This week, Broncos quarterback Bo Nix placed 18th in ESPN’s , compiled from anonymous conversations with various NFL staffers. Indicative, certainly, of league-wide belief that Nix has steps to take entering Year 3: he did finish 26th of 33 qualified quarterbacks in passer rating (87.8) and 28th in yards-per-attempt (6.4) last year, after all. But the mid-tier placement given Nix’s league-leading seven game-winning drives in 2025 and playoff win over Bills star Josh Allen.

Was such a ranking fair? Who knows. Probably a bit low. But we here at The Post are not here to speculate about league-wide hot takes; we �󲹱�����decided to speculate, though, about Broncos-specific hot takes that have been simmering in the back of our minds for an offseason since Denver fell to New England in last year’s AFC Championship.

With that in mind, Broncos beat reporters Parker Gabriel and Luca Evans have assembled individual lists of five sizzling predictions for Denver’s 2026 season (plus one completely off-the-wall take), a couple of short weeks removed from the start of training camp. Time for our own slightly informed think-piece. Let’s dive in.

Disclaimer: We are in no way advocating for these to come true or rooting for these predictions to take place. These are solely opinions and should be viewed as such.

Parker Gabriel’s takes

No. 1. I am less confident in the Broncos making the postseason this year than I was at this time last year.

To be clear, I think the Broncos will make the playoffs and will be surprised if they don’t. But the first-place schedule is no joke. The opening six games are brutal. The stretch run is no joke. Denver has been largely healthy in the regular season since Payton arrived. The changes on defense in both personnel and staff might be a bit underrated. Plus, when a team is so good in one-score games one year, there’s natural wonder about regression the next year. Plus, Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson didn’t make the playoff field last year. Teams will beat up on each other, but 10-7 isn’t a sure ticket to the playoffs this fall in the AFC.

No. 2. Que Robinson will finish second on the team in sacks

Part of this, naturally, is because of the uncertainty around Jonathon Cooper’s future as he faces a felony assault charge stemming from June’s domestic violence-related incidents with his former girlfriend. Part of it, though, is because Robinson looks like a true breakout candidate going into his second season. Could Jonah Elliss get to 10 sacks with more playing time? Sure. Might Zach Allen set a new career-high and flirt with double digits? Certainly possible. But Robinson’s explosiveness and his ability to play in any down-and-distance situation make him an intriguing candidate behind clear team sack leader Nik Bonitto.

No. 3. The Broncos won’t trade a player who is slated to have a substantial role this summer, but they should

Nearly every move Denver has made this offseason has been about winning this fall. Certainly, they’ve done some long-range planning in how they structured contract extensions and they opted to let John Franklin-Myers walk even though technically they could have afforded to keep him, but by and large this looks like a team that����ap putting a lot of chips in right now. Makes sense with Bo Nix still on his rookie contract. We also know depth is paramount as seasons grind on. Still, if the Broncos are relatively healthy by the middle of training camp, there’s a decent chance somebody else around the league will want somebody on Denver’s roster. Is that Ben Powers? Riley Moss? Troy Franklin? Jarrett Stidham? The Broncos profited nicely by trading Devaughn Vele last summer. They can afford to do something similar this summer if a team comes calling in a similar fashion, and it’d be good business for the future.

No. 4. The next Broncos assistant to get a head coaching interview is Evan Rothstein and it will happen this winter 

Three Broncos assistant coaches got head coaching interviews this winter: Webb, Joseph and special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi, so they’re off the board. Rothstein isn’t an on-field coordinator like those three — his title is director of game management and assistant QB coach — but Payton holds him in extremely high regard. He’s instrumental in the building, even if he doesn’t get a ton of public mention by Broncos coaches and staffers. He’ll get some head-coaching buzz and will be a sneaky offensive-coordinator candidate in Denver if Webb gets a head-coaching job.

No. 5. Sam Ehlinger will win the No. 2 quarterback job in training camp 

Stidham has been the No. 2 for each of the past three years and is the favorite to win that job again. Webb, though, was really high on Ehlinger as a free agent last spring and the former Colt and Texas Longhorn impressed coaches in his first season with the Broncos. Let����ap say they’re about even through training camp. Do Payton and Webb carry on with the status quo? Or might a bit of a shakeup — with the possibility that Ehlinger’s mobility might be appealing in a short stint relieving Nix — be in order? In this situation, the Broncos probably keep all three on the 53 unless a trade partner materializes for Stiddy.

And one (crazy) extra: If the Broncos win the Super Bowl, Sean Payton will publicly muse about retirement but find the allure of a potential dynasty too much to pass up

One of the more hilarious nuggets in Seth Wickersham’s opus on the Broncos’ postseason run was Payton saying he wants to outlast NFL commissioner Roger Goodell by at least a year, essentially just so he could say he did. But if Denver wins a Super Bowl, Payton will have little left to prove. His Hall of Fame bona fides will be beyond doubt. There would be a post-Super Bowl Sean McVay-esque ‘will he or won’t he’ period fueled by Payton himself. Ultimately, though, the bet here is he’d decide he was about to win three more in the next four years.

Luca Evans’ takes

No. 1. The Broncos start the season 0-3, Myles Garrett sacks Bo Nix at least twice in Week 3, Sean Payton slowly inserts himself back into play-calling duties, and the Webb-Payton hybrid brain trust rides to a top-10 offensive finish.

