Assuming Denver makes it through training camp and the preseason relatively healthy, here’s another safe bet: Sean Payton’s starting lineup figures to look an awful lot like the 11 that took the field for the first snap of Week 1 last fall against Tennessee.

There’s always the chance for a rogue opening formation to open offensive coordinator Davis Webb’s tenure as the Broncos’ primary play caller, but overall it����ap possible that the only change will be Jaylen Waddle in place of tight end Lucas Krull.

The other 10, in the form of the same starting offensive line, quarterback Bo Nix, running back J.K. Dobbins, tight end Adam Trautman and wide receivers Courtland Sutton and Troy Franklin all figure to have major roles again this fall for Denver.

There are, of course, twists and turns every summer. Injuries happen over the course of training camp. Last August the Broncos traded a potential starter in receiver Devaughn Vele. Sometimes a young player puts together such a strong camp that he snatches a job clean away from an established veteran.

Overall, though, Payton is betting that returning nearly every major contributor from Denver’s 2025 offense while adding Waddle and installing Webb as the play-caller is enough to elevate the Broncos’ offense away from the middle of the pack and toward the league’s upper echelon.

That means, on paper, there are not many starting jobs to be won. At most offensive positions, normal 53-man roster thresholds are met or nearly so before true competition for spots enters the equation.

And yet, there are many roles to be solidified and at least a handful of roster spots up for grabs as the Broncos near their reporting dates for rookies (July 22) and veterans (July 28). Here’s an early look at a projected offensive two-deep, with the obvious caveat that this represents a starting point ahead of camp’s outset.

Quarterback

1. Bo Nix

2. Sam Ehlinger

Starting point: The reality of life in the NFL: Much of what the Broncos want to accomplish in 2026 rests on Nix not just staying healthy for all or most of the season, but also on his game taking another step forward in Year 3, as well. Nix has a talented defense and an experienced, improved offense around him, plus Payton’s leadership and a new play-caller in Webb. He had played in every NFL game over his first two seasons until fracturing his ankle in the divisional round in January. Two operations and six months of combined rehab later, Nix and the Broncos say there’s no reason for concern. If they’re right, Denver’s in great shape. If the ankle issue lingers or comes back, that would be trouble.

Projecting Ehlinger as the No. 2 is perhaps a bit out on a limb considering Stidham has earned considerable equity with the front office, staff and locker room as he enters his fourth season with the Broncos. The notion that Ehlinger could beat him out is not rooted in Stidham’s performance in the AFC title game, but rather just in the staff’s excitement about Ehlinger a year ago, his mobility and a potential jump in performance in his second summer with the Broncos. Whoever ends up No. 3 might have the chance to be a No. 2 somewhere else at the end of August. That makes it basically a straight-out battle to be Nix’s primary backup. If there’s a way for Denver to keep all three — especially if the Broncos can get one to the practice squad to start the season as they did with Ehlinger last year —the club will almost certainly give it strong consideration.

Running back

1. J.K. Dobbins

2. RJ Harvey

Starting point: Dobbins is adamant he would have played in the Super Bowl after a November Lisfranc injury to his foot. He’s been healthy through Denver’s offseason program and enters camp as the clear lead back. Through 10 weeks last year, he was one of the most efficient runners in the NFL. The pecking order after him is likely to shape up more by role than anything else, unless Harvey takes a major leap in Year 2 – which, of course, the Broncos would more than welcome.

Harvey enters camp as the favorite to be second in terms of playing time and is the kind of player who, in Payton offenses, previously has racked up touches in the passing game. Rookie Jonah Coleman, a talented pass protector in college, looks like Denver’s third-down back right off the bat. That����ap a cleaner-fitting trio than last year if Coleman earns that trust right out of the gate. One interesting wrinkle here is what would happen if Dobbins were to get hurt. There’s a world in which Coleman might be a better lead back than Harvey; Harvey’s role stays about the same or expands some, and somebody else – a practice-squad Tyler Badie, perhaps — becomes the third-down back. The Broncos, naturally, hope Dobbins plays his first healthy season in the NFL and as long as the group stays on the field, it has the makings of a dynamic, dangerous trio.

Wide receiver

1. Courtland Sutton

2. Pat Bryant

1. Jaylen Waddle

2. Marvin Mims Jr.

1. Troy Franklin

2. Lil’Jordan Humphrey

Starting point: Waddle’s arrival changes this room in ways big and small. It goes from being one of the Broncos have seemed to like better than the industry does over the past couple of years to one that has a chance to be among the most dangerous in the NFL. They’ve got a dynamic pairing in Waddle and Sutton atop the room and they’ve got a myriad of skill sets behind. One of the most interesting questions of training camp is what the pecking order will look like behind Sutton and Waddle. The answer, at least early in the season, might be as simple as what the game situation is. The Broncos can mix up looks with Mims and even play him out of the backfield. They can be fast with Franklin on the field alongside Waddle. Or they can be big and physical with Bryant as the third man. One thing is certain: Denver is shaping up to play a ton of three-receiver and even four-receiver sets in Webb’s first season as a play-caller. The group is a clear strength on offense with Waddle’s addition.

