Cooper, 28, and his girlfriend were arrested last Thursday and charged with criminal mischief as a crime of domestic violence after Parker police officers responded to reports of a “domestic incident” between the two late that night. The charge has different severities based on the amount of damage caused, resulting in a misdemeanor-level charge for Cooper and a petty-level offense for his girlfriend.

The football player’s case is scheduled to go before a jury in late July, according to Douglas County court records. During Monday’s disposition hearing, Cooper pleaded not guilty to the criminal mischief charge, and a motions hearing was scheduled for July 6. The jury trial is expected to begin on July 22.

Harvey Steinberg, Cooper’s attorney, said the defense team doesn’t intend to file any motion to dismiss and wants the case to be heard by a jury. Steinberg pushed for a trial “as early as possible” during Monday’s hearing to avoid affecting Cooper’s employment as a football player.

The 2026 NFL season officially starts in September, but the Broncos will play preseason games as early as Aug. 14 and training camp begins the last week of July.

Cooper has become an important pass-rusher on the Broncos’ defense across a five-year tenure in Denver, originally drafted in the seventh round in the 2021 NFL Draft. In November 2024, he signed a four-year contract extension worth $33 million in guaranteed money and up to $60 million in total value.

“He’s consistent,” defensive coordinator Vance Joseph said of Cooper in August 2025. “He’s the same guy every single day. He’s the fire starter for our defense. He’s physical. He’s a better rusher than people think he is. He’s a really good football player, and that����ap the kind of guys we have on our team.”

After recording a career-best 10.5 sacks in 2024 and another 8.0 sacks in 2025, Cooper stands to make a total of $12 million in total cash payout this season in Denver. The Broncos typically begin training camp in late July, meaning Cooper’s trial could take place just before the team reports back to the facility for the start of the 2026 season.

Cooper was arrested in Parker shortly after 11:15 p.m. Thursday and booked into the Douglas County jail roughly three hours later, according to inmate records. His girlfriend, whom The Denver Post is not currently identifying, was also arrested.

The girlfriend told police that she had confronted Cooper about cheating allegations, which led to a fight over his phone, according to the pair’s arrest affidavits.

Neither party was charged with harassment or assault because there was “no probable cause … given the conflicting statements and lack of specific physical evidence,” Parker police wrote in Cooper’s affidavit.

Cooper’s girlfriend took his phone from him, threw it across the room and then went to pick it up and look through it, according to both affidavits. That����ap where their stories split.

Cooper, wanting his phone back, told police that he grabbed his girlfriend by her upper arm and took it, according to his affidavit. He also told police that he “braced his neck against her neck” to prevent her from getting it and admitted to threatening to break his girlfriend’s phone if she didn’t leave his apartment.

But his girlfriend told a separate officer that the football player had “grabbed her by the neck” and held her up against the wall, according to the affidavit for her arrest. Cooper’s girlfriend also said he picked her up and threw her back on the ground several times and punched the wall “next to her face.”

When she didn’t leave, Cooper bit her phone, damaging it, according to both arrest affidavits.

Officers noted in the affidavit that the girlfriend’s injuries didn’t quite match her claims, observing a small mark on her neck, scratches on her arm and a small cut on her hand. Those injuries “did not appear consistent with a larger male lifting (her) up into the air by her throat as well as repeatedly being thrown to the ground,” police said.

As of Monday morning, the girlfriend was next scheduled to appear in court for a pre-trial conference on June 16.

Cooper, 28, was arrested by Parker police at 11:16 p.m. and booked into Douglas County jail at 2:38 a.m., according to jail records. Cooper’s attorney, Harvey Steinberg, told The Denver Post that Cooper had obtained a personal recognizance bond, which enabled his release from custody without immediately paying bail.

Cooper appeared Friday morning in the 23rd Judicial District Court for a first appearance. He is due back in court Monday morning. Bail information for Cooper’s girlfriend — who The Post is declining to name — was not available.

“We are aware of the matter and are gathering more information,” the Broncos said in a statement provided to The Post.

NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy told The Post in a statement that the league was “aware of the matter” and has been in contact with the Broncos.

Both Cooper and his girlfriend were arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor domestic violence, while Cooper also faces a misdemeanor charge of criminal mischief from $300 to $999. His girlfriend faces an additional charge of petty criminal mischief less than $300.

