This is not the weekend for the Broncos’ front office to be sensible with its Walmart money. Oh, no. The 2026 NFL Draft is a free hit. An open goal. A chance to patch holes on a good roster by taking some chances.

Denver was an ankle away from the Super Bowl last season. A freak injury from waving high enough for everybody in Kansas to see.

Act like it.

Be bold.

Be brave.

Please don’t be an inside linebacker.

We’re wringing our hands about pick No. 62, of course, a second-round selection that, as of Monday, is the Broncos’ first — and maybe only — chance to make a draft weekend splash.

Six of the Broncos’ seven picks are slated to fall on Day 3 (rounds four-seven), and three of those six currently lie in the final round. History says Paton and Payton will move around some if they see someone specific they like. But a class this small needs to be about quality — not quantity. So as the weekend approaches, here are five things you’d hope general manager George Paton and coach Sean Payton keep in mind as they shop for depth:

1. If Vanderbilt tight end Eli Stowers is available at No. 62, or close, move Heaven and Earth to make him yours

Linebacker or tight end? Defensive lineman or slot weapon? You nuts? Did you watch the Commodores? Don’t overthink this. Stowers is a tight end who looks like a wide receiver (6-foot-3, 239 pounds), runs like a wide receiver (4.51 in the 40) and jumps like a wide receiver (45.5-inch vertical).

He’s a matchup nightmare, the kind of target who leaves linebackers eating his dust and safeties flailing to reach jump balls they can’t touch. Stowers the draft epitome of a “Joker,” the TE/WR/inside triangle hybrid that Payton spoke about so lustily in January 2025. He’s Evan Engram. Only younger. Sure, Stowers doesn’t grade out well as a blocker. Guess what? You’ve got plenty of “blocking” tight ends on hand already.

2. Grab a contributor Friday — save your projects for Saturday

Could you find a starting-caliber linebacker late in the second round, too? Sure. Assuming Texas Tech’s Jacob Rodriguez is still on the board, he’d make a perfect understudy for Alex Singleton, who’ll turn 33 in December. Or Justin Strnad, who turns 30 in August.

But with only seven picks, and a ton of contracts slated to end after the 2027 season, isn’t time of the essence? Shouldn’t you be saving the understudies for Saturday?

This is a back-filling draft, not the foundational one that 2024 turned out to be, thanks largely to Bo Nix. But winning now means getting guys who can play, and contribute, from the jump. Ideally, that means finding someone in Round 2 who could start for you in a pinch as soon as Week 1. Nail that, and the rest is gravy. Because if you don’t …

3. Don’t fall in love with BPA if that BPA has nowhere to play

See: Barron, Jahdae. Paton’s 2025 BPA with selection No. 20 a year ago. As in, “Best Player Available.” Or is it, Best Pick Again?

You can never have too much of a good thing in this league, given the volatility and injuries. Unless, of course, it’s nickel backs, especially when you’ve already developed an undrafted one (Ja’Quan McMillian) into one of the best in the AFC. At the time of Paton and Payton picked Barron, last spring’s first-round selection, folks didn’t whoop and holler. Barron, a speedster who raised Cain at the University of Texas, made folks sort of shrug and go, ‘Yeah, well, makes sense.’

The Broncos late in 2024 got badly exposed along the perimeter in the passing game — that Cleveland game on Monday Night Football was wild — while Pat Surtain II was out and a still-young Riley Moss was forced to cover more WR1s.

Fast forward to the fall of ’25, where Moss improved and cut down on his penalties. McMillian upped his game another level and rarely left the field on passing downs.

Before last spring’s draft, pundits and fans pleaded for the Broncos to add more help at running back, tight end and wide receiver. By and large, they’re making the same pleas in 2026 — which doesn’t exactly speak well for the early returns on Barron in the first round or for RJ Harvey in the second.

There’s time. But 2027, when so many of the contracts for this current core are slated to run out, gets closer by the day.

4. Remember Bo Nix — and Nix’s costs down the road

If someone offers you picks — even late ones — for the 2027, 2028 or 2029 drafts, you’d be wise to listen. Nix’s four-year rookie deal The Bo Show is slated for a $5.08-million cap hit this fall, and a $5.92-million hit in two seasons. Justin Herbert’s first post-rookie-contract extension had an average annual value of $52.5 million. Joe Burrow’s post-rookie extension featured an AAV of $55 million.

That raise is coming. More rookies will need to be coming, too.

5. Secure a RB you can trust in January

Here’s an idea. Actually, think of it as an exercise. At some point on Saturday, or before, look at the tailbacks most likely to be on the board after Round 2 or Round 3. Ask yourself, very simply, one question: Which one would I feel good about starting, at home, in late January, come rain, sleet or shine?