Tight end

1. Adam Trautman

2. Evan Engram

Starting point: Engram, assuming good health, should easily lead the room in receiving targets again in 2026. Trautman, though, outpaced Engram in playing time by a wide margin last year (57% to 40%) and it would be a surprise if he didn’t do so again this fall. They are different types of players — Trautman more blocking with a bit of pass-catching ability and Engram essentially a receiver who is referred to as a tight end — but they are similar in the sense that Denver could have tried to replace either on the free agent market this spring and ultimately did not. What the Broncos did do, however, is use a pair of Day 3 draft picks to add players to the room who look like potential longer-term replacements. Fifth-rounder Justin Joly fits the Engram mold while seventh-rounder Dallen Bentley is more Trautman-esque. Payton spoke highly of second-year man Caleb Lohner and Denver also has Nate Adkins and Lucas Krull back on the 90-man roster for training camp. One of the positions where there are perhaps multiple 53-man roster spots up for grabs and where the Broncos hope the future of the position starts to come into focus this fall.

Offensive line

LT: Garrett Bolles, Matt Peart

LG: Ben Powers, Kage Casey

C: Luke Wattenberg, Alex Forsyth

RG: Quinn Meinerz, Alex Palczewski

RT:  Mike McGlinchey, Frank Crum

Starting point: The front five is set to return for a rare third straight season together unless a surprise trade pops up, injury hits or somebody like Palczewski can cleanly beat out Powers for a starting job. Above, the second line is essentially only placeholders except for Forsyth, who will have to fend off veteran Michael Deiter to retain his hold on the No. 2 center job.�� “Palcho” could end up as the primary backup at both guard spots and right tackle. Or, he could be the next man in at guard and Crum at tackle, regardless of side. Either way, it����ap pretty easy to find nine for the 53-man roster here: The starters plus Palcho, Crum, Casey (a fourth-round pick this spring) and Forsyth. Denver not only has one of the best starting groups in football but also some proven, functional depth. It����ap not just going to be a task to make the 53 for anybody on the outside of that nine looking in, but there will be competition for practice squad spots, too. That could come down to choosing between veterans like Peart, Deiter and Calvin Throckmorton and younger players like rookie tackles Tyler Miller and Gavin Ortega or Nick Gargiulo.

On the roster (16): Garett Bolles, Ben Powers, Luke Wattenberg, Quinn Meinerz, Mike McGlinchey, Alex Palczewski, Frank Crum, Alex Forsyth, Kage Casey, Matt Peart, Calvin Throckmorton, Nick Gargiulo, Michael Dieter, Reid Holskey, Gavin Ortega and Tyler Miller.

How many on the 53? 9-10.

Most impactful offseason move: Re-signing Palczewski to a two-year, $9.5 million deal

The Broncos really made three decisions that all float in the same nexus and could have made the cut here. They made an offseason priority of keeping ‘Palcho,’ the versatile fourth-year man out of Illinois, in the fold for multiple years going forward. They drafted Casey in the fourth round in April’s draft. They also did nothing with Powers’ contract, a quietly impactful move in absentia.

The nod goes to Palcho, though, because he started 10 games in 2025 and could theoretically be Denver’s primary backup at three spots going into the regular season this fall — left guard, right guard and right tackle. His ability to move to the left side and hold down Powers’ spot when Powers tore his bicep last fall was hailed throughout the building as an incredible feat. It seems a matter of time before he’s a starter, though where that will be remains to be seen.

Biggest question to answer in camp: Can the starting quintet stay healthy and keep this run going?

Yeah, there are some interesting developmental figures and potentially even maybe some playing time up for grabs — more on that below — but this is one of the most experienced, highest-rated and most expensive offensive lines. They have a pair of returning first-team All-Pros in Meinerz and Bolles and three others making top-10 money at their positions. They  have combined to start 321 games for the Broncos (426 overall in the NFL). They have played in postseason games here and elsewhere. They’re an elite pass-protecting group and a good run-blocking one. If Webb taking over the play-calling helps Denver find a real identity in the run game, this can be the best group in the league. At the same time, Bolles (34), McGlinchey (32) and Powers (29) will all be on the back side of 30 by the time Denver hits its bye week. So, this is a group that����ap expected to continue its run from the past two years and also carries a moderate dose of age-related risk.

Battle to watch: Left guard (maybe)

Powers has been Denver’s starting left guard for the entire Payton era when he’s been healthy. Palczewski filled in ably last year, but Powers raced back from a substantial injury and, as soon as he was ready, the Broncos worked him back in. Not only that, but they could have cut him this offseason and saved considerable cap space or pushed hard to get him to take a pay cut. They obviously did not cut him and if they asked him to take a pay cut, they eventually blinked because just ahead of free agency this spring, the Broncos informed Powers they wouldn’t be touching his contract. So now Powers goes into the final year of his deal with the second-highest cap charge on the team ($18.16 million), which makes him look clearly like the starting left guard. The question: Can Palcho make a run at his job? Does Denver want him to in camp? If the offensive coaches start rotating them or pitching this as a battle for the No. 1 job, it’ll be a really good one. If not, the Broncos can be confident Palczewski is ready to play there should he be needed.