Is the 31-year-old Davis Webb built to handle the natural ups and downs of his first full NFL season as a play-caller? Yes, if you ask him. Will the notoriously hyperactive 62-year-old Payton give him the full leeway to work through the bumps, in literally the first time Payton has ever given up play-calling? Hard to see. I keep thinking back to a text I sent former Saints running back Deuce McAllister in February before Webb was officially given the keys, on whether he could actually see Payton making the move.

“Hey Luca nice to meet you,” McAllister wrote back. “Sean’s not giving up play calling.”

Of course, Payton did. That text was still indicative of how tightly the coach has gripped his offense over the years, as central to not only his NFL identity but his identity as a person at large. Payton’s Broncos teams have started the season 0-3, 1-2 and 1-2 in his Denver tenure; these Broncos will now face a healthy Patrick Mahomes at Arrowhead on “Monday Night Football” to start the year, then come home to play a Jacksonville team that outplayed them last season, then play the arguable Super Bowl favorites in the Los Angeles Rams.

In this scenario, I think Payton quietly maneuvers for more play-calling influence after an early-season slump, a combination of tough love and natural acclimation steadies the ship, and a Webb-Payton hybrid attack puts the Broncos back in the playoffs as a middle-ish AFC seed.

No. 2. The Broncos trade Riley Moss by November’s trade deadline, and maybe sooner.

Moss has a near-perfect demeanor as Denver’s CB2 opposite Pat Surtain. But there is a wide set of factors working against his long-term staying power in Denver. Firstly, he’s a proven, productive cornerback who could hit free agency after 2026 and earn a few million more than the Broncos would be willing to pay him. Secondly, the Broncos may need to pick between an extension for him or nickel Ja’Quan McMillian, who’s arguably more valuable to coordinator Vance Joseph’s defensive system. Thirdly, the Broncos have 2025 first-round pick Jahdae Barron now likely set to compete with Moss at outside cornerback come training camp.

The Broncos are in a tricky spot here. If they start Moss, first-round pick Barron would likely play a reserve, situational role for the second year in a row. If they bench Moss, he will naturally lose trade value over the course of the year. The most logical option for the front office would be to either start Moss with the idea of moving him closer to the deadline or trade him sometime before the start of 2026.

No. 3. Rookie running back Jonah Coleman catches 40-plus passes in 2026. 

This isn’t really that hot of a take. Third-string back Tyler Badie saw 31 targets last season, and Coleman will likely play more than Badie did. He caught a bunch of passes during the Broncos’ summer program and had 31 catches for 354 yards in 12 games at Washington last year. And despite the heavy involvement of RJ Harvey, Payton’s offenses have long featured two running backs in the passing game: think Pierre Thomas and Darren Sproles in 2013 (77 and 71 catches, respectively).

No. 4. Que Robinson racks up at least eight sacks. 

Robinson is a high-upside pass-rusher who took time to develop as a rookie and finished with 1.5 sacks combined across the regular season and playoffs. There’s direct precedent here with the name ahead of Robinson on Denver’s depth chart: Nik Bonitto, a high-upside pass-rusher who took time to develop as a rookie and jumped from 1.5 sacks to eight in his second NFL season.

The Broncos already wanted to create more snaps for Robinson in 2026, and now face an uncertain situation at OLB, as starter Jonathon Cooper is facing a felony assault charge in Douglas County District Court that could lead to league discipline. Regardless of how Cooper’s legal process plays out, Robinson will see the field more in his second season and is poised to capitalize on snaps playing alongside Zach Allen and Denver’s interior pass-rushers.

No. 5. Payton convinces Taysom Hill to come out of semi-retirement midseason. 

Payton loves his guys. Hill, a quarterback-turned-���dz���ٳ󾱲Բ���who played a key part in Payton’s offenses late in his time in New Orleans, is one of his guys. He is also currently unsigned, and his NFL career might be over at 35 years old after a season averaging 3.3 yards per offensive touch with the Saints.

At least one interesting name seems to find its way into Payton’s locker room every season with depth necessities, though. Remember Marcedes Lewis last year? I have no idea what role Hill would play, or if he’d even get a snap in 2026. I’m just thinking it’ll happen.

And one crazy extra: Frank Crum accounts for at least three offensive touchdowns.

The world changed on Jan. 17, 2026, the day that reserve tackle Frank Crum became an eligible receiver. Crum’s goal-line touchdown in the Broncos’ wild-card win over the Bills was lost in the immediate emotion of Bo Nix’s season-ending injury, but should not be forgotten.

Payton loves gadget players, and the 6-foot-7-plus Crum is agile and versatile enough to legitimately handle a handful of short-yardage touches. Plus, longtime Payton ally John Morton gave him the idea for that Crum play, and Morton is now back permanently on staff. The cards are perfectly aligned for some Crum-mania.

That is the conclusion drawn when digesting ESPN’s quarterback list as ranked by league executives, coaches and scouts. Mahomes was No. 2, Herbert seventh and Nix 18th, the Broncos’ star the equivalent of a college team in the “others receiving votes” in the Associated Press poll.

On the surface, it makes sense. When considering careers, Nix pales to Mahomes, an all-time great, and Herbert, who has long had head-turning numbers. But the inference is that the rankings implied where the quarterbacks stood entering 2026.

Instead, it comes across as a lifetime achievement award because a strong case can be made that Nix has been as good or better than both over the past two seasons.

Blasphemous? Let’s go to the stats.

Take the names off:

Quarterback A: 21-9 record, 65.3% completion, 7,515 yards, 48 touchdowns, 22 interceptions, 70 sacks, 729 rushing yards, 7 TDs.

