The thing about windows, though, is that they close. Denver has two more seasons before it has to start thinking about a massive extension for quarterback Bo Nix, which will put considerable strain on their long-term cap. It’s no secret. The world knows it. Those inside the Broncos’ facility know it. Their time to strike is now, heading into 2026 free agency with roughly $28 million in current cap room — — and plenty of levers to pull to create more space and throw money around in the market.

It’s also no secret that the Broncos need more skill talent. They need to add a running back, tight end, and potentially wide receiver. They need a linebacker either in free agency or the draft, and quietly have some options at safety. In January, owner Greg Penner described Denver’s approach with a phrase that’ll come to define this offseason, whatever size of swing the front office takes: “We’ll be opportunistically aggressive.”

The legal tampering period of free agency, when teams can officially make contact with players and agents, begins at 10:00 a.m. MT Monday. New contracts can officially be signed come 2:00 p.m. MT on Wednesday. Here’s The Denver Post’s position-by-position Broncos guide to 2026 free agency, informed via numerous conversations with NFL agents and sources across the past two weeks.

Quarterback

Who Denver has: QB1 Bo Nix, QB2 Jarrett Stidham

Who Denver could lose: QB3 Sam Ehlinger

What Denver needs: Another QB in the room, and to re-sign Ehlinger

Key market options (former team in parenthesis): Zach Wilson (Dolphins), Sam Howell (Eagles), Teddy Bridgewater (Buccaneers)

This will depend entirely on whether the Broncos actually shop Stidham, and potentially save themselves $6.5 million in corresponding cap room. If they trade Stidham to a quarterback-needy team for some draft capital, Denver could easily look to re-sign Ehlinger and promote him to Nix’s official backup, after Ehlinger stuck to Davis Webb’s hip in 2025. The Broncos would clearly need another name to push Ehlinger in such a circumstance, though.

If that wouldn’t be a young draft pick, the Broncos could look to bring back Zach Wilson, who was part of a tight-knit group with Nix and Stidham in Denver in 2024. Paton also did plenty of work on longtime backup Howell in the 2022 draft, and former Bronco Bridgewater was Sean Payton’s trusted backup in New Orleans in 2018 and 2019.

Running back

Who Denver has: RB1/RB2 RJ Harvey, RB3 Tyler Badie (likely to sign ERFA deal)

Who Denver could lose: RB1/RB2 J.K. Dobbins, RB4 Jaleel McLaughlin

What Denver needs: A true RB1 or Harvey complement, and depth

Key market options: Kenneth Walker III (Seahawks), Travis Etienne Jr. (Jaguars), Rico Dowdle (Panthers), Tyler Allgeier (Falcons), Kenneth Gainwell (Steelers), Emanuel Wilson (Packers)

Here’s the spot that’ll draw the most buzz next week. The Broncos have already been connected to some of the top names on the market, clearly needing an upgrade in the room even if Denver brings back Dobbins on the cheap; the oft-injured veteran simply can’t be relied upon to play a full season. The Seahawks elected not to give Walker a one-year, $14 million franchise tag after a Super Bowl MVP, and the star RB could easily command upwards of $12 to $14 million on the market.

Would Denver swing on that price, though? Walker wasn’t good in pass protection last year (two sacks and nine pressures in 51 pass-blocking snaps, per PFF), and the Broncos need a third-down back whom Nix trusts. The 5-foot-11, 215-pound Etienne is a highly intriguing fit for Denver, a bigger back who’s dynamic in the passing game (six receiving touchdowns in 2025). The 25-year-old Allgeier is a power back without excessive tread on the tires who could be available at a lower price, but expect Denver to look elsewhere.

Don’t be surprised if the Broncos walk away with Dobbins, Harvey and a supplemental piece instead of swinging big here. Wilson is an interesting name, a 226-pound RB who ran for 496 yards in Green Bay last season.

Wide receiver

Who Denver has: WR1 Courtland Sutton, WR2 Troy Franklin, WR3 Pat Bryant, WR4 Marvin Mims Jr.

Who Denver could lose: WR5 Lil’Jordan Humphrey

What Denver needs: A high-upside complement to Sutton, or at least another trustworthy WR4/5 option

Key market options: Alec Pierce (Colts), Jauan Jennings (49ers), Wan’Dale Robinson (Giants), Rashid Shaheed (Seahawks), Mike Evans (Buccaneers), Stefon Diggs (Patriots), Romeo Doubs (Packers), Jahan Dotson (Eagles), Jalen Nailor (Vikings)

The Broncos like their current receiver room. The Paton-Payton braintrust has made that clear this entire offseason, and their firing of receivers coach Keary Colbert and hire of longtime Payton associate Ronald Curry signal that Denver believes in unlocking the potential of its current group rather than needing a drastic personnel overhaul. That being said, they need to add a piece here, whether in free agency or via a deep draft class.

Pierce is the true difference-maker on the market. There are few in the NFL like him, a 6-foot-3 deep-ball extraordinaire who racked up 1,003 yards last year on 21.3 yards per catch. Denver got an up-close look at him in a Week 2 loss to Indianapolis. But one agent The Post spoke with pinpointed Pierce’s likely market value at $27 to $30 million, which would be a steep price for a team already giving Sutton $23 million yearly. Don’t expect Denver to get into a bidding war for him.

The rest of the market is somewhat iffy. Jennings has the frame (6-foot-3), blocking prowess and red-zone ability (nine TDs in 2025) that Payton would love. Robinson will likely land somewhere in the $10 to $15 million range, and would bring a high-volume slot weapon that Denver doesn’t currently have.

Doubs is a definite potential fit for the Broncos here; Denver has interest in the former Green Bay receiver, an NFL source told The Post. He’s a big-bodied target who doesn’t demand the ball but has good red-zone production and can play in a variety of alignments. Keep an eye on Dotson as a potential depth piece, too, as Dotson’s agency CAA also represents Nix. He’s a former 2022 first-round pick whose production stalled out in Philadelphia, but he can block, play from the slot and hasn’t dropped a pass since 2023.

Tight end

Who Denver has: TE1/TE2 Evan Engram

Who Denver could lose: TE1/TE2 Adam Trautman, TE3 Nate Adkins, TE4 Lucas Krull

What Denver needs: A legitimate in-line TE who can complement Engram as a pass-catcher, and stay on the field on any down

Key market options: David Njoku (Browns), Isaiah Likely (Ravens), Cade Otton (Buccaneers), Chig Okonkwo (Titans), Dallas Goedert (Eagles), Daniel Bellinger (Giants), Charlie Kolar (Ravens)

Denver can’t simply run it back from 2025 and expect better production from Engram, who caught 50 passes for 461 yards in 2025, under new play-caller Davis Webb. The Broncos need a versatile weapon whom they trust as both a blocker and a matchup-threat receiver. Otton might just be that guy: he played in-line (attached to the offensive tackle) on nearly half his snaps in Tampa Bay in 2025, according to Pro Football Focus, and has caught 59 passes in each of the last two seasons.

Otton’s yearly value has been pinpointed in NFL circles somewhere around Jake Ferguson’s four-year, $50 million extension with Dallas in 2025. If Denver wants to spend at TE, he and Likely would be the most well-rounded options on the Market. Njoku and Goedert are likely past their primes, and Okonkwo’s not a blocker.

Bellinger had 88 yards and a touchdown for the Giants against Denver in Week 7, and is seeking $7 to $8 million yearly. Kolar is the most intriguing upside swing here, a 6-foot-6 blocker who was stuck behind multiple TEs in Baltimore in the receiving game.

Offensive line

Who Denver has: LT1 Garett Bolles, LG1 Ben Powers, C1 Luke Wattenberg, RG1 Quinn Meinerz, RT1 Mike McGlinchey, OL2 Alex Palczewski, OT2 Matt Peart, OT2 Frank Crum, C2 Alex Forsyth

Who Denver could lose: Nobody

What Denver needs: Maybe another swing tackle

Key market options: Wide-open

Denver doesn’t need to spend here, with its current starting offensive line set again for 2026. The Broncos could always look to cut or deal Powers to create cap room and have a ready successor in Alex Palczewski, whom they inked to a two-year extension Thursday. It’s more likely they look to the draft to bolster depth here, although they could certainly cut Peart to save over $3 million in cap room and target another backup tackle in free agency. Players like former Vikings veteran Justin Skule or Seahawks backup Josh Jones could be good value there.

Defensive line

Who Denver has: DE1 Zach Allen, NT1 D.J. Jones, OLB1 Nik Bonitto, OLB2 Jonathon Cooper, DE/DT2 Eyioma Uwazurike, DT2 Malcolm Roach, OLB2 Jonah Elliss, OLB2 Dondrea Tillman (likely to sign ERFA deal), OLB3 Que Robinson, DE/DT3 Sai’vion Jones

Who Denver could lose: DE1 John Franklin-Myers, DE/DT3 Jordan Jackson

What Denver needs: A cheap, productive interior defensive lineman to push Uwazurike, Roach and Jones

Key market options: Logan Hall (Buccaneers), David Onyemata (Falcons), Calais Campbell (Cardinals), Sebastian Joseph-Day (Titans), Rakeem Nunez-Roches (Giants)

The Broncos already have massive amounts of money tied up in their defensive line, and Franklin-Myers is already all but gone. His likely landing spot is Tennessee, where recently-acquired defensive end The thinking from agents who spoke with The Post is that Denver could bring in depth to help supplant Franklin-Myers, but will likely rely on its pieces already in the building to fill the void.

Ironically, the Broncos’ movements in the defensive-line market will depend on Franklin-Myers’ own movements. Agents are completely across the board on projecting Franklin-Myers’ yearly value in a weak class; one suggested $12 to $14 million, one suggested $16 to $18 million, and one went as high as $20 to $22 million. If teams end up bidding closer to that higher end, it could price the Broncos out of what they’d be willing to spend for another body in the room. Onyemata, Joseph-Day and Nunez-Roches could all offer cheap, veteran depth.