Because, presuming that J.K. Dobbins is going to be there is pure hubris. Or ignorance. Or both. Presume he’s not. Presume the rest of your options are still best used as pass-catchers in space (Harvey) or as special-teamers (Badie). Which of these prospects can pound the rock between the tackles 12-15 times per game against a salty defense? Which one could help grind me to a Super Bowl?

I’m partial to Nebraska’s Emmett Johnson, a workhorse for the Cornhuskers last year, a volume carrier with power who recorded just three fumbles over 550 touches as a collegian. A born closer. Johnson averaged 6.7 yards from scrimmage last November every time he saw the ball, scoring five times on 120 touches that month. Sounds like the perfect fit, on paper, for a franchise that won’t just be judged on how it finishes next season. But where.

A couple weeks before the Buffaloes began spring practices, ex-Colorado defensive coordinator  Robert Livingston ventured south to interview as the Broncos’ defensive passing-game coordinator. He was particularly “excited,” as Colorado offensive coordinator Brennan Marion recalled to The Denver Post, about the prospect of coaching Denver’s 2025 first-round cornerback Jahdae Barron. A day later, Livingston was back in the Buffs’ building in Boulder.

There, walking in around noon, was Barron — there to catch up with Marion, who was the receivers coach at Texas in 2022 while Barron was a junior cornerback.

“The synergy of them two just meeting at the same time — being right there, right after (Livingston) was at the interview the day before — sometimes, God just syncs things up that way,” Marion said.

Barron talked ball with Marion and cousin Naeten Mitchell, a safety who recently transferred to Colorado. He ventured into the Buffs’ secondary room, too, to break down tape. And eventually, as Marion recounted, he and Livingston wandered off to go watch film together.

Barron stayed until 8 p.m.

“I haven’t met a person yet who doesn’t like Jahdae,” Marion said. “I mean, he’s kinda like a quarterback from that standpoint, where — he has that infectious personality.

“So him and Rob hit it off pretty easy, pretty quick.”

Shortly thereafter, the Broncos officially hired Livingston to replace the departed Jim Leonhard. It marked a professional reunion with Denver DC Vance Joseph, who Livingston worked with in Cincinnati in 2014 and 2015. It also marked a new figure in Barron’s development. And the development of their relationship will shape one of the most important questions awaiting the Broncos in 2026 and beyond: how can Denver extract first-round value from its 2025 first-round pick?

Finding a fit in a crowded secondary room

None of the dozens of Barron’s friends and family watching the NFL Draft last year, as his old high school coach Jason Cecil said, expected the Broncos to be the team to call in the first round. Denver — a team with established starters at every cornerback spot — simply felt he was the best player available, and took him “out of a place of luxury,” as Leonhard recounted to The Post.

Barron, according to data reviewed by The Denver Post, played the fewest percentage of his team’s regular-season defensive snaps (30%) of any first-round defensive rookie in 2025, when active. He played just 17 snaps combined in two playoff games.

“He was obviously upset,” Marion said of Barron, “from the standpoint that, he wanted to have a better year.”

Leonhard’s greatest challenge with Barron in his first NFL season, as the ex-Broncos coach told The Post last summer, was getting the rookie to actually turn his brain off. To understand his assignment at nickel — sometimes fitting a run gap, sometimes checking a tight end, sometimes fluid until a play developed — and stay within that. Read. React. Don’t cheat and try to apply learned collegiate tendencies to the NFL game.

At times, Barron looked like the instinctive ballhawk he was advertised to be; at times, he also looked like a 2001 iMac desktop trying to process five billion lines of code before triggering a decision.

Denver’s staff anticipated this, yo-yoing Barron between nickel and outside assignments from the start of his rookie camp.

“The vision was, he’s going to come in and challenge,” Leonhard, now the Bills’ defensive coordinator, told The Post this week. “But it wasn’t this, like — ‘There is a glaring hole in our secondary that he has to fill.’ We just thought he complemented the room great, and we were going to be able to create ways where he can impact games as he’s growing into what his eventual every-down-player role is going to be in that system, and the NFL.”

Entering Year Two, though, the Broncos need to solidify where Barron’s strengths fit best, both for his own development and for the future of their secondary. CB2 Riley Moss is entering the last year of his contract. So is Ja’Quan McMillian. Barron may well have a better shot at competing with Moss at outside cornerback in camp, but the organization has expressed a mixed view of his abilities there.