Quarterback B: 22-11, 66.1%, 7,597 yards, 49 TDs, 16 INTs, 95 sacks, 804 rushing yards, 4 TDs.

Quarterback C: 24-10, 64.8%, 7,706, 54 TDs, 23 INTs, 46 sacks, 786 rushing yards, 9 TD, 1 TD receiving.

Mahomes was A), Herbert B) and Nix C). And are we sure that is the order in how they have played since 2024? Again, not saying Nix is better overall, namely because he must get more consistent in the middle of the field and against zone defenses, but he has better numbers.

Nix has accounted for 64 scores, compared to 55 for Mahomes and 53 for Herbert. He is not as accurate, but by a whisker. He is every bit the ground threat, something he promises will remain as he returns from ankle surgery and a follow-up cleanup procedure. He has more rushing touchdowns than Mahomes and Herbert, and sits 18 yards shy in yards from Herbert.

All three take care of the ball at a similar rate. Mahomes has 22 picks and five fumbles, but none lost for 22 turnovers. Herbert boasts 16 picks, 13 fumbles and four lost for 20 total. And Nix checks in at 23 interceptions, seven fumbles, two lost, for 25.

And perhaps most salient is how Nix prevents negative plays. We can all agree he needs to become more explosive, and the onus is on offensive coordinator Davis Webb to use a simplified run game and Jaylen Waddle in concert to make this happen.

But Nix has only been sacked 46 times in his career, compared to Herbert’s 95 and Mahomes’ 70 over the same stretch.

Mahomes will be ranked in the top 10 for the next 10 years given the NFL industry’s inability to assign a year-over-year WAR value like major league baseball.

The love for Herbert is more puzzling. He looks the part, but has never won a playoff game. And miss me with blaming the offensive line the past two years. He played terribly against Houston and New England. Mike McDaniel could help Herbert reach his potential this season. But at some point, he has to meet the moment in the biggest games.

By comparison, Nix is tied for the lead in fourth-quarter quarterback comebacks (eight) and game-winning drives (10) since entering the league.

It comes down to this. Nix must improve. But he deserves more respect.

Rock on: Under new management, the Rockies received high marks for the most recent draft, especially with first-round shortstop Tyler Bell and starting pitcher Logan Reddemann. Both profile well for the new philosophies implemented at the plate and on the mound. Bell struck out at an 18.5% rate, while walking 15.4% of the time last season at Kentucky. And Reddemann features a live fastball with a varied arsenal of five to six pitches. This is how change happens, by identifying what a future Rockie looks like before he enters the organization

Horsepower: Five Broncos made Pro Football Network’s Top 100 entering the 2026 season: Pat Surtain (seventh), Garett Bolles (24), Quinn Meinerz (35), Zach Allen (56) and Nik Bonitto (59). If Nix cracks this list before next season, it means the Broncos will have likely reached the Super Bowl.

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Legend has it that, as young as 6,��the Broncos’ new offensive coordinator and play-caller watched college football games with a pile of little index cards beside him. On them, young Davis would sketch out the plays he happened to like.

Only that’s not the best part. Because the legend then goes on to say that he’d then leave those note cards around home where his father Matt, a high school coach, could find them. Bathrooms. Nightstands. Chairs. Just some suggestions to add to the old man’s script for the next game.

“Whenever we would start shutting down the field house at 6:30 or 7 p.m. out-of-season, he’d be in there with a passing net and cones,” former Prosper (Texas) High School coach Kent Scott, who’d tutored Webb during his senior prep season, told me over the phone Monday. “Davis would have the thing set up and he’d be putting himself through drills.”

“You ever kick him out?” I asked.

Scott laughed.

“No, I loved him up there,” he countered.

The coach paused, then laughed again.

“His dad had a key, anyways.”

Davis Webb always kept an audible in his back pocket. Even if said audible happened to be dangling from a chain.

“He was just a worker physically, a worker mentally,” Scott continued. “Davis is unbelievable. One of the best I’ve ever coached.”

Another pause.

“Maybe I should say,” Scott stressed, correcting himself, “one of the best that I ever had a chance to be coached by.”

Teachers, as a general rule, never forget two types of kids: The first are royal pains in the backside. The second are prodigies.

For Scott, who coached for nearly 25 years before moving to the insurance biz, Webb was the latter some 13-14 years ago, a man — mentally, emotionally, physically — among boys.

And Scott had some dudes over the years. One of Webb’s Prosper teammates was Torii Hunter Jr., the son of the former MLB great Torii Hunter. One of Webb’s predecessors at the program was Tyler Toney, co-founder of the “Dude Perfect” sports/comedy troupe. In hindsight, Scott sees parallels in both, even if Webb was more of the perfect dude.

“Tyler (didn’t have) the measurables or anything like what Davis had,” Scott recalled. “(But) you looked at him and said, ‘It doesn’t matter what this guy does, he’s going to be successful at what he does.’ Davis is cut out of that same cloth. That same mold.”

Sounds a lot like Bo Nix, now that you mention it. Which is why Scott thinks this whole Broncos thing is going to work, even though Webb is a relatively young 31. It’s why he thinks life at Dove Valley with Sean Payton and Nix is as much a stepping stone for The Davis Train as it is a destination gig.

Webb has been studying film, dissecting tendencies, concocting schemes, staying late and sleeping on cots in meeting rooms since he was a teenager. Nobody’s going to know the playbook better. Or apply it more wisely. It’s one of the reasons he immediately won the QB1 job as a graduate transfer with the Cal Bears in 2016, just as he had done as a high-school senior transfer at Prosper a few years earlier.