Inside linebacker

Who Denver has: LB1 Dre Greenlaw, LB2/LB3 Karene Reid, LB2/LB3 Jordan Turner, LB2/LB3 Levelle Bailey, LB2/LB3 Drew Sanders

Who Denver could lose: LB1 Alex Singleton, LB1/LB2 Justin Strnad

What Denver needs: An instant-impact starter, or at the very least a high-end LB3.

Key market options: Devin Lloyd (Jaguars), Nakobe Dean (Eagles), Quay Walker (Packers), Quincy Williams (Jets), Kaden Elliss (Falcons), Alex Anzalone (Lions), E.J. Speed (Texans), Bobby Okereke (Giants)

It’s a great year to need a middle linebacker. Denver could certainly look to a strong draft class to address this spot. But an NFL source who met with Denver at last week’s NFL Combine told The Post that the Broncos will have a “significant appetite” in the free-agent linebacker market.

That could mean they’ll take a monster swing on Lloyd, a 2025 All-Pro and the kind of playmaker that Vance Joseph would have a field day with in the middle of Denver’s defense. It could also mean they’ll re-sign Singleton as their green-dot defensive leader — he’s been pinpointed by multiple NFL sources at somewhere between $5 to $8 million yearly — and add another piece to compete for a starting job. Strnad is likely headed for new pastures, as he told The Post after the season he wouldn’t be back in Denver unless it was in a clear starting role.

The Broncos have interest in Anzalone and Speed, sources said, both potential green-dot options or LB3 pieces who will come in below the top of the market, where NFL sources pinpointed Lloyd likely to come in between $15 and $17 million annually. Dean is another interesting and versatile option who told The Post at the Super Bowl he likes watching the Broncos’ defense and would be interested in Denver in free agency if the price was right.

Secondary

Who Denver has: CB1 Pat Surtain II, CB1 Riley Moss, NB1 Ja’Quan McMillian, NB2/CB2 Jahdae Barron, CB2 Kris Abrams-Draine, S1 Talanoa Hufanga, S1 Brandon Jones, S2 Devon Key (likely to sign ERFA deal), S2 JL Skinner

Who Denver could lose: S2 P.J. Locke

What Denver needs: A third safety to replace Locke and potentially push Jones

Key market options: Tony Adams (Jets), Dane Belton (Giants), Kyle Dugger (Steelers), Andrew Wingard (Jaguars), Alohi Gilman (Ravens), Ifeatu Melifonwu (Dolphins), D’Anthony Bell (Panthers), Rodney Thomas II (Colts)

A notable Broncos development to track in free agency: Denver has expressed interest in adding a safety, several NFL sources told The Post this week. Locke is likely headed elsewhere after a nice fill-in stretch for the injured Jones late in 2025, and the Broncos want to add another piece to replace him, as Hufanga and Jones are both injury risks. Wingard is a name to watch here, a seven-year Jaguars veteran who recorded 84 tackles and nine passes defensed as a full-time starter in 2025.

The Broncos also did work on Melifonwu in last year’s free agency, and Denver tracked Bell’s status on the waiver wire as the Seahawks pulled him between the practice squad and active roster in 2025, sources said. At the very least, expect Denver to sign a depth safety who can also be a special-teams contributor.

Special teams

Who Denver has: K1 Wil Lutz, P1 Jeremy Crawshaw, LS1 Mitchell Fraboni

Who Denver could lose: Nobody

What Denver needs: Nothing

Key market options: Wide open

Denver need not spend much time here on specialists.

McMillian’s agent, Deryk Gilmore, told The Denver Post Friday afternoon in Indianapolis that the Broncos are placing a second-round tender to the value of $5.8 million on McMillian. Denver reached out Thursday night with the decision, Gilmore said.

McMillian was a restricted free agent, and the tender now means that a team would have to offer up a second-round pick to match that $5.8 million. Given the value of a second-round pick, it’s highly unlikely any franchise would try to match Denver’s offer. Unless the Broncos add another piece via the draft or free agency, Denver’s cornerback room looks all but set for 2026 with the same faces it deployed in 2025: Pat Surtain, Riley Moss, McMillian, rookie Jahdae Barron, and Kris Abrams-Draine.

The larger question is how the Broncos view their long-term room. Denver has stockpiled cornerbacks and faces some uncomfortable decisions. McMillian will hit unrestricted free agency after this season’s one-year tender, and Moss’s rookie deal is up after this coming season, too. The Broncos, meanwhile, will want to wring maximum value out of last year’s first-round selection of Barron, meaning they’ll have three starter-level corners across two open spots in the secondary (outside CB next to Pat Surtain, and nickel).

Gilmore, for his money, told The Post that he believes Denver will try to move Barron to outside corner after the rookie lost a battle for the nickel job with McMillian in 2025 training camp.

“I told JaQuan — I said, they have to give Jahdae every opportunity to win and be the guy,” Gilmore said. “He’s got to take that corner (job) and lock it down. They don’t want to give it to him. He can do it, though. But they really would love for him to be great, Surtain to be great, JMac to be the nickel, Riley to be the specialty guy.”

Gilmore said he anticipates the Broncos will get trade offers for Moss somewhere around midseason, in his opinion.

The key to the puzzle is how Denver ultimately views Barron. The rookie ultimately played just 30% of Denver’s defensive snaps in big-nickel or dime packages in 2025, while McMillian put together the best season of his NFL career: four sacks, 61 tackles, two interceptions and nine passes defensed.

Gilmore said that Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph is like a “dad” to McMillian, who the Broncos snapped up as an undrafted free agent after the 2022 NFL Draft and who has since become a playmaking stalwart on Denver’s defense.

“This is a man that believed in him from the very beginning,” Gilmore said, “and that’s important, man.”

McMillian may well be entrenched at nickel for the Broncos in 2026 again, then, after starting there for three straight seasons. A source with knowledge of the situation, though, told The Post they believe Payton could push for Barron to compete with Moss for his outside-cornerback job. Moss, though, would be difficult to supplant, as he made national headlines for a slew of pass-interference penalties but also led the NFL with 19 passes defensed in facing frequent targets opposite Surtain, the 2024 Defensive Player of the Year.

General manager George Paton said at the combine on Tuesday that he believes Barron can play “anywhere,” both outside and at nickel.

“We love the depth,” Paton said. “I think it’s a great problem to have and I think Jahdae is going to keep getting better and better. He’s really talented.”

He’s not the group’s best player — that����ap fellow cornerback Pat Surtain II — nor does he relay the calls from coordinator Vance Joseph. Nonetheless, the Broncos’ nickel is in the middle of just about everything.

He’s responsible for the communication between the middle of the field and the perimeter. The way the secondary handles motion, bunched and stacked formations and more runs through him.

That����ap just before the snap. In 2025, he built on his knack as one of the group’s best playmakers, accumulating four sacks, five tackles for a loss and making the biggest play of the Broncos’ season with a diving interception of Josh Allen in overtime of Denver’s 33-30 divisional round win over Buffalo.

“You’ll go five, 10 years before you see a turnover like that one,” head coach Sean Payton said that night.

McMillian, somewhat quietly, is also at the center of the Broncos’ offseason decision-making process.

Undrafted in 2022, McMillian won’t hit the open market, but he is a restricted free agent.

That puts Denver in a strong position to keep him, but also means McMillian is set for a major raise and perhaps a top-of-the-market extension.

“Best in the world,” Denver inside linebacker Alex Singleton, himself an impending free agent, said after McMillian’s game-saving pick against the Bills. “Someone should pay that dude $16 million a year and it still won’t be enough. He’s the best nickel in the world.”

Singleton would be a good agent. Though nickel has become a premium position in the NFL, the top of the market at the position is currently around $13 million per season. Some hybrid players check in between $14-18 million and from there it’s the upper echelon of the cornerback market— Surtain territory.

The Broncos have essentially three options: They can try to work out an extension before free agency begins, they can put a restricted free agent tender on McMillian — then either let him play at that number or continue working on extension — or they can trade him.

“He’s a proven guy, he’s come in and he’s battled through,” Gilmore said. “They’ve drafted people over him and he’s never complained. He’s embraced the challenge and risen. … He loves it there. It’s a great fit. It’s all stuff that we all know.”

There are four RFA tenders: first round, second round, original round and right of first refusal. Since McMillian went undrafted, the original round is out of the equation. Right of first refusal makes little sense because it would allow other teams to do the negotiating with McMillian without the potential cost of having to part with draft capital.

The RFA tender amounts will be finalized once the NFL’s official salary cap for 2026 is set in the coming weeks, but OvertheCap currently projects the second-round tender at $5.81 million and a first-round tender at $8.11 million. Other teams can try to sign a player who has been given a first or second-round tender, but Denver would have the right to match contract terms or opt not to match and take the commensurate draft pick from the signing team.

It����ap become uncommon for players to receive and actually play on a first-round tender, though Payton and New Orleans gave Taysom Hill one in 2020 ahead of free agency before eventually working out an extension with him in April of that year.

Broncos GM George Paton wouldn’t say exactly what the Broncos’ plan for McMillian was during his postseason news conference, but he raved about the defensive back’s growth.

“I remember his first year, we started him outside against the Chargers in the last game of the year,” Paton said last month. “And I’m just like, ‘Oh man, he’s 5-9, he’s going to play outside against his receivers.’ He played a great game, and you’re like, ‘Wow, maybe we have something here.’ Then he’s just gotten better, in the run game, pass game.

“We’re going to work through that as a staff in that (roster) deep dive and kind of go through that and just keep that in-house.”

Joseph has talked extensively about McMillian’s importance to Denver’s defense — he said last month that McMillian is at his best when “things are hard and dark” — and teammates have similarly high opinions. Safety Talanoa Hufanga knew some about McMillian before arriving in Denver last spring and thought, “this guy is good, he can play, he’s a dog.”

Then he got to Denver and saw McMillian up close and personal.

“I kid you not, I’m not even joking, OTAs to training camp — even before the season started — I’m like, ‘why is this guy not talked about enough?’” Hufanga said after the season. “This dude went undrafted? I just started putting all these pieces together and next thing you know, you see this dude come up with big plays over and over again. To see how he works, when he steps on the field, there’s nobody that can beat him. For a guy that����ap a little undersized as a nickel, to see the heart he has … J-Mac is definitely a top guy in our room.”