Head coach Sean Payton said multiple times last season that the Broncos view Barron as a nickel “with outside flex.” Ex-cornerbacks coach Addison Lynch, meanwhile, pounded the table to Denver brass in the pre-draft process in 2025 that Barron could play outside corner in the NFL. Leonhard said this week, too, that he felt Barron proved in 2025 he could “be an every-down player on the outside.” But both Lynch — fired after the season — and Leonhard are gone.

Enter Livingston, now, who has a decade-long track record back in Cincinnati of developing young secondary talent in veteran-laden rooms — as the Bengals had a habit of drafting a cornerback “every other year,” former Cincinnati defensive coordinator Paul Guenther recalled.

“I’m sure he can teach (Jahdae) how to play the position a little more instinctually,” Marion said. “The thought process of, ‘OK, they’re in 13-personnel, it����ap 3rd-and-3, this is what plays are coming.’ Or, ‘They’re in 11-personnel, 3rd-and-8, this is what plays are coming.’

“And they’ll be able to play a little bit faster, with the knowledge that Rob has.”

An up-and-down rookie year

“I just know the kid that he is – the faith-based kid that he is, how hungry he is to prove and take care of his mom and all of this stuff that he has to do and he’s responsible for — I know he’s going to get it done,” Marion told The Post last week. “The hard part is knowing, will he be able to get it done there, because of the talent in the room?”

Pat Surtain II is, well, Pat Surtain II. McMillian had a career year at nickel. Moss tied for the most-penalized cornerback in the league in 2025 (12) but also led the league in passes defensed (19). Barron vacillated between playing deep in situational dime packages, fitting run gaps as a veritable off-ball linebacker in big-nickel packages, covering tight ends man-to-man, and even started a game at safety.

During one conversation last year, Leonhard reminded Barron that Surtain, who came out of Alabama at the No. 9 overall pick in 2021, actually didn’t start in Week 1 of his 2021 rookie year. And Leonhard would confirm to Barron, from the staff’s side, that there was no frustration with his development.

But there was frustration, of course, from Barron’s own standpoint, a player who Leonhard said has “extremely high standards of himself.”

In a Week 11 win over the Chiefs, the rookie cornerback turned in his best game of the year: four tackles, a pick-six that was called back, and a few reps of excellent coverage on Kansas City legend Travis Kelce. A few days later, : “Tell swift (sic) put me on a song RIGHT NOW.” His confidence was soaring. Temporarily.

Two weeks later, Barron called Marion one late night after a sloppy Broncos overtime win over the Commanders.

“One week he’s riding high and thinks like, ‘Man, I’m killing it,'” Marion said. “And the next week, he’s like, ‘Damn, Coach — I messed up on this situation, I messed up here, I was supposed to be on this guy.'”

A film review of that Barron performance showed no real glaring errors, in his 24 snaps against Washington. He was a step too slow on a couple routes covering tight end Zach Ertz. He took a poor angle on a first-down scramble by Commanders quarterback Marcus Mariota. He communicated well on multiple other snaps, and nearly jumped a route for a would-be game-sealing pick in overtime. But Barron played more than 40% of Denver’s snaps in just one more game (Week 17 against Kansas City) the rest of the season.

“In no way was it a punishment thing — like, ‘He wasn’t doing what we asked him to do,'” Leonhard said, asked about Barron’s declining snaps down the stretch. “Just plays out sometimes, when you’re not a starter, that way.”

Barron, the 2024 Thorpe Award winner as the best defensive back in collegiate football, is not cursing circumstance. He is of the mentality, as Marion described, to shape his own results.

“From a parent situation, you want your kid to be on a great team sometimes, just to see what greatness looks like,” Marion said. “And they can match that, and then it takes their game to a whole new level. So, I think that����ap what that did for him, right? Seeing, like, ‘I can’t make a mistake. These guys aren’t making any. I can’t slip up. I have to be on point at all times.’”

“He took that as a challenge. He didn’t take that as a crutch, or crippling his development. He’s taking that as like, ‘Alright, I’m gonna prove it.’”

Barron, Marion said, respects Joseph, who’s repeatedly gushed about Barron to The Post. By proxy, Marion added, Barron will respect Livingston, who worked with Joseph in coaching Cincinnati’s defensive backs in 2014 and 2015. Many of Joseph’s current defensive principles — disguising blitzers indistinguishably from players dropping back into coverage — are similar to what Cincinnati did a decade ago, under defensive coordinator Guenther. And the “roots” of Livingston’s defenses for the last two seasons at Colorado, Guenther told The Post, are the same.