According to Cooper’s arrest affidavit, a Parker police officer responded to a “domestic incident” between Cooper and his girlfriend in Parker at 8:42 p.m. Thursday. Cooper’s girlfriend confronted Cooper with allegations he was cheating on her, according to the affidavit. An altercation ensued, but Cooper and his girlfriend described it differently to police, as detailed in Cooper and his girlfriend’s separate affidavits.

“As of this report, there is no probable cause for harassment or assault charges given conflicting statements and lack of specific physical evidence,” the Parker officer wrote in Cooper’s affidavit.

Cooper’s girlfriend said she took his phone from him, threw it across the room, then went to pick it up and look through its contents. Cooper wanted his phone back and, according to his affidavit, Cooper told police he grabbed his girlfriend by her upper arms and was able to get the phone back.

When the woman again tried to take his phone, Cooper told police he “braced his neck against her neck” to prevent her from getting it, according to the affidavit. After eventually retrieving his phone, Cooper told his girlfriend that he would break her phone if she didn’t leave his apartment, he told police.

When Cooper’s girlfriend still did not leave, the Broncos player bit her phone, causing “disabling damage,” both affidavits said.

Cooper’s girlfriend, however, also told a separate officer that Cooper had “grabbed her by the neck” and held her up against the wall for approximately a minute, according to the affidavit for her arrest. Cooper’s girlfriend also said he picked her up and threw her back on the ground approximately three times, and punched the wall “next to her face.”

The officer noted in the affidavit that the marks she observed on the woman’s body were not consistent with such an assault.

“I observed a small mark on (the woman’s) neck, where she claimed Jonathan grabbed her,” the affidavit reads. “I also observed scratches on (her) arm and a small cut on her hand. These markings and scratches did not appear consistent with a larger male lifting (her) up into the air by her throat as well as repeatedly being thrown to the ground. The small mark on (the woman’s) neck did not appear to be consistent with the claim that (she) had been held up in the air by her throat by another individual.”

Cooper’s girlfriend remained in custody in the Douglas County Jail as of Friday afternoon.

Just hours before Cooper’s arrest, the five-year NFL veteran was in a helmet and gear for the Broncos’ third practice of OTAs Thursday, although he didn’t participate in any 11-on-11 team drills.

Cooper was drafted by the Broncos in the seventh round of the 2021 draft and has become one of the team’s core players. He signed a four-year contract extension worth $54 million in November 2024, recording a career-best 10.5 sacks that season and eight sacks in 2025.

“I’m still young in this league,” Cooper told reporters in late January, two days after the Broncos’ season ended with an AFC Championship loss to the Patriots. “And I still have a lot of opportunity to grow, and become an even better player. And that����ap the whole focus in the offseason.”

Cooper’s attorney, Steinberg, is well-known in Colorado for high-profile defense work, including representing former Broncos receiver Jerry Jeudy in a 2022 criminal case.

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.”

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.”

Ask current edge star Nik Bonitto, though, and Miller-to-Denver is an internal dream, too.

“It would be pretty crazy, for sure,” Bonitto said Wednesday night, at a charity event in partnership with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Denver. “I mean, obviously everybody would love that. Not only the fans, but the players. He’s a guy that’s loved here in Denver, so much.”

Those words carry a slight bias on the behalf of Denver’s 26-year-old All-Pro. Bonitto has grown up in Florida idolizing Miller and studying his tape, and called the veteran his “personal favorite player ever to watch.”

But if there’s ever been any window for Miller to re-join the franchise that drafted him, it’s now. The eight-time Pro Bowler posted a cryptic Instagram story , set to Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight.” And as a free agent this offseason, he’s been dropping a bread-crumb trail of public hints to Denver’s front office that he’d like to re-sign with the Broncos.

“I’m confident in that — I’ll be back in Denver, in some capacity,” Miller told The Post in late April.

He acknowledged in that conversation, though, that even if the time wasn’t right as a player, he’d like to return eventually in a front-office role. And the timing just might not be right, again, as these Broncos march into offseason activities. Denver has a surplus at outside linebacker, starting with Bonitto and Jonathon Cooper, staples of the franchise who turned up at Park Meadows at Lone Tree on Wednesday night to assist kids from the Boys and Girls’ Clubs in a graduation shopping spree.

