but the Broncos wouldn’t have $9.6 million in future-year prorated bonus money on their books.

The Broncos did this in part with Garett Bolles last year, prorating out $6 million of his option bonus but rescinding some of it and bumping his base salary to $10.235 million and his cap number to $13 million.

Bolles, like Sutton, has an option bonus due Sept. 1 this fall. His is $16.935 million.

So, put it this way: Bolles and Sutton could eventually count a combined $22.43 million against Denver’s cap in 2026. But they could also count $45.58 million. Or somewhere in between.

It just depends on whether the Broncos want the cap room now or want to increase their flexibility in future years. Some teams, like Philadelphia, use option bonuses aggressively and basically always exercise them. Kick the money down the road. As long as the cap keeps going up each year, a dollar on the cap is cheaper in the future than it is this year. It����ap a bet that there’s not another surprise downturn like the COVID-impacted years coming around the corner.

There’s an argument to be made that if a team can choose between counting money on the cap this year or in the future, it should choose the future every time. The pandemic happened, though. It����ap not impossible for the cap to drop or stagnate. Payton in New Orleans was part of a group that spent years walking the tightrope and prorating aggressively. It mostly worked until the pandemic. Now it����ap taken years and years of roster slashing and money burning in a straitjacket to unwind the mess.

The Broncos are aggressive but have demonstrated a somewhat lower-than-maximum risk tolerance.

The older a player is, the more likely Denver will at least consider rescinding an option bonus and taking more of the money on the current year cap.

Sources also indicate that internally, the Broncos generally treat option bonuses as if they’re going to rescind them. So, they don’t necessarily look at Sutton as a player with a $13.975 cap hit this year. They look at him as a player with a $23.575 million cap hit that they can choose to lower by exercising the option on Sept. 1.

The CBA assumes the flexibility and the league credits Denver with around $21 million in cap space after Surtain’s raise. But the Broncos enter the summer likely working under their own internal assumption that they have less room than that.

Now that the team’s built a stable of players with option bonuses in their deals, it can treat them essentially like puzzle pieces. Exercise a couple here, rescind a portion there. Manipulate cap space and associated risk on a per-player, per-year, per-option basis.

It����ap complicated, it����ap interesting, and it����ap the way the front office has decided to attack a future that could, as soon as next summer, include a mega-contract for quarterback Bo Nix.

Every team’s calculus changes once it pays a quarterback. But from this far away, it����ap impossible to say exactly what that might look like, how fast the cap will grow, how players at other positions will age and what position might go from strength to weakness or vice versa.

As such, the Broncos are trying to set themselves up with as much flexibility as possible.

It means you can pay a star player what he’s worth in the present and maybe, just maybe, keep an extra quality player or two down the line.

He is no longer calling plays. It is like asking Paul McCartney to only play bass for the Beatles. For 15 years, no one was better at piling up points than Payton.

In his previous life in New Orleans, Payton always had the answers as the voice in Drew Brees’ head. But that was 1,300 miles away.

And $18 million ago. That is his annual salary.

With an organization’s hopes in his grip, with his Hall of Fame bid hanging in the balance, Payton was brought here to make decisions like this.

He wasn’t hired to deliver a winning record, even if one was desperately needed after a seven-year drought, or capture an AFC West title, or post a playoff victory.

It was never about that.

It has always been about this: winning a Super Bowl.

That is why he makes more money than any coach in Broncos history. He is a legendary culture builder. And no NFL boss pushes the right buttons as an underdog like Payton.

But to achieve a championship — “Go The Distance,” aka GTD, the new offseason slogan — he was brought in to make tough choices, including about himself.

Want to throttle up the offense? Promote The Mad Scientist.

Thursday offered the media’s first chance to see Davis Webb — “The Mad Scientist,” Courtland Sutton said — calling plays.

It is June. There are no pads. And Bo Nix is still recovering from a check-up procedure on his ankle after an offseason of the Broncos putting their foot in their mouth about his health.