Upon arriving to Colorado, Livingston organized a turnaround from one of the worst defenses in the FBS in 2023 to a top-45 unit in 2024. Colorado slumped back to 112th in the country in opponent points-per-game in a 3-9 season in 2025. But he leaves the building with high marks from head coach Deion Sanders, one of the best corners in the history of the NFL.

“I feel like, he knows, inside, what he’s done with this program,” Sanders said. “Sometimes, we get caught up in numbers, and statistics, and not understanding personnel and knowledge and what he brought to this program. He brought a lot.”

A track record of molding young talent

In February, Barron met former Bengals cornerback Darqueze Dennard for the second time at the annual Thorpe Award banquet in Oklahoma City. They’d first chatted a year before, when Barron took the stage himself to accept the trophy. The circumstances, this time around, were rather different.

Dennard offered a shred of advice.

“I told him, he’s just gotta trust them,” Dennard said, speaking on Denver’s staff. “They’re mad scientists, what they’re doing. Just put the work in, and all the rest of the stuff gon’ play out how it����ap supposed to.”

He would know. 11 years before Barron, there was Dennard, who was drafted late in 2014’s first round by Cincinnati after a Thorpe Award-winning senior season at Michigan State. Guenther and Joseph shifted Dennard from outside corner to nickel to eventually supplant aging veteran Leon Hall. It was not easily received.

Livingston, as Dennard recounted, was a constant support, then in his first year as a staffer after spending a couple years in Cincinnati’s scouting department.

“He saw more into me than I did, at the time,” Dennard said. “I just kinda wanted to be on my island, X-out this player, and be done with it for the day. Where, he wanted me to come in and actually be able to impact football games.”

“Like, I don’t know how much he can help a 10-year vet,” Early said. “But a young one that he’s able to get his hands on and that hasn’t quite had that breakout year yet — I think you’ll see a tremendous difference in whoever the previous guy was, and how Doug is able to bring those guys along.”

Those development-focused hires, then, will set up a fascinating positional battle between three younger cornerbacks vying for two starting spots — and long-term futures in Denver. The 25-year-old McMillian is playing this season on a one-year, $5.8 million tender, and is currently set to hit unrestricted free agency in 2027. The 26-year-old Moss is on the final year of his rookie deal.

The Broncos got plenty of glimpses last season of Barron in big-nickel units, and saw him play heavier snaps outside midseason when Surtain was sidelined with a pec injury. And the rising second-year corner has a chance, this spring and summer, to make it easy for Denver to decide whether to pay McMillian or Moss long-term.

“There is learning in the NFL, but nothing’s going to be new this year that he (doesn’t) already know,” Leonhard said. “But he did prove last year, he can be an every-down player on the outside, just as much as he can play on the inside and be a nickel and dime.”

At this year’s Thorpe ceremony, too, Barron and Dennard — men of faith — bonded over Proverbs 27:17, talking about Barron’s future.

“As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.”

“Get better with your sword, get better with your crown,” Dennard said. “And that was his mindset.”

“I feel like if y’all would have gotten a chance to know each other better, like, Sean Payton and how he operates,” former Saints left tackle Terron Armstead said to Greenlaw on his podcast, “if y’all knew each other, like, ‘Dre don’t need to be out here (practicing) Wednesday.'”

“Man,” Greenlaw said, with a wistful smile.

That single word said enough, on its own, about Greenlaw’s time in Denver. But the linebacker had — and implied that his adjustment to Payton and the Broncos’ intensive offseason schedule triggered the quad injury that dashed much of his 2025 season.

Two days after the Broncos’ season-ending AFC Championship loss in late January, Greenlaw told reporters that Payton was “old-school” in his methods and the “complete opposite” of 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, who Greenlaw played for for six seasons in San Francisco before joining Denver last offseason. Payton, Greenlaw explained, has his players practice six days a week. Shanahan, Greenlaw added, tries to keep players “fresh.” Different methods.

“It’s for good reasons, too,” Greenlaw said.

A tough start to a tough season

A few weeks after the Broncos cut ties with Greenlaw and he signed back with San Francisco, though, the linebacker went further in-depth on what went wrong in Denver. In March 2025, Greenlaw signed with the Broncos for three years and $35 million, coming off a 2024 season where an Achilles injury wiped him out for all but two games. And Greenlaw told Armstead that his trainer, then, told him he needed to ramp up his offseason training, because “the Broncos practice different than the 49ers.”

“Like, ‘you’re not going to be able to come in there, and just like — how you were with the 49ers, and they take care of your body, and this and that,'” Greenlaw told Armstead, recalling his conversation with the trainer. “‘The Broncos, they’re going to want you to go every day. They’re six days on. Their rehab is tough. All of this, and this.