Further on the depth chart, too, the Broncos are shifting 2024 third-round pick Jonah Elliss to inside linebacker in part to open up snaps for 2025 fourth-round pick Que Robinson. It’s a bold bet on Elliss’s agility and upside, as he showed star-level flashes across his first two years in Denver in a reserve OLB role.

Bonitto, though, explained that Denver already played Elliss at ILB on several third-down packages last year, and lauded his ability to drop back in coverage.

“Obviously, he has a way to grow when it comes to learning the position,” Bonitto said of Elliss. “But I have no doubts about his talent, man. I mean, he’s one of the most talented guys on the team.”

Between Robinson and steady reserve Dondrea Tillman, then, there simply isn’t much room for the 37-year-old Miller in Denver.

Still, Bonitto can dream.

“Just to kinda be able to share a room with him,” Bonitto said Wednesday, “would be amazing.”

Or, at least for the Broncos, the 2026 offseason program kicks off Monday.

This is in many ways the start of the long march toward September and the start of the season, though players and coaches still have a five-week break to look forward to this summer.

Denver head coach Sean Payton decided to start this spring’s program later than usual and later than everybody else in the NFL, citing a Broncos 2025 season that lasted until late January.

Payton is also a longtime believer that running and lifting are more important this time of year than getting on the field for football-related activities.

So, players start the voluntary part of the offseason program Monday, but outside of a rookie minicamp May 8-10, Denver will abstain from on-field work until the first week of June.

“All of May will just be weightlifting,” Payton said earlier this year. “You’ll see us on the field in June. We’ll have two weeks of OTAs and a week of mini camp, but I don’t want them to feel like they were just here.”

Payton has also said in the past that he doesn’t want his players feeling like they’re going to football practice in the spring.

Still, Monday morning will feature the Broncos’ first 2026 team meeting, the first messaging about starting over and building toward a title run this fall. It’ll feel like the start of something in the building.

With that in mind, here are four questions about the coming months in ����apountry.

When will Broncos QB Bo Nix be back in action?

The likely answer now: Not for a while. Nix will likely still be around for Phases 1 and 2 of the offseason program over the next several weeks, but he’ll be rehabbing from the recent clean-up procedure on his surgically repaired right ankle rather than doing the full lifting and running regimen his teammates will be on.

OTAs and minicamp are still a month-plus away, but from here, sources expected Payton and Denver’s medical and training staffs to be cautious with Nix through those weeks. The start of training camp is still nearly three months away. Having Nix back to full go then is the new priority for the staff.

There is still no clear understanding of what the recent procedure entailed for Nix, but sources indicate the cleanup work was going to have to happen at some point — if not now, then likely after the 2026 season. Nix’s rehab from the initial fracture repair in January went well enough that Dr. Norman Waldrop III, Nix and the Broncos decided they had a window to get it done now. It will cost Nix most of the early stages of the offseason program, but in return, he enters the year without the prospect of another procedure hanging out there somewhere on the horizon.

Could Denver add a veteran free agent of note?

It����ap always a possibility.

Denver signed RB J.K. Dobbins in June last year. In 2023, the club signed OLB Frank Clark around the same time.

For a time, the Broncos looked like they could perhaps use a veteran defensive lineman. Then they used their top draft pick, No. 66 overall, on Tyler Onyedim. There’s a long way to go to late August, but right now Denver looks like it could again easily take seven defensive linemen into the season: Zach Allen, D.J. Jones, Malcolm Roach, Eyioma Uwazurike, Onyedim, Sai’Vion Jones and Jordan Jackson.

If there’s a spot to add a Dobbins-esque veteran, what about outside linebacker and what about Cam Jordan? The 37-year-old has a decade of history with Sean Payton, he’s still playing well even after 15 years in the NFL and, while the Broncos are by no means short at outside linebacker, they don’t have huge numbers there after sliding Jonah Elliss inside. Now, Denver’s top line is among the best in the business with Nik Bonitto and Jonathon Cooper. The club is high on Que Robinson and Dondrea Tillman provides quality depth. Denver could always kick Elliss back outside if it needed. But Jordan had 10.5 sacks a year ago and, critically, is hardly a situational pass-rusher. He’s still a force against the run and could be used creatively both on third down and early downs. The Broncos have one of his biggest fans in Payton and also a New Orleans native in Vance Joseph as their defensive coordinator.