But watching Webb speak into the walkie-talkie, seeing Evan Engram look reborn and Jaylen Waddle turn routes into blurs, there was an obvious conclusion to draw: this should work.

It is time for a new chapter. For Payton to transition into a CEO position.

This is how he can achieve the ultimate goal. At Thursday’s practice, Payton showed a willingness to fade into the background, watching from a distance, glancing at his play sheet and providing pointers to receivers.

Webb was steering the wheel. And he looked comfortable in the cockpit.

“It����ap a combination of things that he has learned from coach Payton and things that he has liked and seen from his own experience of playing and coaching in this league. I know he is ready. There is not a thought behind it,” Sutton said. “I know that he is ready and being able to listen to the way he coaches and the way he is teaching the terminology to us on the field and in the classroom has been amazing.”

Webb, 31, has the hardest job outside of Rockies pitching coach. Working for Payton is a challenge, and now he is taking over one of the coach’s favorite things to do.

Regardless of how Payton relinquished the role — cajoling, self-reflection, kicking and screaming — it was the right decision. Payton can provide a 10,000-foot view, blending his experience with Webb’s innovation.

During the open viewing session, the Broncos ran a lot of three-wide. Sutton and Waddle showed why they will be a problem — good luck to defensive coordinators deciding where to slide coverage — and Engram lost linebackers easier than Ozempic does weight.

Maybe Payton and Webb were just showing off for the cameras.

But the way the players talk about Webb is inspiring confidence. Nix has been all in since he met him. Garett Bolles calls him “scary smart,” saying on the “Up and Adams” podcast a few weeks ago that he is not “afraid to put everything on the line and let it rip.”

Think of Payton as Robin Williams and Webb as Will Hunting.

All those screams from Nix to the sidelines, all those punts (third most in the league), don’t lie.

Payton can still dial up gash plays, but the mechanics of communicating them to Nix have become problematic.

Into this equation comes Webb. He is an obvious solution. And not just for the reasons mentioned above.

Everyone knows Webb has a high football IQ. He has been keeping notebooks of plays since high school, which he later converted to PDF files. He is cerebral.

But that is not what has me convinced that Webb can pull this off.

It is Webb, the person, the player. Webb brings a swagger, an edge, a presence, a thick skin. He walks into the room at 6-foot-5, 220-ish pounds and fills the space. He is a former quarterback in every way.

Even if his ideas get squashed, he is not afraid to speak up to Payton. Just like Nix. Friction is a defining quality in any productive relationship with Payton.

And the good part, when it comes to squeezing every ounce of juice out of this offense? Webb bet on himself.

Talking to industry folks over the last several months, it is clear that Webb nearly landed head-coaching jobs with the Raiders and Bills. If he wanted to play the iron off the tee box, Webb could have stayed in his role as the Broncos quarterbacks coach.

He did not need to call plays to land a head coaching job next offseason.

Like backup quarterbacks, assistant coaches benefit from the great unknown.

And yet, Webb muscled his way into a promotion with his performance the past two seasons, his first as a coach since retiring from the NFL.

Payton wasn’t giving up his play-calling for just anyone. Webb was in the building, and with his interview list long, it drove home what Payton already knew.

Now was the time, like it or not, to hand off the play-calling.

It would be naive to suggest Webb won’t struggle, hit rough patches. He has not developed the scar tissue to overcome a second-and-25 after a failed reverse, or a fourth-down stop when the defense makes it look like Webb was tipping his pitches.

But that is what makes this so fascinating. Will Payton show patience after the third three-and-out? He must, or this is all so much cotton candy, empty calories.

Webb must microwave his development. And he needs Payton’s help.

The coach can provide institutional knowledge, in-game advice, and Webb can see the defense through a current quarterback’s eyes.

Time is ticking faster than the play clock on this experiment. If it goes well, Webb will be a head coach in February.