Under the radar: Casey

The rookie enters his first training camp in terrific position. He’s got coaches in Zach Strief and Chris Morgan who are considered top-shelf developers, he’s got veterans in the room to learn from regardless of which position of the several he could end up playing longer-term he’s looking at on a given day. At the same time, though, there will be a sense of urgency to get Casey ready to play. You never know when your number might get called. If this is indeed Powers’ last year in Denver, Casey could compete with Palczewski for the job next summer. He could end up competing with Crum for a tackle job instead. Or he could become what Palcho is at the moment — a valuable depth piece capable of playing up to four (or, if we’re stretching it a bit, all five) positions. The Broncos would be happy if they only have to replace one starter over the next two-ish seasons. They also know that number could, in a worst-case scenario, be three or more.

Take a peek at any sportsbook, and the Broncos’ over-under for victories floats around 9.5 games, which would leave them trailing the Los Angeles Chargers (understandable) and Kansas City Chiefs (unbelievable).

The lack of confidence in the Broncos to repeat their success traces back to Bo Nix.

He is compromised after multiple ankle surgeries.

He is a slow starter in games — six touchdowns, six interceptions in the first quarter.

He is a slow starter in seasons — 4-4 record in September, compared to 20-6 in every other month.

He is not elite against zone defenses — ranking 33rd among 45 quarterback qualifiers in success rate, per Sumersports.com.

The Broncos are about to fall from grace from a thud, if you believe wise guys and critics, and Nix does not give a (bleep).

Among the reasons that he can lead the Broncos to a Super Bowl, place his mentality at the top of the list.

“He does not care what people think. That is a superpower in this league. And he has it,” veteran right tackle Mike McGlinchey said. “It gives him the ability to go out there and play free, play loose. He cherishes it. On top of the maturity and knowledge he has gained over the last two years, he is made of the right stuff. That’s why I believe he’s the guy.”

The Broncos are five weeks from beginning one of the most scrutinized training camps in franchise history, and they appear ready because their quarterback will be.

Nix understands injuries are inevitable, but he has twice recovered from ankle surgeries in high school and college and played better. He is confident he will do so again.

There is no limp, no change in his throwing mechanics, no reason to think he will be anything but 100 percent when Denver travels to Kansas City for the season opener. When I asked him if he had concerns about his mobility, he said he was concerned he might run too much.

Nix is not shying from goals associated with franchise quarterbacks — win a Super Bowl, win MVP. If he did not think that way, why bother paying him $60 million a year after this season?

It is not a slam dunk that the Broncos repeat as AFC West champs. And it is even less likely that they secure the No. 1 seed with an opening schedule that features a six-pack nastier than Milwaukee’s Best.

But viewing Nix as a reason for regression? That is laughable.

He finished last season with 30 total touchdowns — rushing and passing — ranking ninth, ahead of Justin Herbert (28) and Patrick Mahomes (27)

He ranked seventh in 2024 with 34, including a receiving score, placing him above Jalen Hurts (32) and Jayden Daniels (31).

And no quarterback was better in the clutch than Nix last year.

He did this without a dynamic weapon. In his third year, we can finally get a better grip on his ceiling with the addition of Jaylen Waddle.

No longer will third-down calls be: “Hey, Courtland, get open.” Waddle will pair with Sutton, forcing teams to make tough decisions in man coverage — where Nix excels.

Conclusions should never be drawn in June without pads on. But it is obvious why the Broncos added Waddle.

He stops, starts, and changes directions seamlessly in traffic. Imagine Frogger as a receiver.

“There’s an element of explosiveness that I think as an offense we’ve lacked for a couple years,” Nix admitted.

While Waddle will make Nix better, the onus is on Davis Webb to help him reach his potential.

Webb will call plays through the lens of a former NFL quarterback. He will simplify the verbiage to give Nix more time at the line of scrimmage. As in years past, the Broncos will use a variety of tempos. Webb, however, provides an opportunity to throttle up and down on the same possession.

It is hard to imagine Webb not getting Nix into a rhythm more quickly in first drives, first quarters and first halves.

The Broncos know they are not going to win 11 one-score games again, a feat that tied an NFL record. They were 1-6 in 2024. So that means we should expect them to go 6-6 in 2026.

Nix can help them avoid this scenario by playing fewer close games. Starting on Oct. 25 at Arizona, the Broncos should be favored in eight straight.

This is where Nix can flex his muscles, not lose his fingernails over worst-case scenarios — ankle issues, failing to click with Waddle and Webb experiencing growing pains.

If Nix regresses, it will be on him. But serious question: When has he ever given us a reason not to trust him?

He has clumsy moments — the Broncos had the third most punts last season. Yet, he boasts 10 career game-winning drives. Wait, what was the score in the fourth quarter against Buffalo? Make it 11.