Are there any big contract extensions on the table?

Not like last year, where the Broncos had a laundry list of mega deals to do with cornerstone players like Courtland Sutton, Allen and Nik Bonitto.

The biggest decision to make is in the secondary, where nickel Ja’Quan McMillian and corner Riley Moss are each entering contract years and 2025 first-round pick Jahdae Barron is waiting in the wings.

Other starters and key players entering the final years of their contracts include safety Brandon Jones, left guard Ben Powers, receiver Marvin Mims Jr. and tight end Evan Engram.

Overall, there’s far less certainty about who from that group will end up in Denver long term than there was a year ago, when it seemed all but certain that the big three would get deals done eventually.

Denver typically has done offseason extensions closer to training camp (Quinn Meinerz in 2024) or during (all three last year and Pat Surtain II in 2024) rather than in the spring.

What else is on the spring cleaning list at Broncos Park?

A handful of other projects. Now that the NFL draft is in the rearview mirror, an extension for general manager George Paton moves closer to the batter’s box. CEO and owner Greg Penner has made it clear Paton’s wanted long-term and has essentially said a deal is a matter of when, not if. Most front office movement of all kinds comes after the draft and into the summer. On a related note, Paton’s front office is highly regarded and has been raided repeatedly over the past two offseasons, so more movement on that front cannot be ruled out.

Denver also has a major move ahead in June, when the club relocates from its current headquarters to its new building across the practice fields, which is nearing completion.

Just maybe not as an outside linebacker.

“If I don’t go back to Denver and play as a football player,” Miller told The Denver Post on Monday, “I would like to go back to Denver and be in the front office, or whatever, in some capacity.”

In 2011, a 22-year-old Miller sat down in Indianapolis for a combine meeting with then-Broncos general manager John Elway, and felt something. After winning a Super Bowl ring and making eight Pro Bowl appearances in more than a decade in the NFL, he figured out what it was. In the room shadowing Elway, as Miller remembered, was former NFL Pro Bowler and Broncos safety John Lynch. Miller noticed, then. And he noticed, six years later, when Lynch was hired as the San Francisco 49ers’ general manager .

“As I played throughout my career, and I started to think about things I wanted to do and how to stay attached to football without playing — those core memories just kinda chose me,” Miller said.

Quietly, in 2023, Miller — going into his second year with the Buffalo Bills — returned to the NFL combine to begin rubbing elbows with some of the league’s decision-makers. He told Bills general manager Brandon Beane of his future ambitions, and Beane “stoked that flame,” Miller said. For three straight years, Miller has returned to the combine to continue relationship-building with NFL front offices.

Now, as the 37-year-old Miller can see the end nearing for his playing days, he’ll make it plain: he wants to become an NFL general manager.

And he’d like the path to lead him back to Denver, soon enough.

“I’m not a contract guy,” Miller said, when asked where he sees himself climbing the ladder in a front office. “I’m not going to sit in there and deal with contracts, and find numbers — I’m not a numbers guy. When it comes to scouting, I’m not going to sit there and watch film for 20 hours a day, either. I think my talent is just, people. Knowing people. The infrastructure of a team, knowing how to put together a schedule – just the daily grind of being a player in the National Football League. I know what it takes, and I know what it looks like to be a championship organization.”

, of course, that he wants to re-sign with the Broncos as an edge rusher this offseason, first and foremost. He is quick to point out that he finished with nine sacks for the Commanders in 2025, the most he’s tallied since the season Denver traded him in 2021. After a one-year deal with Washington expired, Miller said he’s had no communication with the Broncos during this free agency; he’s hopeful, he said, that general talks with organizations heat up post-NFL Draft.

“I know I can still play,” Miller said. “I know I at least got one more year in me. So I’m just waiting to see whatever the universe gives me.”

The stars aren’t exactly pointing toward Denver. Nik Bonitto and Jonathon Cooper are entrenched as Denver’s starting outside linebackers, and the Broncos are so loaded at edge rusher that they’re moving 2023 third-round pick Jonah Elliss to inside linebacker to open up more snaps for both him and 2025 fourth-round pick Que Robinson.