“So I’m just like, OK, let����ap get it going. So we started picking it up, started picking it up.”

Then — exactly two days after he got to Denver, Greenlaw revealed — he strained his quad.

“Should’ve been just smarter about where I was going in, and training with them at,” Greenlaw reflected. “You go into a new spot, you want to get going, this and that and that. And basically just had some hiccups that I really felt like I had no control over.”

Greenlaw himself called Denver’s training staff “second-to-none” on Armstead’s podcast, despite the injury-riddled season. The Broncos told The Post that the organization — according to anonymized team data collected by the NFL and disseminated to all 32 franchises — ranked first in the NFL in fewest injuries (37) suffered and had the third-fewest regular-season games missed (23) due to injury among players on the 53-man roster.

The Broncos’ brass has repeatedly expressed confidence in vice president of player health and performance Beau Lowery, including an end-of-season presser by general manager George Paton.

“With Beau Lowery and our medical department, we feel really strong about their opinion,” Paton said. “And if someone’s been hurt somewhere else, maybe we feel like we can get them going. We’ll have a plan – not that other teams don’t – but we just feel really strong about our medical team, our sports performance team, where we can bring someone into our environment, and they can thrive.”

Greenlaw’s quad injury kick-started an extended rehab that featured multiple setbacks and flare-ups through training camp, as Greenlaw never saw the field in Denver until Week 7’s matchup with the New York Giants. He played much of the season on a snap count, missed two games late in the year with a separate hamstring injury, and returned for the playoffs in a time-share with inside linebacker Justin Strnad.

The 28-year-old linebacker wound up playing just 44% of the Broncos’ defensive snaps in the postseason and finished his cumulative 2025 season with 53 tackles in 10 games.

“It makes it tough when you pay a guy $11 million,” Greenlaw said on the podcast, “and he’s only on the field 50% of the time. So it made it tough for me, bro. And it made it to the point where — it kinda makes you not happy, you know what I’m saying?”

The frustration from that extended ramp-up process, Greenlaw said, even bled into a midseason suspension when the NFL ruled he’d “verbally threatened” referee Brad Allen after the conclusion of Week 7’s comeback win over the Giants. Greenlaw told Armstead he didn’t threaten Allen, but was trying to argue a pass-interference call on cornerback Riley Moss from the sidelines in the fourth quarter. Allen “gave me the side-eye,” Greenlaw recounted. And frustration boiled over, Greenlaw explained, because the Broncos were “already taking me in and out.”

So Greenlaw, indeed, chased after Allen and roared at him immediately after a game-winning field goal.

“I said, ‘Man, that was bull(expletive),” Greenlaw said on Armstead’s podcast. “‘You a (expletive) for calling that.’ And that����ap what I said to him, no cap.”

Moving on

Despite Greenlaw admitting he simply “wasn’t happy” in Denver, the linebacker said he didn’t regret signing with the Broncos. Payton, meanwhile, told reporters at league meetings in Arizona on Tuesday that it was a tough decision to cut Greenlaw.

“I would say, in my career as a coach, I’ve been lucky enough to coach a lot of passionate players that love the game,” Payton said. “And I’m always disappointed that didn’t work out. Because, I love that player. I love how he competes. And I love all the things he brings. And you feel somewhat responsible when it doesn’t work out.”

Payton defended the Broncos’ practice habits at his end-of-season presser in January, citing an injury-riddled 2022 season before he arrived as head coach, during which he said “there weren’t ever pads on” in training camp. Notably, though, the head coach implemented extended rehabilitation periods on Fridays for offensive and defensive linemen in 2025, and promised to further tweak his approach in 2026.

“Dre, Courtland (Sutton), Wednesday might just be a rest day,” Payton said in January, describing the mid-week practice approach for veterans. “I think I can be better in that area.”

The Broncos are taking an extended rest period this offseason after a deep postseason run in 2025, too. Payton said in Arizona that players won’t be back in the building at all until May, and won’t take the field for OTAs and minicamp until June.

All in all, Greenlaw made clear to Armstead there were no hard feelings. But he appeared, clearly, to be elated to be back in the Bay Area.

“I’m thankful for all of it — for Sean, and the Penners, everybody that accepted me into that organization,” Greenlaw said. “Teammates, and all.

“But, yeah, I’m excited to be a 49er.”

Well, much of the Broncos’ 2026 NFL Draft capital has up and Waddled away.

Denver’s entire outlook come April is radically different, now, after the Broncos gambled a first-round, third-round and fourth-round pick in 2026 for the dynamite addition of star receiver Jaylen Waddle (and a fourth-round pick). Suddenly, general manager Paton has significantly fewer picks to work with, as the Broncos now face the increased importance of hitting a few key roster needs in this year’s class.