What happens with McMillian ultimately will have a ripple effect for the Broncos.

Denver has 2025 first-round pick Jahdae Barron, whom Payton sees first as a nickel but with the flex to play outside or even safety. Riley Moss, meanwhile, is entering the final year of his rookie contract in 2026 and reserve Kris Abrams-Draine has two years left on his rookie deal.

McMillian will likely be the first in a sequence of decisions that could all play out this spring or could unfold over the next 12 months.

Will Denver allow a team to tempt it with draft pick compensation? Or will the Broncos work to get a long-term deal done in the coming weeks with a player who has turned himself from a plucky undrafted defensive back to one of the best nickels in football?

The Denver defense will look at least a little different come the 2026 season, but it has a deep, talented core set to return.

The 2025 group was a unique one, disruptive to an elite level and good at virtually everything except taking the ball away.

Here is a look back on the regular season and what can be learned for the future.

Five key defensive numbers

18.3 — Points per game allowed (No. 3 in the NFL)

4.5 — Yards per play allowed (No. 1)

68 — Sacks (Franchise record and most in the NFL)

34.6% — Rate of drives against that ended in a score (No. 7)

6.8% — Turnover rate forced (No. 28)

High Point

There are a few to choose from over the regular season. Denver’s return from the bye week in Washington was anything but pretty defensively until Nik Bonitto made one of the plays of the season, batting down a deciding two-point conversion attempt in overtime and sealing the Broncos’ eighth straight win. Pat Surtain II’s flying interception against Green Bay sparked a dominant second half. Joseph’s group held five opponents overall to less than 200 yards, then recorded five takeaways against Buffalo in the divisional round of the postseason and kept New England to 206 yards in the AFC title game. No game was more dominant, though, than the Broncos’ 13-11 win against the New York Jets in London. Denver racked up nine sacks, including three in the final 4:19 alone. Jonathon Cooper and Brandon Jones closed the game out with a fourth-and-10 sack of Justin Fields, who finished with minus-10 net passing yards. The Jets’ offense stunk all year, so it wasn’t the highest degree of difficulty, but the win got Denver back across the ocean with a three-game streak in hand. That run, of course, eventually ballooned to 11 games.

Low Point

The Broncos had a formula that worked most of the season: Win on third down and in the red zone and pressure the heck out of opposing quarterbacks. Week 16 against Jacksonville and Trevor Lawrence provided a bit of a scare heading into the postseason. Denver’s defense had already lagged a bit after the bye week — the Commanders and Packers each scored 26 points and at times gave the Broncos fits — but Lawrence led one of the few offensive outings that really cracked this group open. The Jags went 4 of 5 in the red zone at Empower Field. They converted 8 of 15 on third down. Lawrence was sacked five times but hardly seemed to notice, throwing for 279 yards and three touchdowns and rushing for another. That made him and the Jags offense one of only two to score more than three touchdowns on the regular season against Denver’s defense — rookie Jaxson Dart and the New York Giants were the other and it prompted head coach Sean Payton to issue a warning: Force turnovers in the postseason or else.

MVP: DT Zach Allen. There are several worthy candidates in this group. Bonitto came up one vote shy of All-Pro status and logged a career-best 14 sacks. Pat Surtain II missed 3.5 games with a partially torn pec but carried on as the finest corner in football when healthy. What Allen did in the middle of the Broncos’ defense, though, is difficult to overstate. He led the NFL in quarterback hits with 47, eight more than Cleveland defensive end Myles Garrett in his record-setting 23-sack campaign. It����ap the most hits credited to a player since Nick Bosa’s 48 in 2022 and the second straight year Allen’s led the NFL. He had the second-most pressures (59) among defensive tackles, too. In three years with the Broncos, Allen has posted an 11.3% pressure rate or better, hit the quarterback 112 times, averaged 63.3 pressures per year and missed just one game. A foundational player.

Tough Season:  ILB Dre Greenlaw. This is more about injuries and availability than about performance. In fact, Greenlaw himself described his first year with the Broncos as being “very tough.” It started only a month after signing a three-year deal in free agency with a quad injury. Greenlaw and the Broncos thought he was past it when training camp start, but recurring issues ended up costing him the first six games of the season. At the end of his first game of the season, he got suspended for a game. Then a Week 16 hamstring injury cost him the final two games of the regular season. In between, Greenlaw was a force against the run and not used a ton in coverage. It sets up an open question about whether he’s in the Broncos’ defensive plan going forward.

Under the radar: ILB Justin Strnad. Greenlaw’s addition got a ton of offseason attention, but Strnad just quietly keeps getting better and better. He played the best football of his career in 2025 and stamped himself as a bona fide starter going forward. Good timing, too, considering Strnad’s a free agent and should command solid money either from Denver or elsewhere. The 2020 fifth-round pick is strong enough to play against the run, has improved in coverage and is a terrific blitzer. He logged a career-best 4.5 sacks this year. Pretty impressive for a player who went nearly three full years without playing a single defensive snap from mid-2020 into early 2024.

Overall conversion rates allowed – Broncos under DC Vance Joseph

Run Defense

Five Key Numbers

3.9 — Yards allowed per rush (T-2 in the NFL)

18.8% — Rush attempts against that went for loss or no gain (No. 6)

30 — Rushes of 10-plus yards allowed (No. 2)

0.87 — Yards before contact allowed per rush (No. 2)

0 — 100-yard rushers allowed the final 15 games of the regular season

The Good

They are not the most heralded players on the roster, but Denver’s interior, primarily the early down trio of defensive linemen D.J. Jones, Malcolm Roach and Eyioma Uwazurike, did a lot of heavy lifting in 2025. Jones was a key, last-minute retention before free agency began back in March and he rewarded the Broncos with high-level play and leadership in Year 9. Roach’s game continues to expand, but he did his normal terrific work against the run. Uwazurike was suspended for the 2023 season, played 63 snaps in 2024 and then broke out this year. All three are under contract for 2026 and they will all have key roles, not just against the run but likely also in making up for the seemingly inevitable loss of John Franklin-Myers to free agency. Roach and Uwazurike, in particular, will likely see upticks in their roles. In 2025, though, this trio provided stalwart work against the run.

The Bad

It didn’t go bad on the Broncos against the run very often in 2025, but they got an early wake-up call from Jonathan Taylor and the Indianapolis Colts in Week 2. Taylor ripped off a 68-yard run and racked up 167 overall in Indy’s walk-off win against Denver. After that, Denver didn’t allow a rusher more than 80 yards. The Broncos overall did a good job against mobile quarterbacks, though Washington’s Marcus Mariota gave them fits with his legs in Week 13. And though this is primarily a regular-season retrospective, it����ap at least worth mentioning that Buffalo’s James Cook ran for 117 in the divisional round and that the Bills and Patriots averaged 163 rushing yards in the playoffs after Denver went from Week 3 onward not allowing more than 143 in a game. Patriots QB Drake Maye’s five first downs plus a touchdown on seven carries in the AFC title game were critical.

The Unknown

The Broncos do have a talented core set to return in 2026, but there are some holes to fill in the run game. Franklin-Myers is primarily a pass-rusher but his likely departure via free agency will mean changing roles for guys who have been counted on to stop the run. One of the biggest uncertainties defensively is what will happen at inside linebacker, where Strnad and Alex Singleton are free agents and Greenlaw is under contract but would not be difficult to move on from. Any substantial change in personnel, particularly in the middle of the field, can alter the chemistry of a group. Communication originates from the ILBs and emanates outward. If that group is overhauled and JFM departs, there will be a lot of learning to do through the spring and summer. Still, this is a unit that����ap well-positioned to be stout against the run again in 2026.

‘Stop’ rate played among NFL DLs

*A ‘stop’ is a tackle on a winning defensive play (negative EPA). Rates among top 70 DLs in stops. 

Credit: Next Gen Stats data 

Pass Defense

Five Key Numbers

62.3% — Pass rate against Denver in 2025 (Second-highest in the NFL)

40.7% — Pressure rate generated by the Broncos (No. 2)

4.8 — Passing yards per play allowed (No. 1)

-0.17 — EPA per pass attempt allowed (No. 7)

10 — Interceptions (T-18)

The Good

Not many teams rush and cover better than the Broncos. They broke a franchise record in sacks for the second straight season, got at least half a sack from 17 different players and paired that fearsome rush with one of the deepest sets of cornerbacks and best overall secondaries in football. They have transformed in the past two years from a mostly anonymous group to one that features four players named to All-Pro teams in the past two seasons — Allen, Bonitto, Surtain and safety Talanoa Hufanga — and is widely recognized as one of football’s best.

They’ve got more cornerbacks than they can get on the field, nickel Ja’Quan McMillian has solidified himself as one of the best in the business and even when safety Brandon Jones went down with a torn pectoral late in the year, P.J. Locke filled in admirably. On the front seven, Denver has developed enviable depth at outside linebacker. GM George Paton called fourth-round rookie Que Robinson the 2025 draft pick with maybe the most upside of the class and he was behind the second-line pair of Jonah Elliss and Dondrea Tillman this fall. This is not an easy group to throw the ball against and the challenge may not get much easier in 2026.

The Bad

Two buckets here. The Broncos, for all their strengths and elite numbers overall in pass defense, struggled to deal with opposing tight ends. Denver allowed the seventh-fewest passing yards overall in the regular season and the sixth-most yards to opposing tight ends. Especially after Jones got hurt, teams tested Hufanga and Locke in coverage as often as they could. Joseph talked in detail about how he tries to combat the issue and part of the susceptibility is just how aggressive and man-heavy Denver plays. Still, it is an unsolved issue at this point.

The second is penalties. The Broncos committed a lot in 2025 and among the most high-profile were a series of defensive pass interference penalties against cornerback Riley Moss. The group took issue with more than one, but Moss also acknowledged a need to play with better technique and grab less. The penalty total dropped as the season hit the back stretch and Moss played well overall as the most-targeted corner in football, but he had occasional lapses in tackling, too, especially against Jacksonville.