If the Broncos are interested in Miller or other veteran help, though, now is the time to strike. According to the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement, the compensatory free-agent window officially closed Monday at 2 p.m. This has major implications for Denver, as the Broncos stand to be gifted a 2027 mid-round pick after losing key defensive lineman John Franklin-Myers to a massive contract with the Titans in March.

Denver was silent in the initial wave of free agency, with just one external signing: Bengals safety and special-teams player Tycen Anderson. This was strategic, not merely about valuing roster retention. Signing another big-money free agent during the compensatory period would’ve wiped out any pick awarded from Franklin-Myers’ signing.

“It does — I mean, it doesn’t dictate what we’re doing, but we obviously know it����ap there,” general manager George Paton said at league meetings in March, asked if preserving compensatory picks factored into Denver’s offseason decision-making.

“Next year, we should get the 4, and maybe a 7th,” Paton continued later, referencing the additional departure of safety P.J. Locke to Dallas. “That����ap what you want to get to. It took us a while to get here, where we can get compensatory picks. And you see other teams do it, and I like that we’re doing it.”

Now, though, the Broncos are free to throw a few million at remaining free agents, with no fear of losing the pick gained from Franklin-Myers. There’s still a wealth of talent left on the market, too: the most obvious fit is former Saints All-Pro Cam Jordan, who racked up 10.5 sacks in 2025 and has remained close with head coach Sean Payton from their New Orleans days. Denver native Calais Campbell could also be a target if he decides to play a 19th NFL season, still highly productive as an interior disruptor at the remarkable age of 39.

And Miller remains as a potential reunion candidate, too, before his eventual foray into the personnel world.

That journey may not be far off, though.

“I’m confident in that — I’ll be back in Denver, in some capacity,” Miller said. “If not a player, as a GM, or front-office.

“It’s just, I think it was the same way with Elway,” he continued, noting Elway’s player-to-executive path in Denver. “When you have that much love, and the energy is just so loving that — we just gotta figure it out. If it����ap not a player, it����ap a spot for me in Denver. We just gotta figure it out.

“And it����ap just a matter of time.”

Broncos draft previews
Offense: Quarterbacks | Running backs | Wide receivers | Tight ends | Offensive line
Defense: Defensive line | Outside linebackers | Inside linebackers | Cornerbacks | Safeties

Broncos’ in-house offseason moves: Moving Jonah Elliss to inside linebacker

Under contract: Nik Bonitto, Jonathon Cooper, Que Robinson, Dondrea Tillman, Johnny Walker.

Need scale (1-10): 4. This number is influenced a bit upward in the wake of head coach Sean Payton saying last month that Elliss will get a look inside. Still, Denver’s got an enviable situation at outside linebacker thanks to Bonitto’s continued ascension into one of the NFL’s finest rushers, Cooper’s stalwart presence and the emergence of Robinson as a prime breakout candidate for 2026. Tillman has a knack for finishing and logged a pair of interceptions in 2025, though the Broncos are probably wise to keep him in his current role and not bank on getting a ton more out of him than they already are. He’s one of the best under-the-radar signings of the past handful of years. The Broncos don’t have to draft an edge this year, but it����ap a premium position and Payton and GM George Paton are always on the lookout. It would be foolish to rule out drafting a player at the position.

The Top Five

Arvell Reese, Ohio State

The first big question of the 2026 Draft arrives at No. 2 after the Las Vegas Raiders select QB Fernando Mendoza with the top pick. Does New York Jets GM Darren Mougey — Paton’s former top lieutenant in Denver — like Reese or Texas Tech’s David Bailey better?

They’re each premier talents. Bailey is a more fully formed edge rusher right now, while Reese draws Micah Parsons comparisons for his versatility and ability to make an impact from anywhere. Reese checked into the NFL Combine a shade over 6-foot-4 and 241 pounds and ran 4.46 seconds in the 40-yard dash. He won’t turn 21 until the end of training camp. He’s got all the tools.

David Bailey, Texas Tech

Bailey started his career at Stanford and then exploded in 2025 as part of the Red Raiders’ super-talented and highly compensated defensive front. He racked up 14.5 tackles and 19.5 TFLs. He’s exactly what NFL teams look for on the edge. Long, strong, fast and powerful. He checked into the combine at 6-4 and 251 pounds and ran 4.5 in the 40. He should make an impact right from the jump wherever he gets drafted, whether that����ap No. 2 overall to the Jets or elsewhere in the top 10.