He relishes competition.

“A coach told me a long time ago that you have to be a little screwed up to be good at this and we all are in some shape and form. You look at Bo in the huddle, you see that fire in his eyes and you know this guy has got something special to him,” McGlinchey said. “You could feel it the first time he stepped on the field as a rookie. And all it has done is grow. It’s not even the comebacks that we all know about. It is just the way he has developed and trusts everyone around him.”

For the third straight season, the Broncos will be overlooked. Critics see imposters.

If the expectations of chasing a championship were too much, if the pressure was too suffocating, I would be the first to call them out.

But doubt is not a problem. With Sean Payton, it is a motivation.

Nix is not a question, his ankle be damned. He is the solution.

Well before the sting of Denver’s loss to New England in the AFC Championship Game wore off, before anybody headed out of town to decompress and before, even, players had fully cleared out of the locker room, Payton paid a visit to offensive line coach Zach Strief in his office.

The topic of conversation: The need to run the football better and more efficiently than the Broncos did in 2025, particularly after J.K. Dobbins was injured in Week 10.

“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,” Payton said Jan. 27. “That’ll be an important study. And with urgency.”

Nearly five months later, Payton, in some way, shape or form, has mentioned run game consistency nearly every time he’s talked with reporters. The Broncos must find ways to run the ball efficiently when they want to this fall, but just as critically, they must be able to do it when they have to.

The extent to which the Broncos are able to improve or fail to, of course, will not be known for a couple more months, and the full answer won’t come until January. There are pieces to the puzzle that will be critical, like exactly how Payton and new offensive playcaller Davis Webb develop their mix in the run game, that are still to be determined.

With only training camp and the preseason left before the 2026 campaign begins, though, there are already months of moves and tweaks that show how Denver hopes the puzzle fits together more completely this fall.

The Broncos are likely to rely on the same offensive line that powered the attack last year. Beyond that, virtually everything else will be at least somewhat different.

Start with the backs themselves. The Broncos re-signed Dobbins and have RJ Harvey heading into Year 2, but they also drafted Jonah Coleman in the fourth round. If Coleman is the pass protector the Broncos believe he can be as a rookie, then Denver has a cleaner-fitting set of three backs than it did last year, with Dobbins as the lead man, Harvey as a No. 2 and terrific pass-catcher and Coleman as a third-down back. They are also better fortified should Dobbins (or somebody else) miss time due to injury.

“I think it����ap important to stack that position,” Payton said Tuesday. “We drafted to a strength again.”

The Broncos found themselves short at the position last year when Dobbins sustained a Lisfranc injury in Week 10. They went from averaging 4.8 yards per carry and 128.6 yards per game over the first 10 games to 3.9 yards per carry and 104.5 per game in the final seven. Denver averaged 3.2 yards per carry and totaled 149 rushing yards across two postseason games.

The Broncos, though, didn’t just struggle in the second half of the season. Over the course of the year, they also ran the ball better late in games once they had established some rhythm.

Harvey’s average was marginally better (3.9) in the second half compared to the first (3.5), while Dobbins’ was substantially better, jumping from 4.1 early to 5.6 late.

Some of those marks could be driven by game situations — a rugged Broncos offensive line leaning on opposing defenses or the comfort of playing with a lead — but another possible factor is Payton’s preference to throw a lot of different looks and calls early in a game and then tailor from there.

If the Broncos can identify things that they can truly hang their hat on, perhaps Webb will get to them earlier and hammer them harder out of the gate.

“It����ap going to look a little different, obviously, there’s a different guy calling the plays,” right tackle Mike McGlinchey said Wednesday. “That’ll be a little different and I think that will be an advantage, especially early for us. We open up with a division opponent and they don’t have any tape on you, that����ap always helpful.”

Once the element of surprise wears off, the key will be how Webb approaches calling the run game. He said earlier this month he expects Denver’s approach will change throughout the year and noted that the Los Angeles Rams didn’t commit to playing with three tight ends so frequently until six weeks into last year.

Still, what Webb sees as the Broncos’ bread-and-butter should be clear before that. Is it the smorgasbord approach Payton’s taken? Is it more reliance on the outside zone principles the Broncos talked up last summer and never really fully leaned into during the season? Something else?

McGlinchey sounded like a guy who’d played in an outside zone-based system for Kyle Shanahan in San Francisco the first five years of his career on Wednesday when outlining another key.

“I think having play(-action) pass work off of it will be a huge factor as well,” he said. “If you can make everything look similar, it makes it hard to diagnose what����ap about to happen. We’ve been working on those things wholeheartedly.”

A lot has to go right in order to have a consistently productive run game. The Broncos could certainly use better blocking overall from their receivers and tight ends. They need a Year 2 jump from Harvey, and perhaps nothing would go further than Dobbins staying healthy and playing the first full season of his career.

Time will tell on all of that. In the meantime, though, Denver has pieced together several changes that amount to a fairly substantial revamp. The Broncos have retooled the running back room itself, changed the offensive playcaller and appear poised to take a somewhat different approach schematically.