There is a lot to like here, particularly if you want an offense that features a modern twist.

The Broncos have a duo that can make this team better.

Webb is ready. And if this goes as planned, a Super Bowl berth will cement Payton’s Hall of Fame legacy.

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?

Von Miller is a Denver icon, a Mile High legend, the engine of the defense, the life of the party, the Mick Jagger of ����apountry.

One problem: The Broncos already have a lead singer.

They’re looking for bass players, keyboardists, percussionists and backup dancers. It’s the Sean & Bo Show now,

“I would love to assist and be a vice president to Bo Nix and Courtland Sutton,” Miller told The Post’s Parker Gabriel a few days earlier at a Von’s Vision function in Commerce City. “I’ve been the guy and also I’ve been the vice president as well.

“I’d love to contribute to us getting back to the glory land, holding up that trophy and confetti falling again. For me, my whole entire life, I’ve helped guys be the best version of themselves and I’d love to do that back here with the Denver Broncos back home.”

Having No. 58 in the fold would be a hit for fans who’ve still got Miller jerseys hanging in their closets and a boon for media looking for a sound bite from one of the best to ever play in orange and blue.

And Von — who racked up nine sacks as a situational pass-rusher in Washington last fall — knows a good thing when he sees it, having faced the Broncos with the Bills and with the Commanders over the last three seasons.

Assuming Nix is healthy (crosses fingers), the Broncos are on the Super Bowl train, and Miller would love nothing more than to close out a Hall-of-Fame career with another ring in his favorite NFL town.

Von Miller playing for Sean Payton — D

Never say never, right? The kids up in the Grading The Week department would love to dust off their replica jerseys and party like it’s 2015 all over again.

“I think there’s no question the type of environment I bring to a locker room,” Miller told Gabriel. “I think there’s no question to the type of environment I bring to a team.”

Yet the bean-counters over the corner office keep reminding us of the same thing whenever the subject of No. 58 returning to the Broncos gets brought up:

Ain’t nowhere for The Vonster to play.

The law firm of (Nik) Bonitto & (Jonathon) Cooper are in their respective primes coming off the edge, combining for 22 sacks a season ago.

Behind them, Dondrea Tillman (four sacks in ’25) has been a revelation who hasn’t slowed down, while second-year rusher Que Robinson recorded a sack in the AFC Championship Game. Drew Sanders is looking for a home, and all Jonah Elliss does is make plays.

Whose snaps would you give to Miller, who’s still spry at age 37 but is creeping in the winter of his playing days?

“Obviously, I wouldn’t start. Obviously, I wouldn’t play special teams,” Miller continued. “But I will say, the type of room that we would have, the outside linebackers with me, Nik Bonitto, we’d be a force. Whatever (the) coach (has) going on, I would just contribute to that. The defense that we’d have. I’d love to bring back those Super Bowl 50 vibes.”

Yeah, but here’s the thing: This defense kind of already has those vibes — just with a different generation under defensive coordinator Vance Joseph. The Broncos also need their second-and third-wave of linebackers to play on special teams, my friend.

Von was the face of the Broncos seven years ago, and a good one. But that face is Payton’s now. That voice is Payton’s now.

Miller will retire a Bronco. But Team GTW wagers it’ll be the same way Justin Simmons just retired as a Bronco — with a ceremony, a 1-day contract, a news conference, some tears and a hearty thanks for services rendered and memories we’ll never let go.

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.

It����ap made him a Super Bowl champion. It����ap made him generational wealth. It����ap made him a potential Pro Football Hall of Famer someday.

The 37-year-old is holding out hope these days that his latest pressure campaign lands him back where his career started: Playing for the Broncos.

That Miller wants to return to Denver is hardly a surprise. He’s expressed a desire to do so over several recent offseasons.

Still, every time Miller returns to the Denver area, as he did this week to help more than 60 kids get free eye exams and a pair of glasses through his charity, Von’s Vision, that pull back to the orange and blue feels a little bit stronger.