Rueben Bain Jr., Miami

No conversation about Bain over the course of the fall and winter would last long before his arm length — or lack thereof — came up. But, man, just watch him play. He can contort his body, he’s powerful and he just finds a way to make life miserable for tackles. He helped power Miami’s terrific season. In recent months, he’s been one of several top draft prospects to train with former Broncos pass-rush consultant B.T. Jordan. Bain shouldn’t have to wait more than 10 picks or so to hear his name called.

T.J. Parker, Clemson

After the top three, there are a number of edge rushers who could populate the first round and the order will depend on what specific teams are looking for. Texas A&M’s Cashius Howell brings pure speed. Mizzou’s Zion Young is powerful. Miami’s bookend to Bain, Akheem Mesidor, is already 25 but is a well-rounded player. Parker is young — he won’t turn 22 until early in the season — and has ideal measurables (6-4 and 263 at the combine). He had just five sacks and 9.5 TFLs as a junior after 11 and 19.5, respectively, in 2024, but the ceiling is high.

Keldrick Faulk, Auburn

Faulk is another young player and he’s got a massive frame at 6-6 and 276. The counting stats took a step back in 2025 when he logged just two sacks and five TFLs in 12 games (he had seven and 11, respectively, the year prior), but Faulk’s got huge upside if he gets in a program where he can develop pass-rush refinement.

Broncos options

R Mason Thomas, Oklahoma

A somewhat undersized but fast and explosive edge rusher from Oklahoma who projects to get drafted somewhere in the second-round neighborhood? That might be a little on the nose for the Broncos at No. 62 four years after they selected Nik Bonitto out of OU at No. 64 overall.

Jaishawn Barham, Michigan

Played two years at Maryland and then two at Michigan and finished with a career-best 10 tackles for loss to go along with four sacks in 2025. He’s not a finished product by any means, but the athletic ability at 6-4 and 240 pounds might be worth stashing and developing. He’s not the same as Que Robinson because he played a lot more defensive snaps than Robinson, but similar in the sense that he’d be interesting as a toolsy project in the fourth or fifth round, depending on how or if Denver moves some of its picks around.

Logan Fano, Utah

The Broncos love Utes. They’ve drafted several, from since-traded WR Devaughn Vele and Elliss in 2024 to tight end Caleb Lohner last year. Fano is likely a Day 3 guy and is just the type of player Denver is usually attracted to late. He’s big at 6-5 and 257. He’s powerful but hasn’t put up huge sack numbers. The Broncos have been good at developing pass rush. Fano has most of the rest.

Mason Reiger, Wisconsin

Reiger spent five seasons at Louisville (he missed 2024 with an injury) before transferring to Wisconsin for his final season. He tied his career-high with five sacks last fall and added six tackles for loss. He’s a good athlete and jumped 40 inches vertical and 10-5 broad at the Combine at 6-5 and 251.

Josh Weru, IPP

The Kenyan rusher is a freak athlete. At the HBCU showcase this spring, Weru ran 4.45 in the 40-yard dash and logged a 41-inch vertical at 6-4 and 244 pounds. If you’re talking seventh round, maybe with one of the last two picks of the draft, why not see what you can get out of an athlete like that?

Kris Bryant’s last at-bat in Rockies pinstripes happened a year ago this past Sunday. April 12, 2025. Haven’t seen him since.

“Hey, look, I get it — baseball is a business,” Bryant’s father Mike told me during a short conversation last spring. “They want (Kris) hitting 40 home runs and hitting .300 … you got your Todd Heltons for that, and you’ve got your other guys. Kris is happy. When it’s all said and done, (Denver fans are) going to look back on Kris favorably.”

As a person? Without a doubt.

As a contract? As an investment? No chance.

Which is where the Broncos enter the picture, riding to the rescue on The Penner Sports Group, fronted by Broncos owners Carrie Walton Penner and husband Greg Penner, now possesses a 40% stake in the Rockies. As reported by The Post’s Patrick Saunders last Friday, the Walton-Penners are the largest minority investors for Colorado’s Major League Baseball team, topped only by the Monfort family, who retain team control.