“Sometimes, kids have a hard time adjusting when you switch schools, especially as a senior,” Scott reflected. “And he didn’t miss a beat.”

The fates helped. Long story short, Webb’s coach at Keller (Texas) High, Kevin Atkinson, was leaving the program after Davis’ junior year. Matt Webb had pitched for the job, but it went to someone else. Scott said he knew Matt and had told the elder Davis a few years earlier that if he ever wanted to join the Prosper staff, they’d find him a spot. Davis was just a bonus. Some bonus.

“I got a phenomenal coach,” Scott recalled. “And obviously, I got a really good football player, to boot.”

Matt coached receivers at Prosper. When the offense would come together for drills, that’s when the fireworks started. Scott still chuckles at some of the exchanges between father and son.

“It was kind of like having two coaches,” the former high school coach said. “They would talk to each other. And they didn’t always see eye-to-eye on things, either.”

And the note-card story might not even be the best anecdote to sum up what the Broncos are getting into. For that, you have to go to The List.

When Webb entered the NFL, according to the New York Post, he kept a list of everyone who’d ever doubted him with him. He reportedly looked at The List prior to every game as a reminder. A driver. Every slight was a pilot light for whenever that little flame inside started to flicker and die.

This from a guy who shared Texas Tech QB duties with Baker Mayfeld, only to get Wally-Pipped in Lubbock after a season-ending ankle issue cleared a path for a kid named Patrick Mahomes. Davis entered school early, finished his undergrad work at Tech early, and wound up throwing for 37 touchdowns during that grad-transfer season at Cal.

“Davis had some good measurables and things, a good build at 6-4, 6-5,” Scott said. “But I don’t think he was really good as a junior-high QB. In fact, I’d heard stories about him being on a ‘B’ team or a ‘C’ team in junior high.”

Better believe that those freaking coaches made The List, too.

“He obviously experienced some failure,” Scott said. “His response to failure is to pick himself up, dust himself off and go back to work.

“(Webb) always struck me as a very emotionally mature, a very strong individual. And I think that he’s one of those guys that would be fueled by failure. Nobody wants to fail. But I can’t imagine him not taking something (as a playcaller) and learning lessons from it.”

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.

Throughout a 16-minute news conference at Dove Valley under a sun so sweltering that it actually shut down some reporters’ smart phones, Nix was careful. With his thoughts, mostly. With his answers, certainly. But also by not appearing to put too much pressure on that surgically-repaired right ankle, the joint that’s bent so much of ����apountry out of shape.

After all, isn’t $60 million pressure enough?

Because that’s what’s at stake.

For Nix. For the Broncos. For an NFL orange-and-blueblood at the apex of a Super Bowl window, wondering if the thing that had eluded them for nearly a decade, a franchise quarterback, has a second act after January surgery.

“Well, my concern is, they say it’s back, healthy, as good as new, and I hadn’t really been like that in a couple years,” the Broncos’ recovering signal-caller told us after Day 1 of mini-camp. “So my concern is, (I) may move around a little bit better.”

Nix smiled.

We laughed.

Meanwhile, the building going up at Bo’s eyeline, over on the other side of the practice fields, is part of a $175-million facelift of the Broncos’ training facilities.

If No. 10 lands a long-term deal at the market rate for an NFL QB1, his next contract could be valued at twice that.

Spotrac.com’s “Calculated Market Value”

Is Bo worth that?

This is the season we find out.

Is the mobility there? The speed? The mojo? The comfort? Nix’s rookie deal is up after 2027, which means if the clock on negotiations for Bo’s second NFL contract isn’t seriously underway, it will be soon.

Broncos coach Sean Payton is signed through 2030. Kansas City reportedly just gave Patrick Mahomes a new eight-year deal that runs through the 2033 season.

Burnham Yard is slated to open in 2031. Are you the guy, I asked Nix Tuesday, who leads that roster out onto the field, five years and several miles down the road?

“Yeah, I think that question sort of answers itself,” Nix replied. “I think everybody that’s in the league wants that long-term extension, wants to play for their home team.

“And for me — I love being here. I love where I’m at. I love this team. And, you know, I’ll play as long as they want to have me.”

Bengals signal-caller Joe Burrow in 2023 signed an extension worth $275 million over five years, at $55 million per season. Mahomes’ new pact in Kansas City is worth $504.75 million — or $63.1 million per year.

If you’re the Walton-Penner Group, you’re not paying that kind of money for a “mobile” QB who can’t run and plant and cut anymore. Not after the Russell Wilson Experience.

Or for a signal-caller who loses the clutch and swagger genes that helped the Broncos post a 24-10 record over the last two regular seasons.

“I’m pleased with his ability to lead our team,” coach Sean Payton said. “I’m super excited. I think I mentioned this last week, and I think this is important. I don’t think when he’s fully recovered and he’s out here participating, (that) you’re going to see someone that doesn’t move. All of that, some of his superpowers, his ability to move and not get sacked, find throws — I don’t think any of that will be impacted at all. I think he’s working extremely hard on this recovery. I think he’s more than ahead of schedule.”

Nix doesn’t have to be Superman. . But this Broncos’ offense will only fly as far and as fast as Bo can carry it.

“Win a playoff game (this past season), and it sort of allows you to go into the next season, really; the whole entire season led us up to this,” Nix said. “But once you win a playoff game, you really feel like you can do sort of anything. Especially with the team that we have coming back, we feel very confident that we can start winning these playoff games and host (postseason games) for longer.