The Unknown

The Broncos have an interesting set of decisions to make in the secondary and it could lead to either major change this offseason or could still be a year away yet. They revolve around McMillian, Moss and rookie first-round pick Jahdae Barron. Barron was drafted as a nickel primarily who can also play outside. McMillian is a restricted free agent whom teammates think should have been an All-Pro in 2025. Moss is a really good player — talented, athletic and wired to handle the attention opposite Surtain — but also at times got himself in trouble in coverage. He’s going into the final year of his rookie contract.

McMillian is going to command top-scale money, if not in the form of an extension this offseason, then a year from now as an impending unrestricted free agent. Barron’s going to play at some point, but in April, he looked like a potential McMillian replacement and now McMillian looks like exactly the type of player you want to extend and keep around. So does Barron compete with Moss outside? Do they keep it status-quo this year, let Moss walk in free agency and turn loose Barron and Kris Abrams-Draine to compete for the job across from Surtain? Do they entertain the idea of trading McMillian?

Nothing except putting a premium tender on McMillian has to happen in the coming months, but the way the Broncos sequence their moves here will be interesting nonetheless.

A record sack season

Who would you like to see us pick up in the offseason? I think we need more weapons for Bo Nix. We need a legit WR1 — I love Courtland Sutton, but he’s a WR2 — and a tight end because Evan Engram was underwhelming this year. Who’s out there that you’d like to see us get?

— Mark, Arvada

Hey Mark, thanks for writing in and getting us going for an offseason rendition of the mailbag.

The Broncos have a nearly full complement of draft picks — plus an extra fourth-rounder from New Orleans, which should hover just outside the top 100 — and a good amount of cap space to work with this offseason. They can create quite a bit more space based on extension decisions, potential roster trimming, restructuring and more.  The normal offseason house-cleaning stuff.

I’m not the only one who agrees with your assessment that the Broncos need more playmaking offensively. Left tackle Garett Bolles said it after the season and head coach Sean Payton acknowledged it in his own way after the season. He and general manager George Paton each continue to say they like the young talent they’ve got at receiver and running back, but each also said last week that Denver will look to upgrade anywhere possible.

All three of the offensive skill positions look in need of upgrade, whether that����ap development of players already on the roster or additions from the outside. In a perfect world, you’re talking about receivers Marvin Mims Jr., Troy Franklin and Pat Bryant all taking big steps in 2026. Same for running back RJ Harvey in Year 2.

Realistically, though, Denver could stand to add external options at all three.

Pie in the sky, I’d put the order of impact this way: Top-flight, all-around TE first. Then a No. 1 receiver. Then, a high-quality running back.

The best tight ends in football make such a difference across an entire offense. Of course, a Brock Bowers or a Trey McBride can set the course for an entire passing game. Imagine what the Broncos offense would look like with George Kittle or one of last year’s first-rounders in Indianapolis’ Tyler Warren or Chicago’s Colston Loveland.

The rub, of course, is that recognizing the value of that player and finding him are two different matters entirely. Same goes for a top-flight receiver to pair with Sutton or a difference-making running back. At least in the backfield, the Broncos can entertain bringing J.K. Dobbins back, hope he stays healthy and then work on perhaps finding a new face to fill out the room.

Receiver-wise, Stefon Diggs has said the past couple of weeks that the Broncos almost landed him last offseason before he signed with New England. Denver reportedly checked on Miami’s Jaylen Waddle around the trade deadline. There will be trade speculation about Philadelphia’s A.J. Brown this offseason, along with perhaps a few others. The top of the free agent market is George Pickens — at least until he signs an extension with Dallas — and then players like Indianapolis’ Alec Pierce and Green Bay’s Romeo Doubs, though of those three only Pickens is a true, proven No. 1.  The question for any player, naturally, is the acquisition cost in dollars, draft capital or both balanced against production and also whatever other baggage might come along with the player.

At tight end and receiver, the Broncos don’t need more bodies. They just need one real difference-maker at each. That can actually be the bigger challenge than finding several guys who fit into a mold or a role in the offense.

How will the field-goal decision be treated in Broncos history?

— Ed Helinski, Auburn, N.Y.

None more vividly, likely, than by Payton himself. He said as much last week during his end-of-season news conference. The longtime head coach said he regrets the play-call more than the decision to go for it in the first place, but he didn’t exactly mount a big defense of his rationale for going for it, either.

Essentially, he sounded like he regretted both, but the play call more than the decision to keep his offense, led by his backup quarterback, on the field for a fourth-and-1 from New England’s 14-yard line and leading 7-0 early in the second quarter of the AFC title game, while knowing that snow was forecast to start before the game ended.

Anybody in the business, as long as Payton’s been in it, will have a long list of calls they regret. I’m not sure fans — or really anybody who’s not a coach — maybe realize just how acutely play-callers remember specific sequences and decisions. It can be with a Super Bowl berth in the balance or in Week 6 against Arizona. But obviously, the stakes do matter, and Payton sounded after the game and the following week like a guy who will remember that call and that decision forever.

Am I the only one who agrees with Sean Payton’s fourth-down call? The way I saw it at the time, even after the play failed, was that Payton showing the confidence in his players was worth more than three points in the fourth quarter. The Broncos have been winning in the fourth all year, so this looked like a good bet.

The only problem was that this game did not have a fourth quarter. The weather eliminated that.

— JoeBieg, Longmont

And yeah, the weather heavily impacted the game in the second half. Payton indicated it was worse than they thought it was going to be based on the forecasts they had at the time. But everybody knew snow was coming.

There is a huge disconnect between the thought that the Broncos have one of the best offensive lines in the NFL, yet the rushing attack is so anemic and easily defended. Why is that?

— Mark, Centennial

Here’s what he said when asked about the running game, noting that he’d been in offensive line coach and run-game coordinator Zach Strief’s office since the season ended, talking about studying the run game this offseason.

“There’s probably a series of answers to that,” Payton said. .. “I feel like we’re far enough along with the RPOs and some of that, but when we want to run it under center and control a game — we’ve been able to do it a few times, but not as much as I’d like. That’ll be an important study and with urgency. And then also with the runners, who are we asking (to do what?). Losing J.K., obviously, that was a tough loss. He brought a lot to the locker. More than you would know.

“But that’ll be one of the points of emphasis that I think that we research and look into heavily. I want to play from the gun, but I also will always want to play with a two-back or multiple tight end mindset and have that flexibility. It’s a good question. I think it’s one of the key things that we have to do this offseason.”

If you look just at the splits between how Denver ran the ball before Dobbins’ injury and after, it’d be easy to believe that the Broncos basically had a ball-carrier problem the second half of the season. Clearly, that����ap at least part of the equation, but Payton and company aren’t satisfied assuming that����ap the entire thing.

Payton’s always been a smorgasbord run game believer. He’ll incorporate inside zone, outside zone, power, duo, zone read, RPO, a smattering of QB-designed run. He’s never been one to hang his hat so extensively on one thing like much of the Shanahan tree builds around outside zone, for example. What Denver’s staff comes up with — and what newly promoted offensive coordinator Davis Webb believes in — will be a critical component to the offseason.

Hey Parker, going from jubilation to heartbreak in the span of 30 minutes feels like a wakeup call to me. Do you think, moving forward, Sean Payton will give his backup QBs more reps during the regular season? By more, I mean, SOME. It seems like a little bit of action when it matters would better prepare a team for worst-case scenarios like the Broncos are facing. I get that this was an odd season — with so many close games and come-from-behind wins, Nix didn’t get a lot of time to rest — but surely there were opportunities to get Stidham at least a few reps, no? Even an occasional down here and there? And not actual garbage time, but situations where the plays really matter? Is this a strategy that differs from coach to coach and team to team, or are the Broncos an outlier? What are the pros and cons of giving your backup QB real reps in situations that matter?

— Mark, Fort Atkinson, Wis.

Hey Mark, the short answer is no. Yeah, it would be great to get your backup quarterback some live work during the regular season, but almost nobody builds it into their plan for the regular season. A couple of series late in lopsided games can be a nice reward for your No. 2, but there’s just so little margin for error in the NFL that actively putting a player you’ve decided isn’t as good as your primary quarterback in the game for meaningful time is asking for trouble.

If football were like hoops or baseball, where the value of one game wasn’t so high, then sure. We see this all the time in those sports — a young pitcher who might be needed in the playoffs gets innings in August and September or bench players get extra work in the middle of the NBA season. Those scenarios can do two things: Get a role player comfortable ahead of a time when he might be needed and also take some workload off starters. That����ap just not the way it works in the NFL with only 17 regular-season games and the near-universal acceptance that everything comes down to tiny margins. The Broncos won the division about as comfortably as you’ll see this fall — though it took 11 one-score wins to do it — and even still the only reason they hosted the AFC Championship Game is that New England lost Week 1 to Las Vegas. The Raiders, of course, ended up with the worst record in football.

That could be the difference for a team making the playoffs or not in the future. We see those kinds of tiebreakers and close calls all the time. That more than anything is why teams try to keep their main guys fresh and healthy, but also play them until the moment the action no longer matters.

Hello Parker. Alex Singleton seems like a great guy/teammate, but he is a major liability in coverage. Dre Greenlaw, in my opinion, has not provided what we signed him to do. Mainly because he isn’t in the lineup on a consistent basis. Do you think middle linebacker is going to be an area to focus on in the draft or free agency? Secondly, why won’t Sean Payton get Evan Engram involved in the offense?! It blows my mind watching games every week and seeing the importance of tight ends. And we don’t use ours!

— Mike, La Jose, Pa.

Hey Mike, thanks for writing in. Inside linebacker is definitely one of the most interesting positions to watch for the Broncos this offseason. Greenlaw is under contract for two more years, though his contract is not prohibitive to get out of if Denver decides it wants to go in another direction. He was an impact player against the run, didn’t play a ton of coverage generally speaking and, of course, missed time with two different injuries over the course of the regular season.

Alex Singleton and Justin Strnad aren’t the best coverage linebackers in football, but not all of Denver’s issues in the middle of the field or against backs and tight ends were on them. In fact, I thought both played pretty well in that department over the second half of the season. Really, teams went after the Broncos’ safeties — Talanoa Hufanga in particular — after Brandon Jones was lost for the season due to a pectoral injury.