The organization’s current arsenal of picks is all over the place: No. 62 (second round), No. 108 (fourth round, from Saints), No. 111 (fourth round, from Dolphins), No. 170 (fifth round), No. 246, No. 256, and No. 257 (seventh round). The clusters there strongly hint that Denver will make some sort of move up or back in the draft order. And with the haul given up for Waddle, it’s easy to see Paton wanting to take advantage of a needy franchise and moving back in April to accumulate some more mid-round capital.

With that in mind, Broncos beat reporters Parker Gabriel and Luca Evans took a new approach to this iteration of The Post’s mock draft: trades were on the table. And very much encouraged.

Once again, The Post used Pro Football Focus’s mock-draft simulator — which also allows trades and approximates fair value in pick swaps — for this exercise. The last mock draft in this space, in early March, had the Broncos selecting Indiana receiver Omar Cooper Jr. at the end of the first round. This one is … rather different.

Round 3, pick No. 70: RB Jonah Coleman, Washington

OK, let’s break this down.

There’s a realistic scenario in which the Broncos, now lacking a first-round pick, end up throwing a package together to try and move up for a gem like Notre Dame running back Jadarian Price or Vanderbilt tight end Eli Stowers. But it’d be difficult to see Paton, who has historically preferred trading back rather than trading up, taking that kind of swing after the Broncos’ trade for Waddle. Instead, The Post explored a scenario in which Paton and the Broncos trade back from No. 62.

In this PFF-massaged but not-impossible development, the Broncos find a trade partner in the Cleveland Browns, who are evidently eager to jump up a few slots to take their guy at the back of the second round. Here, Denver trades pick No. 62 and pick No. 170 for pick No. 70 and pick No. 107 from Cleveland, .

Coleman would fit neatly into the Broncos’ current running-back room, which still needs an injection of juice after re-upping with J.K. Dobbins, Jaleel McLaughlin and Tyler Badie during free agency. If Denver is still confident in the Dobbins-RJ Harvey tandem, it’ll need a durable running back who can pick up first-down work between the tackles, bruise at the goal line, and bring some third-down heft. Coleman checks every box.

The 5-foot-8, 220-pound back is solid in pass protection, and broke down schemes with Denver’s offensive staff during his NFL Combine meeting with the Broncos. He’s not especially explosive outside the tackles, but ran for 5.5 yards per carry across his collegiate career and had 15 touchdowns on the ground in 2025. He fumbled twice in 551 collegiate carries and dropped one pass in 109 total targets, according to PFF. That’s an NFL-ready ceiling-raiser right there.

Other options considered: RB Mike Washington Jr., Arkansas. Washington is shooting up draft boards after a monster performance at the combine, with a class-leading 4.33 40-yard-dash and a 39-inch vertical jump. The issue for Denver: he hasn’t been good in pass protection in college, and the Broncos need a third back whom Nix trusts in that area.

Round 4, pick No. 107: DL Chris McClellan, Mizzou

Here’s the other Browns slot, which kicks off a hilarious run of three Broncos selections in the span of five picks.

McClellan was Denver’s first known top-30 visit of the pre-draft process, and could factor into Denver’s plan to replace the departed John Franklin-Myers. He projects as more of a nose tackle at 6-foot-4 and 313 pounds — which the Broncos don’t necessarily need, with D.J. Jones and Malcolm Roach on multi-year deals — but McClellan has clear pass-rushing upside, with six sacks in 13 games last year. He’d bring another talented young body to compete in the room with veteran Eyioma Uwazurike and 2025 rookie Sai’vion Jones.

Other options considered: TE Michael Trigg, Baylor. Trigg will likely be sitting there for Denver in the middle rounds of April’s draft. He had terrific production last season, with 50 catches for 694 yards and six touchdowns. He played more from the slot than at in-line tight end in 2025, though, which would overlap with the strengths Denver already has at receiver.

Round 4, pick No. 108: S Bud Clark, TCU

The Broncos just signed a safety Thursday, agreeing to a one-year deal with former Bengals reserve Tycen Anderson. Anderson will likely compete for Denver’s third-safety job in 2026, but he profiles more as a special-teams ace. And the Broncos will have some decisions to make regarding Brandon Jones in the upcoming season, as the veteran starter enters the final year of his contract.

Enter Clark, who brings good size (6-foot-1 and 188 pounds), program loyalty (six seasons at TCU) and elite collegiate ball production (15 interceptions and 21 passes defensed across his last four seasons). His abilities in coverage would be an excellent complement next to hard-hitting chaos agent Talanoa Hufanga, and Clark’s lengthy stint in college would likely help his evaluation here in Denver’s eyes.