“So it builds your confidence in a way that you can’t get anywhere else. And so just from my experience to be able to play in a game like that … it’s a challenge, but like I said, the pressure, it’s a privilege. And I just really enjoy it. And I really enjoy being in those positions. And I really enjoy having the football at the end of the game.”

Few NFL QBs evade pressure the way a healthy Nix does. But a $300 million future hanging over your head, and the questions over the next six months as to whether you’re worth it, will be hard for anybody to escape.

Week after week, his digits splayed across his helmet in anguish after passes ticked off his hands and into the grass. Hufanga was a 200-pound whirling dervish from the moment he joined the Broncos’ secondary last year, and earned a second-team All-Pro nod for it. He also left five potential interceptions on the ground of NFL stadiums across the country, and visibly reacted to each as if he’d just been handed his entire season paycheck and accidentally dropped it down a drain.

Going back through DB tape from '25 after Talanoa Hufanga's discussion of dropped interceptions at OTAs last week. Story later.

But man, was Hufanga's self-disappointment evident on a few plays last year. A four-part portrait of four dropped picks:

— Luca Evans (@bylucaevans)

Months later, despite a full 17-game slate that exceeded anyone’s expectations for his first year in Denver, Hufanga’s hands still burn from the unfortunate memories.

“A lot of it (was) left on the board, and a lot of it was me, man,” Hufanga said last Thursday, when asked how the Broncos’ defense can be even better in 2026. “We left a lot out there in terms of interception-wise, and that����ap exactly what we’re preaching this year is taking the ball away. We did well in third downs and sacks and things like that, but when we look at the lack of production, it starts with me.

“I gotta lead that better.”

Missed opportunities for turnovers

True to Hufanga’s words, last season’s Broncos had one of the stranger profiles of any dominant NFL defense in recent memory. In coordinator Vance Joseph’s third season at the helm, Denver led the league in fewest yards allowed per play and tied for fifth in NFL history in team sacks; the club also tied for the fourth-fewest turnovers forced by any defense in the NFL. Despite Joseph’s creativity and aggressiveness on situational blitzes, the Broncos thrived more on situational conservatism: they tied for the league lead in fewest red-zone touchdowns allowed (21) and finished  in opponents’ third-down conversion rate (33.8%).

One needs nothing more than a handful of clips of dropped picks, though, to know Joseph’s unit still has acres of room for growth. And on the Broncos’ first day of OTAs last week, the 53-year-old veteran coordinator delivered a pointed message to his defense.

“Basically saying, ‘It����ap a new year,'” cornerback Pat Surtain II recounted last week. “‘Whatever you did last year doesn’t matter now. It����ap a new slate. Teams are getting better and better.

‘We gotta find a way to get better.’”

Indeed, opposing AFC West offenses have improved, after the Broncos surrendered more than 20 points in just one of six regular-season divisional matchups. The Chargers’ offense will likely see a jolt with new play-caller Mike McDaniel. Patrick Mahomes looks probable to return for Week 1 in Kansas City, with reigning Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III now in tow at running back. The Raiders have their franchise quarterback in Fernando Mendoza as well as veteran Kirk Cousins.

The Broncos’ defense, by contrast, lost starting defensive lineman John Franklin-Myers in free agency — and didn’t add a single external piece beyond a handful of rookies and special-teamer Tycen Anderson. It’s unreasonable to expect Joseph’s defense to put up 68 sacks again in 2026. And such a level of retention necessitates internal defensive progress; that begins with the Broncos’ ability to create turnovers, which Joseph and head coach Sean Payton stressed both internally and externally throughout 2025.

“That’s something,” Payton said after a December win over Kansas City, “that we’ve gotta improve on.”

The secondary’s lack of ball-production, in fact, became the subject of good-natured locker-room needling early in the year — and something slightly more, as weeks went by. The Post watched back tape of every Denver defensive pass breakup in 2025; players dropped a total of eight passes in coverage in the regular season, which would’ve jumped the Broncos’ league ranking in total interceptions from tied for 18th to tied for fifth.

Simple body language was even more telling. Surtain slammed his palms into the turf repeatedly after a fourth-quarter play in Week 7 against the Giants, when he and Ja’Quan McMillian tipped a can-of-corn pick away from each other. Two plays later, in that same game, safeties Hufanga and Brandon Jones ran smack-dab into each other and dropped another easy would-be interception from New York quarterback Jaxson Dart.

“I swear — as much as the lack of production in interceptions right now on the back-end — but we are trying to get the ball,” Hufanga reflected, a day later.

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He, for one, has a built-in excuse. He missed much of his 2024 season with San Francisco , and told reporters last week he wasn’t able to work his hands on a JUGS machine last offseason. He continued wearing a club on his wrist in 2025, too, and said his hand-eye coordination was “not great.”

“I’m going to be honest … I don’t know how I dropped all of them,” Hufanga smiled last week. “Because some of them, like — I’m being real with you, man, it dropped right in my lap. And I didn’t come out with them.

“And at the end of the day, a lot of my teammates would say, ‘You ain’t living right.’ So we gotta change that.”

This phenomenon extends beyond just picks, too. Despite a record-flirting sack season and excellent production against the run in 2025, the Broncos tied for the second-fewest fumbles recovered of any NFL defense last year.

There is no obvious external upgrade to that turnover margin, unless rookie linebacker Red Murdock manages to roll his NCAA all-time lead in forced fumbles into smashing NFL ball-carriers. Any salvation, then, lies within.