All of that must come together around a front-line group that has established itself as one of the best in the business.

“At the end of the day it����ap an attitude and I think we have that attitude,” McGlinchey said.

A few weeks shy of his 32nd birthday, why is he playing the best football of his career?

“Just work. And I started to find the belief and understanding of what we are doing,” McGlinchey told The Post after the Broncos’ final day of mandatory minicamp on Wednesday. “It’s a funny thing that even nine years in, you still battle those mental demons because you are so competitive.”

McGlinchey should have earned All-Pro honors last season. He was that good, building off consistency that started when he returned from an MCL knee injury on Nov. 17, 2024 at New Orleans.

He allowed two sacks in 2025. He was a force in the run game.

The idea that he would age better than Ryan Seacrest seemed preposterous during his first season in Denver. McGlinchey had seven false starts and seemed out of sorts. He signed a five-year, $87.5 million free agent contract, a reward for a lifetime of work.

Then came the hard part: He had to live up to it.

“That can go one of two ways, as you know,” McGlinchey said. “And Zach Strief changed my life.”

Strief, the Broncos offensive line coach, walked in McGlinchey’s shoes as a longtime right tackle for Sean Payton with the Saints. Strief understood what McGlinchey needed to do to reach his potential. But McGlinchey was not initially ready for the advice.

“We butted heads at practice, on the sideline, in the meeting rooms,” McGlinchey said.

McGlinchey cared about football too much, his passion blending into obsession. It led to unintended consequences of selfishness and doubt.

“I just think I wanted it so bad. I was told by somebody that if your greatest strengths aren’t disciplined, they very easily can become your greatest weakness. So my love for this was getting channeled in ways that were not helping me. It was becoming too pressurized. The expectations were externally focused instead of inwardly focused,” McGlinchey said. “At some point, you have to just let yourself play football. And Zach and I have done a lot of work on that. He has such a unique ability to connect, teach and make you believe.”

Standing a few pointy strands of hair shy of 6-foot-8 and weighing 315 pounds, McGlinchey fills the doorway to the Broncos locker room. His voice straddles somewhere between Alan Roach and Barry White, deep, unmistakable. It is difficult to imagine him wavering at anything.

Creative tension with Strief ultimately became his compass direction. McGlinchey listened, let go. He also let himself relax, realizing there were things more important than a three-point stance with two kids — 2-year-old son Tripp, 4-month-old daughter Rosie — and a loving wife, Brooke, at home.

“Being a dad has helped. It’s the first time there was something more important than what I was doing on the field. It has given me freedom,” McGlinchey said. “Even if I stink out here, my kids don’t care. Nor will my wife. It really puts things in proper perspective.”

Entering his fourth season in Denver, the focus has narrowed. The buy-in is a given. McGlinchey remains a critical piece in a Broncos offensive line that ranks among the NFL’s best. Pro Football Focus graded them seventh in run blocking and first in pass blocking.

The linemen play with violence and technique. McGlinchey said he has never been around someone who coaches pass protection better.

“It’s all based on, can you stop power? Can you stop bull-rushes?” Strief said.

Bo Nix might as well have been behind a paywall last season. The Broncos’ 23 sacks allowed were tied for the fewest in the league.

“The entire offensive line is solid,” said Matt Ryan when he was a CBS analyst before becoming the Atlanta Falcons president of football this offseason. “I think Mike played some of his best football. And there’s no one tougher than him.”

Ryan would know. He is McGlinchey’s cousin and has followed his football journey for two decades.

What makes McGlinchey’s renaissance fascinating is how it ties into the group.

When Payton took over in February of 2023, rebuilding upfront was a top priority. He signed left guard Ben Powers and McGlinchey in the first hours of free agency. With camp six weeks out, the Broncos boast two All-Pros — left tackle Garett Bolles and right guard Quinn Meinerz — as well as a steady center in Luke Wattenberg, the powerful Powers and ascending McGlinchey.

They are committed. Invested. Protective.

It’s not just the bodyguard stuff that teammates appreciate. It is the effort, the edge, the mentality created that permeates the building.

“When we first got together that first year, we said to each other: ‘This team won’t change unless this room changes.’ And if this room can be the strength of this organization, then this team is going places. And Zach has put that at the forefront of everything we do,” McGlinchey said. “It is not about being great individually. It’s about being great together.”

The best groups function like five fingers forming a fist. But while expectations in the building center on a Super Bowl, outsiders revel in punching the Broncos in the throat. Their over-under for wins is 9.5 in most shops — a prediction that, if it comes true, would leave the Broncos out of the playoffs after losing in the AFC Championship Game last season.

“I don’t really care that Vegas has us with the third best odds to win the AFC West. Whatever. What we have is self-belief and proof. And our head coach won’t allow us to worry about that. He has a great message every morning in the team meeting,” McGlinchey said. “He knows how to channel our focus.”