Singleton and Strnad both said after the season that they thought they played the best football of their respective careers and I don’t really disagree with them. They’ve both earned starter money going forward. If Cody Barton got $7 million per season last year in free agency, I think you could see either or both Singleton and Strnad push toward $10 million a year. Will one of them be back in Denver? Both, but not Greenlaw? None of the three? It seems like all options are on the table at the moment, though having all three back might be a stretch.

Remember, defensive coordinator Vance Joseph will be back for the 2026 season and he’s got a high level of trust in Singleton. Strnad has called his defense, too, when Singleton missed a game in the middle of the season. Those things matter when Denver starts sifting through its roster.

Why does Riley Moss never look back for the ball? He is going to blindly run into someone, draw a flag, and cost us the game. How can Moss be better than Jahdae Barron?

— Eric, Nashville

Moss definitely became a lightning rod-type player over the course of the season, Eric. My take: Overall, he played really well and a handful of the pass interference penalties against him were really soft, but also his low moments were quite low. He’s a tough customer in coverage, but sometimes his technique abandons him down the field. He’s a physical tackler, but when it got away from him against Jacksonville, it happened multiple times that ruptured into big gains.

He was the most-targeted player in football (116) and allowed the fifth-lowest completion percentage among the top 20 targeted defensive backs. That����ap a pretty darn good body of work. But there is also plenty to clean up. A big part of Moss’ game is his ability to take tough moments in stride and play through them. That����ap part of why the Broncos trusted him with the tall task of playing opposite Pat Surtain II.

The Barron conversation is interesting. If the Broncos decide to extend Ja’Quan McMillian this offseason, then will Barron bump outside and compete with Moss? Moss is entering the final year of his rookie deal in 2026. Denver also has a talented cover man in Kris Abrams-Draine in a reserve role outside, too.

The Broncos have a lot to work through there, but not all of it has to happen this offseason, necessarily. It����ap a good problem to have, too, when you have more guys who can cover than spots to put them in. There aren’t many teams in the NFL that can say that.

Hi Parker, I’m concerned about Pat Bryant and how many injuries he’s been piling up of late. I get little things here and there, but concussions aren’t exactly great to accumulate. I had high hopes of him eventually becoming a stronger weapon for us, but I’m afraid his career may be cut short. What do you think?

— Ryan, Wheat Ridge

“We go back to the start of the race,” Payton said at his end-of-season press conference. “Every 32 teams have to go back and go meet their parents, eat their oranges and get ready to start again.”

“I’d say we’ll be opportunistically aggressive,” Penner said Wednesday.

Before free agency hits in March and the NFL Draft rolls around in April, the organization has plenty of in-house decisions to make with expiring contracts and coaching moves.

Here’s The Denver Post’s complete guide to a key offseason for these Broncos.

Who are the Broncos’ unrestricted free agents?

The Broncos have 11 players whose contracts have expired and are set to hit free agency. Here’s a rundown with age, stats, and intel on their chances of landing back in Denver or elsewhere.

DL John Franklin-Myers (29)

2025 stats: 16 games, 7.5 sacks, 15 QB hits, 25 tackles

���ܳٱ��Ǵǰ�:��Denver has yet to approach Franklin-Myers on an extension, and doesn’t seem likely to start now. Franklin-Myers has anticipated since August that he’ll hit free agency and should be a top defensive-line option on the market. According to a source, Franklin-Myers’ camp is looking at the Miami Dolphins’ 2025 extension for Zach Sieler — three years, $64 million for a highly-productive 29-year-old defensive tackle — as a salary floor. The Broncos have already committed big money to their defensive line. Franklin-Myers is all but gone.

LB Alex Singleton (32)

2025 stats: 16 games, 135 tackles, one sack, three tackles for loss

���ܳٱ��Ǵǰ�:��The NFL can be a cruel world. Singleton earned the Broncos’ 2025 Ed Block Courage Award — the team’s easiest decision of the season — after returning from a torn ACL in 2024 and then returning midseason from testicular cancer surgery. The veteran linebacker had arguably the best year of his career in 2025 and is still a downhill force in the run game and the play-caller of Denver’s defense. The Broncos, though, have yet to pay Singleton and could elect to bring in younger talent this offseason. This could depend if Vance Joseph is back as the defensive coordinator in 2026.

TE Adam Trautman (28)

2025 stats: 17 games, 20 catches, 195 yards, one TD

���ܳٱ��Ǵǰ�:��One of Payton’s favorites here. Trautman has pretty much put up the same stats for six years since beginning his career with Payton in New Orleans in 2020. He wants to be back in Denver and fills a key and trusted role in Payton’s system as a blocker.

S P.J. Locke (28)

2025 stats: 16 games, 16 tackles, 3 passes defended

���ܳٱ��Ǵǰ�:��After serving as a backup most of the year, veteran Locke stepped back into a starting role and was invaluable once safety Brandon Jones went down in December. Across five starts at safety across the regular season and playoffs, he allowed just five catches in 17 targets as the nearest defender in coverage, according to Next Gen Stats. There’s no easy path to a starting job with Talanoa Hufanga and Jones returning, and Locke’s likely to hit the open market.

LB Justin Strnad (29)

2025 stats: 16 games, 58 tackles, 4.5 sacks, eight QB hits

���ܳٱ��Ǵǰ�:��Strnad established himself as possibly the best linebacker on the Broncos’ roster in filling in for both Dre Greenlaw and Alex Singleton across the 2025 season. After two years in spot-starter duty, he’s now fully committed to looking for a starting job somewhere, as he told The Post this week. Will that be in Denver, though? The Broncos will have to clear a path for him to keep him.

RB J.K. Dobbins (27)

2025 stats: 10 games, 772 rushing yards, 5.0 yards per carry, four total touchdowns

���ܳٱ��Ǵǰ�:��The Broncos’ most important skill piece of 2025 nearly made it back in three months from a Lisfranc injury in November. The issue: the running back has played just 47 of a possible 101 regular-season games in his six-year career. Dobbins was an invaluable piece of the team’s locker room, and the Broncos could look to bring him back as a veteran presence despite injury concerns. He went into last year’s offseason trying to bide his time until a team needed him in training camp, and he seems poised for the same position this offseason.

FB Michael Burton (33)

2025 stats: N/A (hamstring injury)

���ܳٱ��Ǵǰ�:��Payton’s trusty fullback signed back in 2025 but didn’t play a single game with a hamstring injury. Payton loyalists always have a place, but there’s no real reason for Denver to bring back Burton.

TE Marcedes Lewis (41)

2025 stats: 5 games, no catches, no yards

���ܳٱ��Ǵǰ�:��The Big Dog first has to decide if he’ll even continue playing in 2026. The Broncos brought in Lewis for his blocking and locker-room presence in 2025, but Lewis won’t be any kind of priority this offseason.

WR Lil’Jordan Humphrey (27)

2025 stats: 7 games, 9 catches, 101 yards, one touchdown

���ܳٱ��Ǵǰ�:��Humphrey signed back with Denver off the Giants’ practice squad midseason, and became an important receiver as Pat Bryant and Troy Franklin got banged up down the stretch. Payton loves Humphrey’s abilities as a blocker. His status will depend on whether another team shows enough interest to pull Humphrey away.

C Sam Mustipher (29)

2025 stats: 1 game

���ܳٱ��Ǵǰ�:��The Broncos brought in Mustipher late in the year after starter Luke Wattenberg went down, and Mustipher played some important late-season snaps. Again, not an immediate priority.

QB Sam Ehlinger (27)

2025 stats: N/A

���ܳٱ��Ǵǰ�:��Ehlinger became an important piece of a tight-knit Broncos QB room in 2025, and predictably never saw action behind Nix and Jarrett Stidham. He’ll likely try to follow quarterbacks coach Davis Webb wherever he goes.

Who are the Broncos’ restricted free agents?

CB Ja’Quan McMillian (25), OL Alex Palczewski (26), RB Jaleel McLaughlin (25), TE Nate Adkins (26), TE Lucas Krull (27), DL Matt Henningsen (26) 

The Broncos have an interesting group of restricted free agents. Remember, with restricted free agents, the team has three tender options — original draft round, second or first — that come with set salaries and give the team the right of first refusal to match any deal another team offers. If Denver doesn’t match, then the signing team must give the draft pick that aligns with the tender.

A first-round tender is a rarely used tool — more on that with McMillian below — though Payton’s Saints did use one with Taysom Hill in 2020 before signing him to a two-year extension in April of that year. Of Denver’s restricted free agents group, only Henningsen (2022 sixth round) was actually drafted, so the original-round tender is mostly out of the equation, too.

Every player in the group has had a role at some point in his career in Denver. So, interesting choices ahead and certainly some extension candidates in the group ranging from modest to blockbuster.

Who are the Broncos’ exclusive-rights free agents?

S Devon Key (27), OLB Dondrea Tillman (27), DL Jordan Jackson (27), RB Tyler Badie (25)

The exclusive rights group should be pretty straightforward. The team has the right to tender these players a one-year, league-minimum contract, which keeps them from negotiating with any other team. Key is a first-team All-Pro special teamer, Tillman is a regular in the OLB rotation, Badie was Denver’s third-down back and Jackson didn’t play a ton but only because of Denver’s terrific defensive line depth. They are all easy tender decisions. That doesn’t guarantee Badie will make the 2026 roster, but an initial tender makes sense.

Who are in-house candidates for contract extensions and restructures or potential cap casualties?

CB Ja’Quan McMillian

McMillian is a restricted free agent, so the Broncos could plop a prime tender on him — he’d be a guarantee for either the first or second-round tender and a bargain at either salary number, both of which will be below $8 million — but say the Broncos put a second-round tender on him. Another team might be willing to give up that pick to sign McMillian long-term. In that case, that other team is doing the Broncos’ negotiating for them and they’d have to match to keep McMillian.

Or, the sides could work out a long-term extension. McMillian, an undrafted free agent in 2022, has played his way to being among the best slot men in the game.

General manager George Paton wouldn’t say what Denver’s exact plan with McMillian is this offseason, but on Tuesday raved about his growth.