Other options considered: Nobody. The Post likes Clark.

Round 4, pick No. 111: G Beau Stephens, Iowa

It’s high time for the Broncos to actually spend some draft capital on an offensive lineman: they’re set to keep the same starting front around Nix for the third straight year, but have several aging starters and upcoming contract questions in that mix. It’s almost a certainty that Denver looks to their offensive line in this class, and Stephens would be a solid option.

Denver scouts Iowa well (see: Riley Moss, 2023 third-round pick), and Stephens grew from a reserve into a top-end starter across five years with the Hawkeyes. He allowed just four quarterback pressures in 304 pass-blocking snaps in 2025, according to PFF, an absurd number. Plus, he’s started solely at left guard the past two seasons — where incumbent Ben Powers’ contract is set to expire after the 2026 season. The only issue here: the arm length and overall athleticism aren’t strong.

Other options considered: LB Bryce Boettcher. At present, it’d probably be strange for the Broncos to go through April without drafting a linebacker, after cutting Dre Greenlaw at the start of free agency. Boettcher would bring another Oregon standout into the fold, and profiles similarly in makeup and play-style to current Broncos captain Alex Singleton.

Round 6, pick No. 209: FB Eli Heidenreich, Navy

This might require some tequila to be wheeled into the draft room to even think about pulling this off. But, presto! Denver suddenly has a sixth-round pick again.

At the present moment, the Broncos are sitting with three not-especially-valuable picks at the back of the seventh round. It’d be quite hard to imagine Denver taking the second-last and very-last players of April’s draft back-to-back, at compensatory picks No. 256 and No. 257. Therefore, The Post looked for a deal to move up and add an impact Day 3 skill player, and couldn’t pass up on Heidenreich here after packaging all three seventh-rounders for

Heidenreich could be Payton’s new Taysom Hill, in all but size. He has one of the more unique profiles of any player in this 2026 class, running for 499 yards and catching for 941 in his senior season in Navy’s triple-option offense. Is he a receiver? Is he a running back? Is he a fullback with slot-receiver flex? Who knows. But he ran a 4.44-second 40-yard-dash at the combine.

Perhaps Heidenreich could be an eventual replacement as both a returner and gadget weapon for Marvin Mims Jr., who’s currently slated to hit free agency after 2026. The potential here in Denver’s offense was too great to pass up.

Other options considered: TE Oscar Delp, Georgia. Delp was often stuck at the back of the pecking order of Georgia’s pass-catching options, and never caught more than 24 passes in a single season in college. His stock should rise , after being held out of the combine with a hairline fracture.

Denver’s third-year cornerback finished No. 12 in performance-based pay and brought home an extra $1,136,103 because of it.

That nearly doubles Moss’ pay for the 2025 season considering he had a base salary of $1,245,266.

Performance-based pay is supplemental income distributed each year to players by the based on a formula that weighs playing time against base salary. It is part of the collective bargaining agreement between the NFL and the and has been in place since 2002.

The Broncos are the only NFL team to not yet sign a free agent. What’s the strategy?

Any player who plays a snap is eligible and many players receive at least some money, but players who have low salaries and end up playing a lot are typically in line for the biggest distributions.

Moss started all 17 regular-season games for the Broncos and logged 97% of Denver’s defensive snaps while also chipping in 15% of the club’s special teams snaps.

The performance-based pay pool continues to rise across the league. After distributing a total of $452 million a year ago, the league distributed $542 million this year. That means each club’s roster received a total of $16.65 million, up from $14.13 million a year ago.

Behind Moss, four other players topped $800,000: Center Luke Wattenberg ($887,647), nickel Ja’Quan McMillian ($866,178), offensive lineman Alex Palczewski ($853,302) and outside linebacker Dondrea Tillman ($808,853).

Most of the top of the list is young players on rookie contracts or former undrafted free agents. The rest of Denver’s top 10 went WR Troy Franklin, OLB Jonah Elliss, All-Pro special teamer Devon Key, RB Tyler Badie and DL Eyioma Uwazurike.

Established players and top draft picks can earn a good bit of extra money too, though.

Safety Talanoa Hufanga logged 97.7% of playing time based on the calculations and took home an extra $427,726. Starting quarterback Bo Nix got $369,400 and all-pro left guard Quinn Meinerz was right after him at $308,969.

A year ago, only five players league-wide topped $1 million in PBP. This year, 25 players topped that mark.

Last year Moss was third on the Broncos at $650,787, trailing McMillian ($773,090) and Wattenberg ($662,587).