“What, realistically — we lost JFM, which is a guy that I’m gonna probably miss a lot,” Hufanga said. “But we did a really good job of being able to keep everybody intact, defensively at least.

“And so we’re super excited just to get this ball rolling.”

Sean Keeler: That it’s OK to keep the floor for 2026 a Mile High. Just don’t stick the ceiling in the mesosphere. I‘ll stand by 11-6, but I’d be stunned if they came storming out of the gates to get there. The NFL loves competitive socialism, which is why it’s so hard to be consistently great or to consistently stink it up the way, say, the Browns have for decades. Since the AFL-NFL merger of 1970, only three teams have won 14 or more games in consecutive NFL seasons: Chicago in ’85 and ’86; San Francisco in ”89 and ’90 and New England in ’03 and ’04. There’s a difference between parity and punishment. This fight card sure feels like the latter.

Renck: A lot of people are saying ����apountry should relax. That this gauntlet is the price of returning to relevance. Win a division. Play the best teams the following season. Some of us remember covering great Broncos teams year after year. The schedule is not the issue. It is the order of the games. The Broncos’ opening stretch seems punitive. You are telling me the league could not have mixed in an Arizona, Las Vegas or Miami early? They did that for the Chargers and Chiefs. It allows a team time to gain traction. The Broncos must run on rocket fuel out of the starting block or risk going up in smoke. I am predicting the Broncos go 3-3 to open, but not with much conviction.

Keeler: I want to argue for 4-2, but I’m not sure I can with a straight face. Because that means either a.) stealing a road game against Jim Harbaugh and a probably healthy Justin Herbert, or b.) sweeping the Rams and Seahawks at home. It’s almost as if the league went to extra lengths to throw a wrench into Payton’s favorite (and most successful) month, historically — ����apountry’s October features trips to San Francisco (Oct. 4) and to the Chargers (Oct. 11) as a back-breaking back-to-back, followed by the defending Super Bowl champs (Seattle) coming to Denver on a short week. A 2-1 record in September, even with Patrick Mahomes, Trevor Lawrence and Matthew Stafford on the fight card, is doable. But if you want to get to November with a winning record, it might become mandatory.

Renck: If Bo Nix is healthy, if Davis Webb is still calling plays, the Broncos will take off in October. Yes, even with games at San Francisco, at Chargers and home against the Seahawks and Cardinals. While Payton owns a 4-7 record in September with the Broncos, he loves October more than pumpkins. He boasts a 10-3 record for Denver in the second month. That means the Broncos will win two of three games against the 49ers, Chargers and Seahawks before clobbering the Cardinals. It’s all about surviving the start, getting fat on snacks before finishing with the Bills, Patriots and Chargers. The Broncos will be a better team with a worse record, finishing 11-6, a mark that could mean a tiebreaker determines the AFC West champ.

Keeler: Unless you’re Pete Carroll, precedent with NFL head coaches matters. Even if you don’t like Payton’s play-calling, you have to like the resume. Sunshine Sean won 13 or more games in a season four other times as the boss of the Saints. In the following campaign, his teams won 13 games again once, 12 games once, and 11 games twice. Average victory total? 11.75. If you’re setting the over/under at 10.5 wins, give me the over, my friend. Just don’t give me the over by much.

Or else why would the NFL bank on its most bankable quarterback, who tore his ACL last December, being ready for one of its most bankable windows (“Monday Night Football”) on one of its most bankable weeks (Week 1) and in one of its most bankable matchups (Broncos-Chiefs)?

Let’s get this out of the way first: The Grading The Week staff thinks the NFL is a giant, soulless, monolithic, cash-grabbing kaiju. But dang it, NFL officials sure know how to market and brand the living heck out of the most inane stuff. And at the most inane times of the year.

Fans can watch rookies run drills and pump iron at the scouting combine at Indy in February. The draft now looks (and sounds) like a football version of Lollapalooza. And the schedule release has somehow turned into one of the showcase events of the spring, elbowing its way onto the stage in the middle of the NBA and NHL’s postseasons with a mix of everything to

Speaking of fun, how about Rehab Bowl I? Between the Broncos and Chiefs, the best sports science staff wins. It’ll be like the pit crew competition during Indianapolis 500 weekend — only the wheels in this case are Bo Nix’s surgically-repaired right ankle and Mahomes’ new left knee.

Broncos getting Patrick Mahomes in Week 1 — B

Yes, the Broncos’ 2026 schedule is about 17 levels of pure brutality, especially before Halloween. So is it better for the Broncos to get the Chiefs out of the way early? And get Mahomes on the road out of the way early?

Well, historically, that glass is either half full or half empty, depending on which precedent you want to cherry-pick.

Good: Denver is 5-2 against the Chiefs in September since 2000. Less good: The Broncos went 1-1 when those matchups were played in KC.

Good: Mahomes has dropped two of his last three Week 1 contests. Less good: He’s 6-2 lifetime in openers as the Chiefs’ QB1, and 3-1 at home.

Good: Deshaun Watson and Robert Griffin III lost their debuts in the season immediately after they’d undergone major knee surgery. Less good: Tom Brady, Kyler Murray and Joe Burrow all won their “comeback” appearances.

Burrow’s 2020 season ended with damage to his ACL, MCL and PCL. In his first start of 2021, Cincy Joe completed 20 of 27 throws for two scores in an overtime win over Minnesota.