“Last year I played 37% of the defensive snaps,” said Miller, who had 9 sacks for the Washington Commanders after six the year before in Buffalo. “Thirty (percent) with the Denver Broncos and I feel like I can do the same exact thing I did with the Washington Commanders.”

Miller has talked with Denver general manager George Paton extensively over recent months and years about Miller’s desire to end up working in — and running his own — front office after he’s done playing. Broncos head coach Sean Payton coached Miller’s flag football team this spring against the U.S. national team.

Miller said his offseason has been “quiet” so far in terms of interest from teams and a week ago a league source told The Post that the Broncos hadn’t expressed interest in signing Miller, but the veteran is working Paton and Payton hard.

“I lobby. I do lobby,” Miller said with a smile. “I lobby publicly, I lobby privately. I do lobby. I think there’s no question the type of environment I bring to a locker room and to a team. I don’t like to pat myself on the back, but at 37 years old I can still roll out of bed and rush the quarterback. I’m still a great guy in the locker room, I bring great energy and I’m going to make sure everybody is ready to go.”

Miller is particularly interested, he said, in working with Broncos star edge rusher Nik Bonitto and running mate Jonathon Cooper.

Bonitto is a big Miller fan and said earlier this month that, “Just to kinda be able to share a room with him would be amazing.”

Miller feels the same way about Bonitto and said he can’t shake the feeling that it would be akin to when DeMarcus Ware arrived in Denver and helped Miller channel his talent into a Super Bowl 50 victory and a long and prosperous career.

“I know (Bonitto) well,” Miller said. “Obviously, we’re not roommates or nothing like that. But we have an open line of communication and we talk about everything. To be in the locker room and to be able to pay forward what DeMarcus did for me to Nik Bonitto and Jonathon Cooper and the rest of the young guys, I’d love to be able to do that in my twilight on the way out.”

Miller knows if the Broncos did re-sign him, there’d be massive hullabaloo. He insists that’s not what this is about. He thinks about “Von’s Vision Days” and locker room vibes and causing terror on third-and-long.

“Obviously, I wouldn’t start. Obviously, I wouldn’t play special teams,” Miller said. “But I will say, the type of room that we would have, the outside linebackers with me, Nik Bonitto, we’d be a force. Whatever coach we have going on, I would just contribute to that. The defense that we’d have. I’d love to bring back those Super Bowl 50 vibes.

“I would love to assist and be a vice president to Bo Nix and Courtland Sutton. I’ve been the guy and also I’ve been the vice president as well. I’d love to contribute to us getting back to the glory land, holding up that trophy and confetti falling again. For me, my whole entire life, I’ve helped guys be the best version of themselves and I’d love to do that back here with the Denver Broncos back home.”

“I was like,” Palczewski told The Post in January, “‘F—in’ Pat Bryant.'”

There are many ways to describe Bryant. Most who try, though, end up offering this simple structure, often involving an expletive and an inflection that nearly crosses the vocal threshold from overwhelming admiration into admonition. The 23-year-old Bryant is not scared of much, and plays like it. He blocks and cuts over the middle with little abandon, the same qualities that Palczewski saw when he was a teenager at Illinois, the same qualities that made Bryant into one of Bo Nix’s favorite scramble targets down the stretch of 2025.

Those same qualities, however, also expose his 204-pound frame to hits that ended his rookie year before it could truly flourish.

“I mean, it����ap a part of the game,” Bryant reflected in early May, at a charity event at Kaiser Elementary School. “I ain’t really dwell that much on it.

“But my main focus this offseason was just, at the end of the day — becoming bulletproof, so I don’t have to deal with any of that.”

The bullets hit hard in 2025. First came a tweaked hamstring, which sidelined Bryant for Week 15’s game against the Packers. Then came Week 16’s brutal late-game concussion against Jacksonville, with Bryant immobilized out of precaution and carted off in the scariest sight of the year at Empower Field. Then came a second, minor concussion in the Broncos’ wild-card matchup against the Bills, with Bryant trudging to the locker room in frustration after a monster opening quarter.