While the roster retention raised external concerns, it is clear that the players see it as a strength. They were a failed fourth down, one dreadful turnover and an ill-timed snowstorm from reaching the Super Bowl.

These are not the Broncos of four years ago. This is definitely not the Mike McGlinchey of 2023.

He is driven to help the O-line become the reason the Broncos cross the finish line.

“If you are right in the slot where you want to play with the mindset you want to play with, there is nobody out there can mess with you and nobody out there that can mess with our group. That is the belief that Zach gives us,” McGlinchey said. “We are going to play six teams in the first six weeks who are all going to be among the favorites to win the Super Bowl. You want the opportunity to compete against the best in the world. Myles Garrett, T.J. Watt, Maxx Crosby, they should feel the same way about our line. T.J. Watt has to get past me, Myles Garrett has to get past Garett Bolles, Chris Jones has to get past Quinn Meinerz. I would say, ‘Good luck.’ If you don’t have that mindset, you have no chance to be successful in this league.”

Summer arrived a day early for the Broncos.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“I like where we’re at,” Payton said.

The Broncos offensive lineman showed enough during training camp to make the 53-man roster despite going undrafted in the spring of 2023.

He was placed on injured reserve after the roster cutdown, and remained there for the entire year and didn’t appear in a game.

Palczewski would work out on Denver’s rehab field on a daily basis, wondering what the future might hold.

In November that year, the Broncos announced plans for a new, cutting-edge $175 million training facility and headquarters project. The next summer, they broke ground on it.

Now the building is nearly complete. Team employees are set to be moved over in less than two weeks. Broncos players will be in their new locker room and digs for training camp next month.

Palczewski last week leaned against a bench after wrapping up the first week of OTAs and looked across at the gleaming new building and smiled, recalling “vividly,” he said, when he first heard about the plans.

“I was like, ‘Oh, it����ap going to be open in 2026?,’” he recalled. “That’ll be pretty nice. I hope those guys enjoy it.”

Turns out, ‘Palcho’ is going to enjoy it, too. Perhaps for many years to come.

The versatile offensive lineman got his biggest opportunity yet in 2025, starting 10 games for injured Ben Powers at left guard — a position he’d never played before — and excelled. This spring, the Broncos rewarded him with a two-year, $9.5 million contract. It came with a $2.5 million signing bonus, $5.75 million in guarantees and can be worth up to $11 million based on incentives.

It also came with a clear message from the club: We may not have a starting job for you at the moment, but you’re a big part of the plan going forward.

‘I’m thankful every single day’

Palczewski was an offseason priority for Denver’s coaching staff and front office. His deal was finalized on March 5 and had been in the works for about a week before that. That meant it was done before the club’s retention run of four more signings closer to the start of free agency, plus Palczewski was a restricted free agent, so the team could have taken more time had it wanted to.

To Palczewski, the wait from the crushing end of Denver’s 2025 season to hearing a deal was on the table felt long enough. It started with exit meetings, when he asked head coach Sean Payton and general manager George Paton what his future looked like in Denver.

“It����ap so weird, you go from thinking you could go to the Super Bowl, we get our hearts ripped out and then you’ve got to do that,” he said.

They told him they’d get to him. There’s a timeline for these things.

“Then it����ap just silence. We’ll get to it when we get to it,” Palczewski said. “But when it happened? I mean, I’m ecstatic. Looking back at the road, especially being an undrafted guy, I’m thankful every single day.”

Even more rewarding for the Mount Prospect, Illinois native: Since he went undrafted, he chose the Broncos in the first place. He saw Denver generally and offensive line coach Zach Strief specifically as a place where he would get good coaching and development.

Three years later, Palcho has started games at two different positions, earned the staff’s trust and landed a quality contract.

He’s done it, he said, by consciously paring down what he puts thought and energy into.

“When I first got here my rookie year, I was just like, ‘How do I stay here the longest?’” Palczewski said. “And I kind of got into a mental, like, I don’t know how to say it without swearing. I just was, like, I just thought about the big picture too much. ‘What about this and this and this?’ A week or a week and a half in, I was just like, ‘screw that.’ I’m just going to focus on what can I get better at today? Today, today, today. I’ve got 24 hours, what can I do? And then, that way, it felt a lot more manageable.

“I didn’t have to worry about the anxiety of, what����ap going to happen at the end of camp with cuts? Well, if I worry about it and I’m too scared to play free, guess what����ap going to happen? I’m getting cut. 100% chance.”

Finding a future fit

Now the next question: Where will Palcho play in 2026 and beyond? He’s shown he can handle left guard, where Powers is back but entering the final year of his contract. Palcho can play right tackle, where Mike McGlinchey has two years remaining and is coming off one of his best pro seasons, though he turns 32 during training camp.

The Broncos brass knows it can’t have five premium-paid starters forever. They’re wary of getting old across the board at the same time. They’ve got enviable depth and versatility behind their high-priced starting quintet.

All of that means Palczewski’s time is coming. It’s a matter of when.