Murray blew out his knee in Week 14 of the ’22 season. During his ’23 debut, Murray beat Atlanta at home.

Brady tore his ACL early in 2008. In his 2009 lid-lifter, he rallied the Pats to a 25-24 win over Buffalo on “Monday Night football,” throwing for two scores over the game’s final 2:10.

OK, so that last one wouldn’t be a particularly good omen.

Although this nugget is: Before 2026, the last time the Broncos had to travel to Kansas City for a road opener was … 2015. Just sayin’.

Antonio Senzatela’s rebound  — A-minus

The Rockies wrapped up their Keystone State road trip with a 2-4 record. Chase Dollander hurt his arm just as he was turning a corner. Michael Lorenzen and Coors Field look like a match made in Hades.

But, in the spirit of the Avs channeling all those 2022 vibes again, the baseball guys on the GTW crew are trying to keep it light and sunny when it comes to the news at 20th & Bleak.

After all, when wins are scarce, you celebrate the small ones, right? Mickey Moniak’s making a whale of an All-Star case, although catcher Hunter Goodman may pip him for that token Colorado spot. Starter Tomoyuki Sugano is keeping his walks down and some hopes high. And yet one of the most pleasant surprises of early May is how a guy the GTW kids had given up on — Antonio Senzatela — suddenly looks like the Rox’s most interesting potential deadline asset.

Colorado’s once-struggling righty is turning heads as a lockdown bullpen option. Heading into this weekend’s homestand, the 31-year-old had posted a 2,38 ERA over 11 1/3 innings at home this season, which is strong. He’d put up a 0.56 ERA in 16 innings on the road, which is even stronger. And, more to the point of a rebuild, tradeable.

And if Thursday night on social media was any indication, ����apountry has indigestion.

At age 62 and a first-time grandpa, Sean Payton operates on the premise that everything that demands attention does not deserve attention. But even he must take notice of the Broncos’ buzzsaw of an opening schedule.

Who did Payton (bleep) off in the league office now?

In the first six weeks, the Broncos host five playoff teams from a year ago. The one that did not qualify? The Kansas City Chiefs. And Denver gets them on the road on Monday night to open the season.

How is that for a punch in the eyeballs?

In Payton’s first three seasons, the Broncos never faced more than two previous postseason qualifiers in the first six weeks, and played six total. They went 2-4 in those games.

Payton might as well puff on a Sherlock Holmes pipe, given how much he loves all the smoke. But this is a bit much.

It looks like the NFL put out a fraud alert on the Broncos, and wants to find out if 2025 really happened. You know the 14 wins, the AFC’s No. 1 seed, the ending of the Chiefs’ nine-year stranglehold on the division?

It is unfair. And it is perfect.

Payton never has feelings of inadequacy or insecurity. Give him a test, make him an underdog and he rallies players around the cause like Mel Gibson in “Braveheart.”

Remember the Chiefs’ game last season without J.K. Dobbins and Patrick Surtain? Or the smothering win at Tampa Bay in 2024 after an 0-2 start?

The Broncos’ first goal is to win the AFC West. That guarantees a home playoff game. Staying tethered early represents the biggest challenge to a second straight division crown, along with surviving the final three weeks against the Bills, Patriots and Chargers.

There is a strong chance that the Broncos will be better and win fewer games. You probably know this if you have gone through the schedule game by game and realized they face 10 playoff teams in 2025.

Thank goodness for the Jets, who have the league’s longest playoff drought, the Cardinals, who hired Nathaniel Hackett to run their offense, and the Dolphins, whose roster suggests they are not even trying.

By the morning of Oct. 16, we will know whether the Broncos are legit. That is the day after facing the defending champion Seattle Seahawks at home on Thursday night, one of five standalone games. If they navigate at the Chiefs, Jaguars, Rams, at the 49ers, at the Chargers and Seattle with a 3-3 record or better, they will be poised to reach the Super Bowl.

Anything less will be alarming and likely feature questions about Payton’s next contract and quarterback Bo Nix’s health.

So, let’s borrow Nathan MacKinnon’s goggles, flippers and snorkel and dive in:

Week 1 at Chiefs

San Jose Jazz Summer Fest annoyance index on scale 1-10: 7. The Broncos would have preferred this game at home. The Chiefs are 8-2 in their last 10 openers at Arrowhead Stadium, and it likely marks the return of Patrick Mahomes. But the future Hall of Famer is coming off ACL surgery, might lack mobility, and has a receiving corps that frightens nobody. Steal this game, and the Broncos will have a card up their sleeve all season.

Week 2 vs. Jaguars

Jazz Fest annoyance index: 6. The “smaller market” Jaguars delivered a big punch to the Broncos’ gut last season, snapping their 12-game home winning streak. Denver fears no one. But facing the Jaguars after the Chiefs and before the Rams is nasty business. Trevor Lawrence is willing to take sacks to make big plays. This needs to be the game the Broncos show how takeaways have become a top priority.

Week 3 vs Rams

Jazz Fest annoyance index: 3. Sean McVay is who Sean Payton used to be. The wunderkind continues pursuing a second Super Bowl title. Payton, who is close friends with the Rams coach, was 46 when he won his ring. He hasn’t been back since. McVay claimed his at age 36. He boasts the reigning MVP in Matthew Stafford and weapons that conjure images of the Broncos with Peyton Manning. This could be the day where we find out if Davis Webb is really calling plays or the offensive coordinator in name only.