Really, the only complicating factor with McMillian has nothing to do with him. Denver drafted Jahdae Barron in the first round in April and also has depth outside behind Pat Surtain II in Riley Moss and Kris Abrams-Draine.

Moss is entering the final year of his rookie contract this fall, while Abrams-Draine has two years left on his.

One thing is certain: Defensive coordinator Vance Joseph considers McMillian an indispensable part of Denver’s defensive success over the past two years.

Veteran OL pair

Right tackle Mike McGlinchey and left guard Ben Powers were among the first free agents signed after Payton was hired in 2023. Both are still playing at a high level. They also currently account for the highest and third-highest 2026 cap numbers on the roster, respectively, and neither has guaranteed money left on his deal. That makes them prime candidates to have their contracts touched in some way, whether it be an extension, reworking or cut.

The Broncos have restructured both deals in the past, ahead of the 2024 season, when they swallowed $53 million of Russell Wilson’s dead money, and weren’t bit by it because both have remained high-quality players.

McGlinchey played maybe the best football of his career. Powers missed two months with a torn bicep but returned down the stretch.

What����ap interesting is that Alex Palczewski could factor in with either. He was McGlinchey’s backup, but then jumped into the lineup when Powers got hurt and played well.

McGlinchey carries a $23.78 million cap number for 2026 and Powers is at $18.16 million.

Powers is a more likely cut candidate than McGlinchey in part because he’d save $8.38 million against the cap and incur $9.78 million in dead cap, a more balanced proposition than McGlinchey ($8.45 million saved, $15.33 million dead).

Both, though, have been considered key pieces to one of Denver’s best units.

Either could be a candidate for a short extension or perhaps a deal where some guarantees are installed in exchange for cap flexibility.

S Brandon Jones

The safety has been a steal since arriving on a three-year, $20 million deal ahead of the 2024 season. His 2025 was cut short by a pectoral injury that required surgery and now he heads into the final year of his contract with a $9.2 million cap hit and no guaranteed money.

Jones will be 28 when training camp starts and should have a lot of good football in front of him. An extension makes sense this offseason if the Broncos think they can fit it into their longer-range planning.

Expiring rookie contracts

A couple of key ones here in Moss ($3.85 million cap hit) and wide receiver Marvin Mims Jr. ($6.01 million). They’re each relatively modest cap numbers and Denver may well let both play out the 2026 season — or revisit on the bye week next year, as the club just did with Wattenberg in November. Still, they’re interesting players generally speaking and also contractually.

Underwhelming free agent signings

It would be going too far to call either tight end Evan Engram or inside linebacker Dre Greenlaw a bust, but neither veteran 2025 free agent signing had a big year in his first with the Broncos.

Engram had 40 catches and played just 42% of snaps. He’d never been under 67% play time in eight previous NFL seasons. Greenlaw dealt with multiple injuries from April through December, collected 43 tackles in eight games and acknowledged after the season that the transition to Denver from San Francisco was “tough.”

Each could well be back next year. Cutting Greenlaw would save $6.02 million on the cap and incur $4.33 million dead.

Engram is a steeper consideration. The Broncos could save $3.8 million but would incur $10.33 million dead. If they cut him and applied a post-June 1 designation, they could spread the hit out over two years, save $6.47 million on the 2026 cap and take $7.67 million of the dead cap hit in 2026.

How does the Broncos’ draft outlook shape up?

Denver could’ve certainly used Devaughn Vele in the AFC title game. But as they head into April, their preseason trade of Vele to New Orleans looks quite pretty. The Broncos picked up a key extra fourth-round pick in that trade, and now have significant capital for draft season. Here’s a current rundown of their expected picks:

1st round, pick No. 30

2nd round, pick No. 62

3rd round, pick No. 94

4th round, pick No. 108 (from Saints)

4th round, pick No. 130

5th round, pick No. 168

7th round, pick No. 246

The Broncos could also gain a couple more late-round comp picks for losing RB Javonte Williams and punter Riley Dixon in last year’s free agency.

“We have five picks in the first four rounds, and we could get two compensatory, which would give us nine,” general manager George Paton said Tuesday. “I always talk about flexibility. We’re going to have all sorts of flexibility.”

Where will they apply that flexibility? There’s a world of draft season left to unfold, but one thing is clear: this is a receiver-heavy draft class. NFL’s Daniel Jeremiah ranked 11 wideouts in his and the Broncos clearly need some pass-catching help. They could also look to bolster the interior defensive line (with Franklin-Myers’ expected departure), the offensive line (with some expensive veterans in Garett Bolles, Mike McGlinchey and Ben Powers) and the linebacker room.

What are the Broncos’ staff needs, and expected changes?

Sean Payton appears to have a changing of the guard brewing in his offensive meeting room.

Offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi: Fired. Senior offensive assistant Pete Carmichael: Off to Buffalo to be offensive coordinator there.

Let����ap take the offensive room first.

It����ap also probably worth pointing out that Payton brought former passing game coordinator John Morton back to consult for Denver’s playoff run after he was fired as Detroit����ap offensive coordinator.

Payton, regardless of how those top spots in the offensive meeting room shake out, will have different and likely younger voices around him.

On the defensive side, the Broncos appear poised to get coordinator Vance Joseph back. There surprisingly has been no landing spot for him among the 10 head coaching vacancies and the final two still open look ticketed elsewhere.

You’re probably the happiest kid in the world right now, Blake recalled telling Barron.

The three have kept a group chat for the majority of Barron’s first year in Denver and Mukuba’s first year in Philadelphia, through the natural ebbs and flows of playing defensive back as an NFL rookie. The Broncos’ cornerback has texted his friends, saying nobody else understands how much film he’s been watching. In Week 8 against the Cowboys — following unfamiliar weeks of limited snap shares and stints on the bench — it all paid off, when he came down with an interception off Dak Prescott.

“I think it was a weight,” Blake reflected, “lifted off his shoulder.”

Barron, a 2025 first-round selection, was shouldered with his own instant-impact expectations. He was “praying on his opportunity” to get his second pick, as Blake reflected in late October.

The chance arrived a month later. Two days before a matchup with the Commanders, as cornerbacks coach Addison Lynch told The Post, Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph told Barron in practice he wanted a specific underneath route intercepted.

Two days later, in overtime against the Commanders, that route popped up. Barron read it as Washington wideout Deebo Samuel darted in on a short slant. Barron left his assignment on tight end Zach Ertz, broke on the ball, and dove.

It couldn’t have been a more perfect rep. Except Barron dropped the ball. The rookie put his hands on his helmet, rolled over, and smacked the grass three times with the full force of his right arm.

“He’s getting more in the mix,” Lynch said, a few days later. “He’s getting more in the spot. So those plays are going to come for him.”

That has been the story of Barron’s inaugural season in Denver: a rookie who’s gradually learned to put himself in better positions in Joseph’s defense but has only sparingly found himself in the position to do so.

Six months ago, in a locker room in Santa Clara, Calif., after the Broncos’ first preseason game of the season, Barron told The Post that “everything’s gonna click.” Now, as the Broncos gear up for a postseason run that could take them right back to Santa Clara for the Super Bowl, Barron’s role has mostly stayed static.

After playing heavier doses at the outside corner with Pat Surtain II out in November, Barron snapped right back to playing mostly in dime situations. He’s started the last couple of games of the season at nickel, but has subbed immediately after just one play for Ja’Quan McMillian.

Entering Week 18, Barron’s had the lowest average snap share per game (29%) of the 14 defensive players taken in the first round of April’s draft. On Wednesday, Barron was asked where he feels now compared to that August game in Santa Clara. He didn’t offer up much.

“I mean, shoot, we’re winning, so I’m happy,” Barron told The Post.

Is there a certain part of you, he was asked a minute later, that wishes you were on the field a little more? 

“I mean, it’s human nature,” Barron responded. “I mean, you would want more money, right? So, same answer. Yeah.”

Nobody, Blake emphasized back in October, has higher expectations for Barron than he has for himself. It burned in the ����������of his hand against that grass in Washington, a 23-year-old wise beyond his years and yet subject to that human nature.

But Joseph emphasized earlier this season that it’s a luxury to bring Barron along slowly, with McMillian entrenched at nickel and Kris Abrams-Draine proving to be a reliable depth option at outside corner. And cornerbacks coach Addison Lynch has seen a rookie who’s slowly learned to drop those first-round expectations, and just go “play football.”

“He’s not chasing those anymore,” Lynch told The Post in November. “He’s just out here playing his role, playing ball and helping us win the game.”

Blake, for one, hasn’t seen Barron go “into a hole,” as he put it. The hole, for the rookie, is film. Barron entered that game in Week 8 against the Cowboys with a heap of notes on Dallas star tight end Jake Ferguson, Blake said. As Ferguson cut up the seam against Barron at the end of the first half, Barron was already turning his head back to the ball just a split second after quarterback Dak Prescott reared back. That first interception, above all else, was about anticipation.

“He studied that,” Blake said, “to a T.”

After a couple of early-season communication bumps in match coverage, Barron’s visibly improved at reading the middle of the field and passing off assignments. He has also received verbal and emotional support from Abrams-Draine, who’s only one year Barron’s senior and still calls the rookie “little brother.” Barron doesn’t much like that, Abrams-Draine said with a smile.

“It’s so hard in this defense, because you’re basically the adjustment for everybody,” Abrams-Draine said, referring to Barron learning the nickel defense. “So you just gotta learn — when do you go and when do you not do stuff? It’s just hard. And it takes time.”

It has taken 17 full weeks. It will take longer. But Joseph is starting to deploy Barron as the nickel in larger personnel groupings, helping shadow tight ends and make plays against the run. The rookie played 49% of Denver’s snaps against Kansas City on Christmas, even with a full complement of defensive backs.

He’ll play an essential role in this Broncos late-season push. Even if it wasn’t the role he might’ve hoped for that night in August in Santa Clara.

“I mean, the whole point of life is about growth,” Barron said. “So, just growing every day. It����ap been good. It����ap been interesting.”

Before we get to the good stuff, just know that what applies to Von Miller and Payton absolutely applies to Justin Simmons, too. Even though the Broncos now have a starting safety slot wide open while a former Pro Bowl safety in Simmons is local and looking for a gig, the locker room in Dove Valley might not be big enough for the both of them. Although stranger things have happened, and it’s almost Christmas.