“I was pretty hot,” Bryant recalled, of being ruled out for the rest of the game. “I mean, I was pretty hot. But, that����ap how the game go, I guess. Whoever upstairs … whatever they saw.”

Then, finally, came the cherry on top: another hamstring aggravation and an exit in the AFC Championship Game, in a Patriots matchup where Bryant was already playing in a Guardian cap.

The string of flare-ups completely bucked the momentum of the 2025 third-round pick’s rookie season, as Bryant was establishing himself as a near-irreplaceable piece in Denver’s offense. In his last five active games of the regular season, he racked up 21 combined catches for 229 yards and was consistently playing the most game-to-game snaps of any receiver behind Courtland Sutton. Even as the Broncos’ receiver group has become cluttered with the trade for Jaylen Waddle — who Bryant called a “great add” — no member of the room directly overlaps with Bryant’s mix of tools.

“We got a very diverse room,” Bryant said this month. “Everybody got their different skillset. But at the end of the day, we’re just weapons for Bo.”

Bryant is a unique one. He emerged, as just a rookie, as Sean Payton’s most trusted blocking WR not named Lil’Jordan Humphrey. He proved fully capable of playing at X or at Z receiver. And despite finishing fourth in targets, Bryant had the most yards-after-catch over expected (+29) of any Broncos wide receiver in 2025, according to Next Gen Stats.

Payton’s offense, even with new coordinator Davis Webb at the helm, is still highly likely to hinge on frequent personnel mixing. But if Bryant can bring last year’s late-season impact into this year’s training camp, there’s a clear path to him sticking in three-receiver sets with Sutton and Waddle in 2026.

�ճ����if,��ultimately, hinges on Bryant’s health.

“Sean Payton’s camps are hard,” veteran receiver Trent Sherfield, a Bryant mentor and former Broncos WR, told The Post in February. “Like,��everybody knows that. Going six days in a row. He’s a rookie, right? So trying to get your body back from training camp, and then you go into the regular season — Sean’s regular-season schedule is not a piece of cake, either.

“And so, it����ap gonna take time.”

Bryant told reporters in May that he’s spent most of the offseason at the Broncos’ facility rehabbing his hamstring, rather than returning home to Florida. At Sherfield’s advice, he’s installed a hot tub and a hyperbaric chamber at his home in Denver. Bryant said, too, that he’s “throwing on a couple pounds” this offseason.

“I ain’t really get to build how I want to build (last year),” Bryant said, referencing his strength. “So this offseason, that����ap kinda what I focused on.”

After the Broncos’ first game of 2025 — just two months before Bryant wound up taking his job — Sherfield sat at his locker and marveled at the young receiver’s fearlessness through camp. Bryant’s hands-on routes across the middle, Sherfield told The Post in September, were “rare.” And the veteran then noted the concept of the second-year leap for receivers.

“I think he’s going to make plays this year, too,” Sherfield said then. “But I think next year, the sky’s the limit for him.”

As long, after all, as Bryant’s body isn’t the limit.

After a pro tryout from Friday through Sunday, Denver is signing 26-year-old receiver Michael Woods II, multiple sources confirmed to The Denver Post. It’s a standard one-year, veteran-minimum deal for Woods II, who spent last year on the Packers’ practice squad.

The Broncos weren’t done there, either, also adding undrafted-rookie cornerback Paul Manning on a standard rookie deal, sources confirmed. It’s a win for the Division II-to-NFL pipeline, as the 6-foot-1 Manning hails from Henderson State and tried out along with dozens of Division I rookies at the Broncos’ minicamp this weekend.

The moves would bring the Broncos to 93 on their offseason roster (92 countable players with punter Jeremy Crawshaw’s international roster exemption), meaning corresponding cuts are coming to ensure the club stays at the NFL’s offseason limit of 90.