The Broncos needed leadership and money to get out of the darkness and back into the AFC Championship Game. The Rockies need … well, everything. But more money and better leadership would be two welcome steps in the right direction.

Because, lest we forget, the Broncos had to bottom out before starting their three-year climb. The Penners and Waltons went all-in on Russell Wilson. They got a 5-12 train wreck in 2022 to show for it, all while fans counted down the play clock. At home.

Sean Payton wanted to wash his hands of Russ, who was clearly toast. So the Broncos ate $85 million in dead cap money over the ’24 and ’25 seasons for cutting Wilson, the kind of hit that’s supposed to punish a franchise for its free-spending folly.

Only a funny thing happened: The Broncos got better. Much, much, much better. And fast. Bo Nix hit. Nik Bonitto hit. Jonathon Cooper hit. Quinn Meinerz hit. Brandon Jones hit. Talanoa Hufanga hit anything within six feet of him. A lot of shrewd drafting, a pinch of smart free-agent signings and good coaching hoisted the Broncos from outhouse to penthouse.

The road is longer for the Rockies, who’ve lost 100 or more games for three straight seasons and will flirt with a fourth. The NFL is designed for parity, competitive socialism at its finest. Major League Baseball is the last of the major North American sports leagues without a salary cap.

But the Broncos couldn’t move forward until they chucked Wilson’s contract overboard and let Payton build a roster in his image.

And any hope for a new dawn in LoDo, any tailwind that pushes the Rockies forward, starts with getting Bryant’s seven-year, $182-million contract off the stinkin’ books. And as quickly as possible.

Not his fault, mind you. Nice guy. Amazing dude. Bryant’s spirit, like his smile, was always willing. His body, alas, had other ideas.

Since signing with the Rockies in March 2022, KB23 has played in only 170 games over the first four years of his deal. In what’s amounted to basically a full season of stats over the last 48 months, KB’s Colorado line to date is 632 at-bats, 29 doubles, 17 home runs, 61 RBI, a .244 batting average and a .695 OPS.

In other words, for $26 million per season, the Rockies have gotten 42 games a year of (.244 career batting average, .695 career OPS) in the middle of the order.

The surface takeaway from the Walton-Penner family’s investment was that all that sweet Walmart dough would wipe away debt. Most MLB clubs lost some serious change with the collapse of regional sports networks — the Rox reportedly collected at least $57 million from AT&T SportsNet in 2023, the last season of their old TV contract.

Given inflation, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says that $57 million in March 2023 would’ve been worth $58.98 million in March 2024, $60.39 million in March 2025; and $62.4 million in March 2026.

That’s an estimated $181.7 million shortfall for the Monforts, even before factoring in returns from the direct-to-consumer/subscriber model. You need cash to patch the wound and stop the bleeding.

The other purple elephant in the Monforts’ room, of course, is Bryant, a deal that’s aging the way

A bad idea at the time looks even worse now. Counting this season’s salary, the Rox still owe Bryant, now 34, another $81 million through the end of the 2028 season.

Word leaked that Bryant was signing with Colorado the same day that Wilson was introduced as the new QB savior of the Broncos in Dove Valley — March 16, 2022, a date that will forever live in Front Range infamy.

The Waltons and Penners quickly saw the error of their ways, although it helped that NFL contracts aren’t guaranteed beyond the signing bonus. MLB deals are. Bryant is repped by Scott Boras, and baseball divorces aren’t cheap. An injury settlement feels like the most logical path at this point. Which is why it’s also not hard to picture the Monforts asking Walton-Penner and her husband if they’d like to chip in to help the Rockies get past their version of the Wilson deal.

“It’s just been very frustrating (here),” the elder Bryant told me. “We came in with high expectations for him to really enjoy himself and it was killing him (to not play). Then to listen to the B.S. that goes along, people running their mouths about how he wasn’t worth the contract …

“It’s not like he was trying to play at 80% (health). He was trying to play at 50%. You can’t do that in this game. There’s just too many good pitchers. It’s a brutal game.”

With brutal realities. If the Broncos can make two of the worst deals in Denver sports history go away, that would be almost as impressive as sticking a fork in the Chiefs’ AFC West dynasty.