Speaking of presents, the Chiefs finally returned the AFC West throne to the store, receipt and all, after hogging that thing for 3,270 days. Eight years, 11 months, and 14 days, officially.

A child born on New Year’s Day 2017, the actual start of the Kansas City Chiefs’ AFC West dynasty, would be halfway through third grade as of Monday. At last, Heaven help us, we can clearly see the end, a light at the end of long, red tunnel of darkness.

The Chiefs were mathematically eliminated from the postseason this past Sunday. Kansas City is slated to be $43.8 million over the cap in 2026. Travis Kelce just turned 36. Chris Jones will be 32 next summer. Mahomes will be 31 next September, and his left knee just went kablooey in a home loss to the Chargers. Legends live forever in our hearts, but every anterior cruciate ligament comes with an expiration date.

The second-hardest thing in the NFL is to win a championship. The hardest is to pull it off multiple times. It never ceases to amuse me how the most popular sports league in America, land of me-first, is simultaneously a screaming bastion of socialism and enforced parity. The good of all before the one.

Bad teams get the best draft picks. A salary cap that prevents elite teams from hoarding all the elite players, so long as those elite players want to get paid. And they do.

All that being said, the Broncos (12-2) aren’t just poised to win a division title this fall. They’re in a really good position to follow in the Chiefs’ cleats and go on a little dynastic run of their own. And we’ll give you five reasons why:

1. The Chiefs’ best players are getting old

Even if Kelce, who can become an unrestricted free agent next year, elects to return, the Chiefs’ books are looking fairly lopsided. Kansas City will have 44.9% of its cap space for 2026 taken up by four players who will be 31 years or older: Jones ($44.85 million), K Harrison Butker ($7.3 million), LB Drue Tranquill ($7.5 million) and Mahomes ($78.2 million).

The Broncos’ 31-and-older club,

2. The Chargers’ best players are already old

The Bolts have 33.3% of their active roster cap tied up in 17 players who are at least 29 years old.

QB Justin Herbert is better with one good hand than most NFL signal-callers are with two. He’s just 27. Although working with Jim Harbaugh has been known to age people prematurely.

3. The Broncos’ best players are … not

The Broncos went into Week 1, per PhillyVoice.com,

Bo Nix, the QB1 who keeps rising to the moment, is 25 and on a rookie contract through 2027 (for now).

Also signed through ’27, per Spotrac.com (deep breath): CB Pat Surtain II, RT Mike McGlinchey, DL Zach Allen, WR Courtland Sutton, LT Garett Bolles, OLB Jonathon Cooper, OLB Nik Bonitto, S Talanoa Hufanga, DB Jahdae Barron, DL D.J. Jones, LB Dre Greenlaw, G Quinn Meinerz, DL Malcolm Roach, C Luke Wattenberg, OLB Jonah Elliss, RB RJ Harvey, CB Kris Abrams-Draine, K Wil Lutz and P Jeremy Crawshaw. Oh, and WRs Troy Franklin and Pat Bryant.

Pretty good core, that. Especially when you consider that only five of those guys are 30 years or older — and one of those five happens to be Lutz.

4. GM George Paton has the drafting part down

And he always did. Nine of Denver’s 11 starters are former Broncos draft picks or former collegiate free agents. As are five of the 11 guys who usually start for Vance Joseph’s defense. The more expensive Nix’s contract becomes, the more important hitting on rookies immediately is going to get.

5. Sean Payton has done this before

Yes, Sunshine Sean loves the screen game more than Homer Simpson loves Duff Beer. Yes, he holds fools and journalists in equal disdain. But the man also won seven division titles in New Orleans, including four straight (2017-2020) after his 2012 suspension. From 2018-2022, talk about the Broncos largely focused on the franchise’s sagging floor. Now it’s about the ceiling. Whether you like him personally or not, there’s no denying the degree to which Payton flipped the script.

Tom Brady was 42 when he signed with Tampa Bay and 45 when he retired for the second time. Savor the now. When a window opens, you don’t walk through it. You sprint like there’s a raging, snorting Nederland moose in hot pursuit.

In the NFL, age is a running clock. As any Broncomaniac can tell you, there’s one defensive coordinator worse than Belichick, a mastermind not even Mahomes, Brees, Elway or Manning could lick: Father Time. For the first time in a decade, he’s finally on the Broncos’ side.

The second-year corner calmly covered a couple of deep routes run by Commanders receiver Treylon Burks. He patrolled a couple of zones and made one tackle on a run play. He was not targeted on a drive that ended in an 8-yard Chris Rodriguez touchdown run.

Quality work, if not much quantity.

The fact that Abrams-Draine saw that action in the first place is anything but quiet. In fact, it����ap part of a loud message sent by Broncos defensive coaches.

No, not about Riley Moss, the talented and often-penalized player Abrams-Draine temporarily replaced in the middle of the second quarter of Denver’s wild, 27-26 overtime win.

Rather, about Abrams-Draine himself, along with rookie Swiss Army knife Jahdae Barron.

About a philosophy by which defensive coordinator Vance Joseph and Denver’s staff operate.

About the Broncos’ embarrassment of riches at cornerback.

About a position group that was exposed a year ago this time, but now has talent and depth that might well be the envy of the NFL.

Everybody in the league is looking for corners. The Broncos have five that would likely play in some capacity for every team in the NFL.

“We’re one of the few teams that can play five corners,” Broncos first-year cornerbacks coach Addison Lynch told The Post. “Every one of us plays. And we all play at a high level.”

At this point, Joseph and company know well they can cover an injury here and there — they just thrived for 3 1/2 games without reigning defensive player of the year Pat Surtain II — and they know they can cover just about everything else, too.

Not only that, but if last Sunday’s outing with Surtain back in the lineup is any indication of what����ap to come on Denver’s stretch run, the Broncos might just be getting started deploying their quintet of cover men in unique ways.

“Players need to understand that if they earn the right to play, they should play some,” Joseph said this week, mentioning Abrams-Draine and Barron among others. “They’ve played good football for us, so why not play those guys? They’ve earned the right.

“It keeps your guys engaged, and it just makes us a better football team going forward. It����ap a good thing if you can play your young guys some each game and then when it����ap time to really play, they’re ready for it.

“They’ve earned it, so they play.”

Lesson learned

When Moss injured his knee against Las Vegas in late November last year, the Broncos turned to veteran Levi Wallace.

Wallace held up fine in spot duty earlier in the season but was quickly exposed when asked to handle full-time work.

Almost exactly a year ago — in a Monday Night Football game Dec. 2, 2024 at Empower Field — Wallace played what he later called the worst game of his career. He was torched repeatedly by former Denver receiver Jerry Jeudy and eventually benched for then-rookie Abrams-Draine in a game-on-the-line, fourth-quarter spot.

That night led to two revelations: The Broncos had a depth problem behind their terrific top-line talent of Surtain, Moss and nickel back Ja’Quan McMillian and they also had an intriguing talent on their hands in Abrams-Draine, a fifth-round pick out of Missouri.

Abrams-Draine filled in ably until Moss returned.

Then the Broncos used their first-round draft pick in April’s draft on Barron.

General manager George Paton and head coach Sean Payton referred to Barron’s selection as drafting on a strength, but also noted the stretch run they’d just been through.

“We had some injuries and you saw what happened,” Paton said the night they took Barron with a bevy of running backs and offensive skill players still on the board.

Every team hopes they don’t need to go too far down the depth chart, but every team also knows it����ap going to happen at some point.

The Broncos knew they’d again rush the passer as well as anybody in the league in 2025. They fortified the middle of the field in free agency with safety Talanoa Hufanga and inside linebacker Dre Greenlaw.

Now they have depth and added premium talent in their cornerback room, too. The defense tore through training camp, opened the regular season and got rolling with Abrams-Draine on the bench and Barron playing a limited role as the dime man.

“This is the trick of the NFL. You can never have too many defensive backs,” ESPN analyst and former safety Matt Bowen told The Post. “But can you develop your Day 3 kids? Can you develop your Day 2 kids? Because they have to play. They’re going to need to play and — (in a) 17-game regular season. If you’re the Denver Broncos, you want to play, what, 20 games total and win a title? You need defensive backs. Guys are going to get hurt. Things are going to happen.

“A guy’s going to roll an ankle in a divisional playoff game and somebody’s got to go in and get the job done.”

An ankle in a divisional game or a pectoral strain against one of the most dangerous receiving duos in football, as it happens.

Surtain, whom Bowen said, “is up there with (Cleveland defensive end) Myles Garrett as the best football player in this league,” hurt himself trying to make a tackle against Dallas in October. He missed the rest of that game and Denver’s next three.

The depth test arrived with force and suddenness, as it so often does in the NFL.

Finding cover

Entering Week 8 this fall, Abrams-Draine had played exactly one defensive snap.

Then Surtain hurt his ankle — he returned and later left with the pec injury — and suddenly the second-year man was thrust into duty opposite Moss against Cowboys receivers CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens.

Abrams-Draine finished that game for Surtain, then settled into a job-share for three games, in which he manned the outside when the Broncos played sub (nickel, dime, etc.), and Barron played in base.

The split fell along fairly straightforward lines: Barron is a terrific tackler, so he played against typically heavier or run-oriented offensive sets. Abrams-Draine is more polished in coverage and has what Payton has described as perhaps the best ball skills on the roster.

“He has a certain calmness when the ball’s in the air that some people have, and some people don’t,” secondary coach and defensive passing game coordinator Jim Leonhard told The Post recently. “It����ap hard to teach. They just have that sense of timing on the second half of the play to not panic, to put themselves in the right position to finish. He definitely has that and it����ap just fun to watch his confidence grow the more snaps that he gets. Because that����ap a rare trait.

“Some guys get panicky or kind of impatient late in the down. And some people get more calm. It����ap hard to teach that and he definitely has it.”

Teammates regularly rave about Abrams-Draine’s ability in coverage and his knack for getting his hands on the ball.

He just hasn’t been asked to actually play well into the season each of his first two years.