Week 4 at San Francisco

Jazz Fest annoyance index: 8. The music has died. But the Rock ‘n’ Roll marathon takes over the streets, including a 5K and KIDS ROCK event on Saturday. If vice president of operations Chip Conway, a tireless worker in a thankless job, books the wrong hotel, he will likely be forced to run back to Denver. The good news? The 49ers are aging like Nick Nolte, making this a very winnable game.

Week 5 at Los Angeles Chargers

Jazz Fest annoyance ranking: 4. Forget the glitz. Los Angeles is a business trip. Jim Harbaugh has given the Chargers a jolt, but this isn’t exactly like playing Pete Carroll’s 2004 USC Trojans at the Coliseum. The problem with the Chargers in this spot is the physical games leading up to it. The Chargers want a rock fight. The Broncos’ ability to pull off the upset will depend on limiting penalties and multiple big strikes from Justin Herbert, who figures to improve under former Smoky Hill grad Mike McDaniels.

Week 6 vs. Seattle Seahawks

Jazz Fest annoyance index: 6. By my math, the Broncos are facing the league’s best two teams back-to-back. It was for games like these that Denver acquired Jaylen Waddle. You have to be able to keep up with the Rams, and deliver a few gash plays through the air (looking at you Waddle) and on the ground (hello, J.K. Dobbins) to stiff arm the Seahawks’ pass rush.

It definitely feels like something is up with this schedule set up. It is tilted with heavyweight matchups. And September has not been their friend. Payton is 4-7 in the first month as the Broncos coach.

If they can hold serve through mid-October, the next eight weeks offer a runway for a long winning streak or a 6-2 stretch.

The schedule matters more to teams with poor coaches and bad quarterbacks. That is no longer the case with the Broncos. They are equipped to get in the ring or an octagon.

But even for those who believe orange sunsets are an ode to the Broncos must acknowledge the challenge ahead. Those opening six games are straight out of the SEC. In all, they play six teams projected to win 10 games.

The Broncos will return to the playoffs. Mother Nature helped knock them out last year. The challenge this season will be avoiding a haymaker from September and October.

Sean Payton’s 2026 team is deep, talented and heads into its offseason program with perhaps as few pressing roster questions as any team in football.

Even with that continuity and talent, though, the Broncos are in for a rugged start to the regular season. That became clear Thursday evening when the NFL released its entire 272-game regular-season slate.

Denver already knew it was opening the year on “Monday Night Football” at Kansas City, which may mark quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ return from a torn ACL and LCL in December. It is the first time in Broncos franchise history the club has started the season at Kansas City.

The Chiefs, who won the division nine straight years and are widely expected to bounce right back to contention this fall, are almost the lightweight on the first third of Denver’s schedule.

After the division rival to open the year, the Broncos play five straight 2025 playoff teams, including a Sept. 20 home opener against Jacksonville — Liam Cohen’s team was the only one to beat the Broncos at Empower Field last year during the regular season — and a home Sunday night showdown Sept. 27 against the Los Angeles Rams.

That home pair is followed by back-to-back road trips to San Francisco and the Los Angeles Chargers before Denver returns home on a short week to host Super Bowl-champion Seattle on Thursday Night Football in mid-October.

The first six coaches the Broncos face this fall: Andy Reid, Cohen, Sean McVay, Kyle Shanahan, Jim Harbaugh, Mike Macdonald.

By the time Payton’s experienced bunch hits a mini bye week ahead of a Week 7 trip to Arizona, it will be battle-tested and its true colors likely at least partially revealed.

The schedule isn’t easy from there, but it does present an opportunity to get hot. After a Week 10 bye, Denver faces Las Vegas twice, Miami and the New York Jets over a five-week span that also includes a Black Friday standalone game at Pittsburgh.

If the Broncos hit the home stretch feeling playoff vibes, they’re also going to catch a bit of deja vu. The final three games start with the club’s playoff opponents from January, in Weeks 126-17, in Buffalo and New England. Then the regular season closes just as it did a year ago, with Harbaugh’s Chargers visiting Empower Field.

The rematch with Buffalo is on Christmas Day, marking the fifth standalone game of the regular season for Denver. That is among the league’s best in terms of prime-time television slots and shows, and Denver, once again, is a premium placement for the league.

There’s every chance, given the NFL’s flex scheduling and the league’s policy of leaving the final two weeks of the schedule to be determined late in the season, that the Broncos could play in standalone windows a half-dozen or more times.

Denver plays 10 games against teams that were in the 2025 playoffs and two more against the Chiefs, who missed for the first time in a decade. The Broncos won the division by three games last year and, according to some betting services, have the third-best odds of winning this year behind the Chiefs and Chargers.

“We have a tremendous amount of respect for the teams that are in our division. Everybody is trying to get better, and that����ap the biggest takeaway,” owner and CEO Greg Penner said earlier this spring “We’re never going to feel satisfied. We’re not going to feel like we’ve done enough, so we’re always going to be pushing for that next level and what it takes to get there.”

This regular season will be a gauntlet.

They are already slated to play on four different days: Sunday, Monday, Thursday, and twice on Friday, during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.

They will have a target on their backs.

They start at Arrowhead and the road looks rough for quite a while after that.

They kick off in four months.

Let the countdown begin.

Preseason info. The Broncos open the preseason at 5 p.m. Aug. 14 at Atlanta. They then host preseason games against Green Bay (Aug. 20-23) and Minnesota (Aug. 27-30), though exact dates and start times have not yet been announced. Preseason games will be broadcast locally by 9News.

Denver Broncos 2026 schedule