A product of Arkansas and Oklahoma, the 6-foot-1 Woods II was a sixth-round pick by the Cleveland Browns in 2022. He caught 12 passes for 110 yards over parts of three seasons with the Browns, and his name may carry some familiarity in Denver: he had a career-best three catches for 43 yards in 2024’s 41-32 Denver shootout win over Cleveland.

The Broncos now have a considerable amount of clutter in their receiver room, beyond the already-set fivesome of Courtland Sutton, Jaylen Waddle, Troy Franklin, Marvin Mims Jr. and Pat Bryant. Woods II will now compete with veterans Lil’Jordan Humphrey and Michael Bandy — and four undrafted rookies in Dane Key, Cam Ross, Joseph Manjack IV and Kolbe Katsis — for a 53-man or practice-squad slot.

The Manning addition, too, also ensures Denver is carrying 11 cornerbacks on their offseason roster. Expect those WR and CB rooms to be thinned out in coming weeks and months, as the Broncos march on towards training camp.

This story will be updated.

Every new face who shows up to the Broncos’ rookie minicamp has their own approach to pre-draft conditioning, leaving them in various stages of physical readiness for a three-day intensive weekend of football. Some, as Payton said, are in great shape. Some are so-so. And some, well — some need a Peloton.

Jonah Coleman does not need a Peloton.

The Broncos’ much-bandied fourth-round running back out of Washington, Coleman has looked “really good” at Denver’s rookie camp this weekend, Payton told reporters Saturday. In the locker room later, Coleman revealed the reason why: a combination of boxing, treadmill cardio, and running on the street in a sauna suit to decrease breathability. The 220-pound running back, after all, will have to adjust to the altitude in Denver.

Not terribly hard, as he’s shown before.

“I’ve been through anything and everything,” Coleman told reporters. “The last time I played here in Boulder — 11 carries, 180 (yards).”

It was actually 179, back when Coleman and Arizona came to Boulder in November 2023. The point stuck. That game, a 34-31 Wildcats win in the first year of the Shedeur Sanders era, was the first impression Coleman left on the state of Colorado before the Broncos landed on him two years later. He was a home-run hitter on that Saturday afternoon: runs of 21, 24, 49 and 54 yards.

The Broncos, though, drafted Coleman more for his ability to hit singles and doubles in an NFL offense. And his supplementary and third-down skills have stood out, two days into his time in Denver’s building.

“Most of the time, when you’re drafting or signing a college running back, there’s going to be a learning curve with protections,” Payton said Saturday. “Certainly the complexity, sometimes what they see. But that was his strong suit, when you were looking at his tape. Like, it����ap different than the rest of the class.”

In addition to the pass-protection hype, Coleman’s pass-catching skills were on full display on the second day of rookie minicamp. He dropped just one pass against 88 career collegiate catches, according to Pro Football Focus, and caught several in a variety of team situations Saturday. Coleman turned up the right sideline nicely on one flare screen in a seven-on-seven period, and ran so furiously on a screen in a later 11-on-11 period that he literally ran over one of his own offensive linemen.

Beyond Coleman, a number of drafted and undrafted rookies have made strong first impressions at the Broncos’ rookie minicamp. Here are four more things The Post learned about this incoming Denver class from observing Saturday’s session.

1. The Broncos like their rookies on the offensive front.

One massive takeaway: undrafted tackle Tyler Miller is a ����������������human being. The Iowa State product looks every bit of a near 6-foot-9 measurement, and started at right tackle for rookie units in 11-on-11 team periods. The Broncos and offensive-line coach Zach Strief found a winner in 2024 with 6-foot-7 tackle Frank Crum, who surprisingly cracked Denver’s roster as an undrafted rookie out of Wyoming in 2024; Miller could be next in the mold of large, under-the-radar but high-upside Broncos tackles.