In the meantime, the soon-to-be 27-year-old is willing to acknowledge that starting is a goal, but he also continues to be adamant about the benefits of playing in a group that����ap been largely intact the past three seasons.

He also knows the career arc of his position coach well. Strief, a seventh-round pick in Sean Payton’s first New Orleans draft class, spent five seasons as a reserve. Then he started 85 games over six years as the Saints’ right tackle.

Palcho? Undrafted in Payton’s first Denver class. Now going into Year 4 still perhaps ticketed for reserve duty, but with a future and a contract that suggests he’ll crack the lineup at some point.

“I think Palcho is in position to be a starter for a long time,” defensive tackle Malcolm Roach said recently.

Until then, Palczewski will keep focusing on small things and trusting they’ll lead to big ones. For himself and for his team.

“It����ap simple for anyone to say, ‘I want to be a Super Bowl champion,’’ Palczewski said, using a high-pitched kid’s voice for emphasis. “OK, well can you (freakin’) back-side cutoff? Can you hit your target on a guy when his shoulders are down on a bull rush? How do you just work it and focus on the process each day?

“If you take care of that, it’ll go on further.”

Hours after sources confirmed to The Denver Post that Pat Surtain II will get a $5 million raise this year the star cornerback stood in front of benefactors at Topgolf in Centennial for another event in support of his Patrick Surtain II Foundation. Across the last three years, the organization has expanded to siphon out donations for supplies to teachers and establish grants for “Inspiration Rooms” at schools across Colorado, as Surtain’s become a literal massive face in Denver alongside his Broncos ascent.

And the organization moved quickly, with Tuesday’s raise, to preserve Surtain as a pillar in Denver — or risk future discomfort around one of the most team-friendly long-term contracts in the NFL.

“I think it����ap a testament to ownership, and the Broncos as an organization,” Surtain told reporters Tuesday night, asked about the raise. “And, we talked about it, honestly. I want to be here, I want to be a Bronco. So they heavily invested into me, as well, as much as I invested into them.”

“So it’s an honor and a privilege,” he continued, “to be here still.”

That last word was key, and key to Denver’s rationale with the contract adjustment. The two-time, first-team All-Pro cornerback signed a four-year, $96 million extension ahead of the 2024 regular season that almost immediately made him a bargain. Since Surtain’s deal, several other cornerbacks have signed deals at higher per-year averages, including Sauce Gardner ($30.1 million), Derek Stingley Jr. ($30 million), Jaycee Horn ($25 million) and Jalen Ramsey ($24.1 million).

In March, finally, the Rams blew the top off the cornerback market by trading for Chiefs star Trent McDuffie and handing him a four-year deal worth $31 million yearly. That ensured Surtain, who won the 2024 Defensive Player of the Year trophy, sat as the sixth-highest paid cornerback in the league — and would further sink after an anticipated big-money extension for Patriots star cornerback Christian Gonzalez.

“Everybody needs corners,” one NFL agent told The Post in May, discussing the cornerback market. “It����ap going up like crazy. Why? Because wide-receiver values are going up.”

In that vein, then, the Broncos acted pre-emptively to align Surtain’s value closer to an inflated market. He’ll see his base salary increase by $5 million, putting his 2026 payout at $22.6 million from the original $17.6 million he was set to make, according to OvertheCap data.

Still, giving a player a merit raise while already on a long-term deal is a fairly unique move. On Tuesday, Surtain downplayed any notion that he would’ve been dissatisfied playing on his current deal — saying it didn’t cross his mind to hold out through the offseason program — but acknowledged he and the organization saw eye-to-eye on a raise.

“I think we mutually agreed on where things was headed,” Surtain said. “But also, everything was positive.”

If Surtain makes another Pro Bowl or All-Pro team in 2026, too, he’ll receive another bonus of $5 million for 2027, a source told The Post. Nothing is sure in football, but if Surtain is healthy, he is likely to make either an All-Pro team, the Pro Bowl or both. He’s been named to the Pro Bowl four straight seasons and has been named first-team All-Pro twice (2022 and 2024) and second-team once (2025) in that same span.

A straight addition of $5 million in base salary for 2026 would bump Surtain’s cap number this year to $21.832 million, second-highest on the Broncos behind only RT Mike McGlinchey ($23.775 million). Denver has plenty of cap space to absorb the adjustment, having entered June with $25.665 million in room, according to OvertheCap.

That gives the Broncos space to add another free-agent piece before the start of training camp if they so choose, after an offseason of quiet only broken by a splash trade for Dolphins star Jaylen Waddle. But Surtain expressed significant confidence in the roster, as presently constructed.

“I think we’ve got a great team all around,” Surtain smiled, asked on the Waddle addition. “So it����ap more than enough, honestly.”

“Everything we’re doing is hard to accomplish,” Payton said in June of last year, “when that group is not what it needs to be.”

It has been, in Denver. Under offensive-line shepherd Zach Strief, the Broncos have spent handsomely to build one of the most stable fronts in the NFL. The franchise has committed over $341 million in total contract value for starters Garett Bolles, Ben Powers, Luke Wattenberg, Quinn Meinerz and Mike McGlinchey since 2023. And the front office has had its faith rewarded for choosing to preserve that group, rather than splinter it for cheaper options.