“You’d say right now, when he has to play, he’s a quality starter,” Bowen said. “And a quality starter grade is something you can win with.”

Finding quality starters at the corner is no easy task, let alone on Day 3 of the draft. But Denver has identified talent throughout the draft order.

They’ve no doubt spent considerable draft capital, considering Paton’s three first-round picks in Denver are quarterback Bo Nix (2024), Surtain (2021) and Barron (2025).

But they also signed McMillian as a rookie free agent in 2022, drafted Moss in the third round in 2023, and then picked Abrams-Draine in the fifth round last year. The only corner Denver drafted before the seventh round since Paton arrived in 2021 who didn’t stick long term was Damarri Mathis (2022 fourth round), and even he started 18 games between 2022-24.

Add in Reese Taylor, a midseason add from the practice squad to the 53-man roster and so far a special teams-only player, and the Broncos have six corners currently on their active roster. None of them has ever played a snap for another team.

“Our front office is insane, what they do in the offseason to be able to help us evaluate and be able to get these guys the right pictures that we want,” Lynch told The Post. “We do a good job as far as with Coach Sean, talking about how we see the future for these guys. It����ap all about having a vision for everybody we look at in the draft, and we’ve done a good job getting guys that match the vision that we see. And it����ap coming to fruition now.”

Joseph talks about scouting two distinct types of players. Outside corners, where height, length and long speed are among the prerequisites. Then nickels, where foot quickness, toughness and smarts are paramount.

“We’ve drafted well over the last two years with corners and they’re all growing and all playing well for us,” Joseph said. “It����ap a premium to have corners and rushers. With our defense and how we play, if we can’t rush and cover, we can’t play this defense.

“So drafting one every year, for me, is always a premium.”

Bowen sees a common trait that runs through every member of the Broncos’ cornerback group, too. Perhaps not the flashiest attribute but maybe football’s most fundamental.

“One thing about Denver is they tackle,” Bowen said. “The sign of any good defense — I don’t care if it����ap Pop Warner or playing on Sundays — the No. 1 sign is their ability to tackle. That����ap how you limit explosive plays.”

When Leonhard starts looking at defensive backs, he looks not so much at measurables or even, necessarily, physical traits. He’s seeking things that pop off the screen for any particular player.

“The No. 1 thing you look for is what makes them special,” he said. … “Sometimes that����ap versatility. Sometimes that����ap the ability to do something really, really well, but maybe they’re not as well-rounded. But they have a skill that is really unique.”

Abrams-Draine: Calm. Barron: Versatile. Moss: Explosive. McMillian: Instincts.

Then there’s Surtain, who has all of that and more on his 6-foot-3 frame. He’s the anomaly; on a potential Hall of Fame track at 25 years old.

Surtain, though, is also now the elder statesman in the room as a fifth-year pro who speaks readily and highly of the young guys looking up to him. This week, he called each of them a “pro’s pro” and lauded their study habits and processes.

“It’s something you develop over time and over the course of just watching film, watching tendencies,” Surtain told The Post. “They’ve been on top of that. They’re understanding the game. When they came in, they were willing to learn to be diligent with their craft.

“That’s a testament to them for coming in and preparing the right way.”

Nickels and dimes

Barron broke on the ball in a flash.

He had Sunday’s game against the Commanders on his hands in overtime.

Instead of a game-sealing, walk-off interception, though, he dropped Marcus Mariota’s pass, allowing Washington’s drive to continue.

Minutes later, Nik Bonitto made the play that delivered victory all the same for Denver.

That Barron let the ball hit the ground is a moment he won’t soon forget.

That he was in that position to begin with, though, is significant.

The Broncos knew where Mariota wanted to go with the ball out of that look. They put Barron in the spot to make the play.

“We’re cutting that inside route,” Leonhard said, describing the way Barron handed the inside receiver off to safety Talanoa Hufanga, dropping down from the third level. “So (Barron’s) delivering it and then falling off. He did a great job, obviously, and was in the perfect position.

“Just got to find a way to finish it.”

Barron was back to a mostly typical workload with Surtain back in the line up (27.8%) of snaps against the Commanders. His role, though, is anything but typical.

Barron played in the slot and played solo on the backside against tight end Zach Ertz. He lined up essentially as a linebacker. He manned a third safety spot in a long-yardage situation. He mugged up in the ‘A’ gap.

He had reps guarding Ertz, Terry McLaurin and Deebo Samuel. This, after three weeks of playing mostly outside in Surtain’s absence.

As the season progresses, Joseph and the coaching staff keep finding more ways to implement their first-round pick and he keeps finding ways to get the myriad jobs done.

“It was one of the top things you loved about his skill set coming out of college was his intelligence and versatility,” Leonhard said. “And obviously, we have a talented group around him, so sometimes the snaps aren’t always there in your traditional or conventional role.

“So as the season goes along and he has a better feel for our scheme and just the NFL — it����ap a different game — you’re able to use him in more ways week in and week out.”

The proof is in the way the Broncos have deployed their defensive backs this year. They’re playing dime 14.3% of the time, according to Sumer Sports data, which is essentially double what they’ve played in either of Joseph’s first two years as coordinator (7.3% in 2024, 6.8% in 2023).

There’s more than one reason for that, but Barron’s near the top of the list.

The Broncos don’t always feel like they have to keep a full set of big bodies on the field because their front-line players are capable of winning anyway, and also because they’ve got players in the back seven who can hold up against the run when needed.

“The longer you’re in a system with some players that have unique skillsets — whether it����ap safeties that can do ‘backer jobs or corners that can do safety jobs,” Leonhard said, “The more versatility you have within your back seven, it allows you to get into different packages.

“And, obviously, with Jahdae’s skill set, we’re able to get into more dime and run man concepts, zone concepts, pressures. We feel like we have a lot of options out of that.”

Last time the Broncos played Las Vegas, Joseph decided he was going to stay in nickel even when the Raiders put two tight ends on the field. That was during a stretch of operating without Surtain.

Now with Denver fully healthy and willing to deploy its five corners in any number of combinations, the stretch run figures to feature more creative looks, more aggressive posturing and more trusting in a pair of young players that have turned a December 2024 weakness into a December 2025 weapon.

“To see those guys step up and play how you hoped — you always hate to say as a coach ‘what you expect’ but as you hoped,” Leonhard said, “It����ap not too big for them. They love going out there and competing.

“And now you’re sitting at this point of the season and you have two more guys you feel like you can throw on the field in different capacities any week and get something different.”

����apB draft picks since 2021

“He did?” Abrams-Draine smiled in confusion on Friday.

Yes, Riley Moss did. And has been doing.

In mid-November, Moss’s hand-fighting with receivers nearly cost the Broncos their rivalry matchup with the Chiefs. The Broncos’ cornerback drew a pass-interference call that went for 47 yards on a fourth-quarter, third-and-20 against Kansas City. Denver managed to pull out a 22-19 win despite three penalties on Moss.

After the game, Moss told reporters that the staff were going to “put the boxing gloves on him” to correct any grabbing in his technique.

He wasn’t lying. Broncos cornerbacks coach Addison Lynch confirmed to The Post Thursday that Moss has been strapping on a set of gloves for about five reps during team periods of practice the last two weeks.

“Just so we can work down the field to not latch (onto receivers), to not do some of the things that he’s getting called for,” Lynch said.

And Moss is getting called for a lot. Through 12 games this season, the third-year corner has drawn the most flags — 11 — of any NFL cornerback, according to Pro Football Focus. Players told The Post that the Broncos’ defensive backs often use boxing gloves during training camp or during general individual drills throughout the season to protect their fingers when practicing swiping at the ball.

To wear them during team reps, though? To shape technique? That’s unique.

“I think — it����ap an interesting technique,” defensive end John Franklin-Myers told The Post this week, smiling. “But man, there’s a million ways to do it. And I mean he’s literally trying to find any way to get better and to stop them calls.

“And it����ap hurting the team, but he’s competing. And he’s doing his thing, so ain’t nobody mad at him. We got his back.”

Indeed, Denver’s locker room has taken up verbal pitchforks for Moss at every opportunity. Some of those pass-interference calls have been obvious, as Moss clearly grabbed Chiefs receiver Marquise Brown on that third-and-20 go-ball. Some have been less so.

These Broncos aren’t shy about feeling that Moss — who the locker room has christened “White Boy Rick” — has gotten the short end of the stick from officiating.

“I think they racial profiling my dog,” Pat Surtain II

Safety JL Skinner told The Post that Moss is trying to not give officials “any leeway to call any bull—-.” Practice-squad linebacker Levelle Bailey said exasperatedly that 50-50 calls will go against Moss, because “that’s just how the season’s going on for him.” The sentiment’s shared by coaches, too, as Payton pivoted a Friday question on Moss’s efforts toward a pick play on the final play of Commanders-Broncos on Sunday that he felt wasn’t called.

Moss’s 2025 thus far has been a mixed bag. Some teams’ entire game plans, like Cincinnati’s in Week 4, have involved targeting Moss opposite reigning Defensive Player of the Year Pat Surtain. With Surtain out for most of November, Moss was often thrust into checking the opposing team’s No. 1 receivers. PFF has Moss tied for third among NFL cornerbacks in pass breakups, and Next Gen Stats says Moss has still surrendered just a 52% catch rate on the year.

“Honestly, I think Riley’s having a good year,” Lynch told The Post. “There’s a couple plays that stick out that are late in games, that are third-and-20-plus situations, that they’re not even doing anything scheme-wise — they’re just hoping for the call, and the refs are giving it to ‘em, you know what I mean?

“So some of that stuff — some of the calls you agree with, you gotta clean up. Some of them you don’t. But overall, I think he’s having a great year. He’s playing (expletive) hard for us.”

Moss’s performance last Sunday was marred by Washington’s final drive in overtime, when receiver Deebo Samuel beat him for a 38-yard route down the right sideline to set up a Commanders touchdown. But Moss broke up two passes and allowed just three catches on seven total targets.

And Moss drew no flags in his first game since he strapped on the gloves.

“Just seeing him play corner with it on, it is kinda funny,” Bailey said. “I mean, he says it helps. So hopefully, it����ap gonna work out.”