Payton said Saturday that Denver was able to sign some undrafted offensive linemen that they had “draftable grades on.” That likely includes Miller. That could also include Weber State’s Gavin Ortega, a versatile 6-foot-5 piece who sports golden-blonde locks flowing from the back of his helmet. Throw that together with the Broncos’ fourth-round draftee Kage Casey, and there’s potential here.

“It’s an impressive-looking group,” Payton said.

Casey, notably, was playing left guard during team periods Saturday. That’s where he could fit in Denver long-term, as veteran LG Ben Powers is on the final year of his deal.

2. Cam Ross and Dane Key are the early WR favorites to stick past August. 

The two undrafted free agents authored two of the standout plays of minicamp. Ross, a well-traveled collegiate receiver who graduated from Virginia, showed off 4.42-second speed on a blazing deep ball — from veteran Nathan Peterman, no less. Key, the brother of Broncos safety Devon Key, fought off good coverage from UDFA cornerback Brent Austin to make a fantastic back-shoulder grab down the left sideline in a later 11-on-11 period.

It’ll be exceedingly difficult for either to make the initial 53-man roster, with the Broncos’ top five WRs set (Courtland Sutton, Jaylen Waddle, Troy Franklin Pat Bryant, Marvin Mims Jr.) and veterans Lil’Jordan Humphrey and Michael Bandy hanging around. The 6-foot-2 Key, though, could offer an upside practice-squad body. And Ross, in particular, caught coaches eyeballs’ Saturday. He’s much thicker than his 5-foot-9 frame suggests on paper.

“Speed and IQ,” Ross told The Post, asked what he feels he’s shown coaches. “Most important, I just want to show them I know where to line up and I know what I’m doing. For me, I take pride in that.”

3. Justin Joly is a younger Evan Engram, in style.

The Broncos moved up in the fifth round of the 2026 draft to pick the 6-foot-3 Joly as a classic F-type tight end, a receiver who can thrive with pre-snap movement and winning in open space. That’s the same reason they signed veteran Evan Engram in last year’s free agency. At first glance, Joly profiles quite similarly to the 31-year-old Engram, who faded in and out of offensive plans in a 50-catch 2025 season.

In team periods Saturday, Joly motioned around the slot and outside, similar to how Engram lined up throughout practices last year. And Joly’s ability to stick in Denver and compete with Engram in camp will ultimately come down to Payton’s trust in Joly as a blocker, as Engram was on the field in a blocking role for just 18% of his snaps in 2025.

Another potential differentiator: Joly’s ability as a vertical threat in the red zone. The NC State product had seven touchdowns on 49 catches last year, and authored a quiet highlight early in a receiving drill when he somehow leapt to tip a pass well behind him — and somehow snagged it while falling to the turf.

“If you want to put me in the backfield, if you want to put me anywhere on the field, I’ll do it,” Joly said, asked on his role. “Even if they want me to play defense. Just let me know, and I got you guys.”

4. Kurt Warner’s son may find his way back this summer.

After Bo Nix’s follow-up ankle procedure caused quite the stir in recent weeks, Payton said Nix could still end up throwing in minicamp later in June. He all but ruled Nix out for OTAs at the beginning of the month, though. It’s possible that the Broncos could just roll with the backup tandem of Jarrett Stidham and Sam Ehlinger, for however many periods Nix is sidelined.

In the meantime, though, Denver could take a long look back at a notable name at rookie minicamp Saturday: quarterback EJ Warner, the son of Hall of Famer Kurt Warner. The Fresno State product didn’t exactly wow with size — a visible tick shy of a 5-foot-11 pre-draft measurement — but displayed solid timing and kept the rhythm humming on Saturday.

“This Warner looks, reminds me a lot of Chase Daniel,” Payton said, referring to a former New Orleans backup in Daniel. “If you see his height, weight, size and speed, they’re very similar. He’s done a nice job. He’s done a very nice job.”