That investment has suddenly never been more important heading into 2026.

On Monday, the NFL world erupted as the Los Angeles Rams tossed in Pro Bowler Jared Verse and several draft picks for Cleveland Browns titan Myles Garrett. If this were any previous season in Payton’s tenure, this would’ve meant little to Denver. But the league’s rotating schedule ensures the Broncos will face the Rams in Week 3, and now have to mark up a protection plan for the man who .

The Garrett trade, now, only adds another layer to a brutal early-season stretch for Denver — and specifically for the Broncos’ offensive front. Strief, in truth, might not be able to take an actual breath until late October. Consider this run of pass-rushers:

• Week 2 vs. Jacksonville and OLB Josh Hines-Allen, who tied with Nik Bonitto for the fourth-most quarterback pressures in the NFL in 2025 (80)
• Week 3 vs. the Rams and Garrett, the NFL’s reigning Defensive Player of the Year
• Week 4: at San Francisco and former Defensive Player of the Year Nick Bosa, healthy again after missing all but three games in 2025
• Week 5 at Chargers, who recorded the two highest pressure rates on Bo Nix of any game on Denver’s regular-season schedule last year
• Week 6: vs. reigning Super Bowl champion Seattle, who recorded the fourth-highest pressure rate of any team in 2025

Such a gauntlet of a schedule is ultimately a major reason Denver has so much money tied up in its offensive front. In fact, the Broncos have the third-highest percentage of 2026 cap room tied up in their top seven offensive linemen, according to Spotrac cap-space data assembled by The Post.

This has been Denver’s philosophy since Payton arrived in 2023, as the Broncos’ rebuild began with the signing of McGlinchey and Powers to big-money free-agent deals.

“When Strief first came here and we brought in Mike, brought in Ben, the very foundation of our offensive line is being able to be ready for the biggest moment on the biggest stage,” Meinerz said in late January before the AFC Championship game against New England. “And so, as we’re continuing to play in these bigger and bigger games — our entire philosophy since they got here, for years at this point — that����ap how we treat every single two-minute we work on in training camp. That����ap how we work every single third-down period is, we want to be perfect.”

They were not, in that season-ending 10-7 loss to the Patriots. New England shook free to shake up backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham one too many times, and Patriots defensive lineman Christian Barmore made clear postgame that .

“First-team All-Pro,” Barmore said, after Meinerz was tagged by Pro Football Focus with surrendering five pressures in New England’s win. “Our coach tells us all the time that All-Pro don’t mean (expletive), excuse my language. Doesn’t matter. Our coaches tell us every time, ‘They All-Pros, they the targets.’ So that’s the mission. He’s a hell of a player, but this is for us.”

On the whole, though, Denver’s offensive front largely met the moment in pass protection in 2025. According to a film review by The Denver Post, Broncos offensive linemen were only directly responsible for 14 sacks surrendered to players they were blocking in the 17-game regular season. And the Broncos held five of seven winning defenses they faced last year under their overall quarterback pressure rate in the regular season, according to data collected from Next Gen Stats.

They’ll need more in 2026, and their collection of opponents helps explain the Broncos’ offseason approach to their offensive line. As the calendar has now flipped past June 1, Denver could save itself over $30 million in cap space by cutting or trading McGlinchey and Powers. But the organization has long avoided cutting productive players solely to take money off the books, and would likely only consider moving Powers if reserve Alex Palczewski or fourth-round rookie Kage Casey clearly outplays him at left guard come training camp.

The gang is all back, then, for a third straight year with the exact same starting offensive line. And the Broncos will need all five pieces to topple a Thanos-level threat in Garrett.

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

They have, relatively speaking, very few question marks.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

OFFENSE (25)

Quarterback (3)

Bo Nix, Jarrett Stidham and Sam Ehlinger

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

Running back (4)

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

Also: Jaleel McLaughlin, Tyler Badie and Cody Schrader

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

Tight end (4)

Adam Trautman, Evan Engram, Justin Joly and Caleb Lohner 

Also: Dallen Bentley, Nate Adkins and Lucas Krull

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

Wide receiver (5)

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

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

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

Offensive line (9)

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

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

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

DEFENSE (25)

Defensive line (7)

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

Also: Matt Henningsen, Jordan Miller and Kristian Williams

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

Outside linebacker (4)

Nik Bonitto, Jonathon Cooper, Que Robinson and Dondrea Tillman

Also: Drew Sanders, Johnny Walker and Dasan McCullough

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

Inside linebacker (4)

Alex Singleton, Justin Strnad, Jonah Elliss and Red Murdock 

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

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

Cornerback (5)

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

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

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

Safety (5)

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

Also: Tycen Anderson and Parker Robertson

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

SPECIALIST (3)

PK Wil Lutz, P Jeremy Crawshaw and LS Mitch Fraboni

Also: LS Luke Basso

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