Last Tuesday, soon-to-be free-agent running back J.K. Dobbins was working out in the Broncos’ facility when he got a buzz from Payton to come up to his office. Dobbins finished, wandered up, and sat with Denver’s head coach for a simple conversation that’ll form the genesis of how Denver’s not-so-new-look run game will produce in 2026.

Payton told Dobbins that he was his guy, a source familiar with the situation told the Denver Post. That said enough. Being a Payton Guy has extended NFL lives and poured millions upon millions of dollars into loyal bank accounts. Being a Payton Guy, as former Saints linebacker Scott Shanle told The Post last year, is a “badge of honor.” And Payton has praised Dobbins to reporters throughout the year, enamored with the spirited presence of a running back who chose specifically to rehab a midseason Lisfranc injury in Denver to stick around the team rather than have surgery elsewhere.

“Losing J.K., obviously, was a tough loss,” Payton said after Denver’s season ended. “He brought a lot more to the locker room than you would know.”

And Payton made clear he didn’t want to lose Dobbins come 2026, the source said, in that March 3 conversation. The reality of Denver’s situation was slightly more complex. Jets star running back Breece Hall loomed as a potential free-agent option; asked if the Broncos would’ve gone after Hall had he hit the open market, a source with knowledge of the team’s thinking told The Post the decision would’ve been a “no-brainer.” But New York .

Other top options, from Kenneth Walker III to Travis Etienne Jr., quickly fell off the board during the early week’s legal-tampering period of free agency. Dobbins remained, as his own market started to climb. And the Broncos moved quickly to secure their 2025 leading rusher, and certified Payton Guy, on a two-year deal.

That single sequence has encapsulated Denver’s dealings — or lack of them — through the first week of free agency. The reigning No. 1-seeded Broncos are approaching unprecedented levels of run-it-back roster retention. As of Friday, Denver is the only team in the NFL to not have signed a single external free agent. Not only that, but the Broncos have signed back 16 of their own 22 players set to hit free agency since late February.

The sheer wave of Payton favorites re-upping on minimum deals — tight end Nate Adkins, fullback Adam Prentice, receiver Lil’Jordan Humphrey, running back Jaleel McLaughlin — has washed in heaps of online vitriol from Denver’s own fanbase. Internally, the Broncos’ brass went into free agency aligned without expecting to make a massive splash in the market. Externally, the Broncos’ lack of activity gives the impression of an organization that is relying fully on its Payton-era foundation for a Super Bowl leap, for better or for worse.

The reasons for this week’s developments are multifaceted. But the overall reality is simple, lying in the hands of the head man still pulling the strings despite passing off the play-calling reins.

Asked their impression of the Broncos’ approach, one NFL assistant coach told The Post: “Sean obviously likes his football team.”

Growth inside the building

There’s plenty left to play out, from the trade market to April’s draft. Denver, after all, first signed Dobbins in June 2025. But data indicates the Broncos have taken a particularly unique strategy on the first go-around of the free-agent carousel.

According to player data collected and analyzed by The Post, Denver currently has 94% of its total snaps from the 2025 season under contract. In the last 10 years, no team that’s made the AFC Championship Game has gone into the following season retaining more than 83.2% of its snaps from the previous year (the 2019 Kansas City Chiefs set this mark).

“Good call,” one NFL agent, speaking on condition of anonymity, remarked. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

Denver, of course, was the furthest thing from broken in a 14-3 season in 2025. The issue: its offense, by all accounts, was continually bent out of shape. Payton fired offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi and receivers coach Keary Colbert after a 14th-place finish in points per game in 2025 and appointed a separate play-caller — 31-year-old Davis Webb — for the first time in his 18-year head-coaching career.

At the NFL Combine, Payton was asked whether coming so close to a Super Bowl appearance influenced him to consider a big offseason swing or simply to stay the course. He directly acknowledged that the Broncos played the margins too thin in a season of white-knuckle moments at Empower Field.

“From my lens, we won a lot of games by one score or less, right?” Payton said then. “And I’m not naive enough to think those games couldn’t have swung, and you could grab any two or three. But where’s the meat on the bone?

“The meat on the bone,” he continued, “exists with our takeaways. That has to improve. Our run-game consistency, our meat on the bone relative to a number of things that we won despite maybe — not being as good as others.”

That has quickly become the defining quote of Denver’s offseason, for better or worse. Despite Payton’s acknowledgement that the Broncos couldn’t simply stand pat, they have simply … stood pat. In fact, they’ve only lost production. Defensive lineman John Franklin-Myers, who was everything from a key pass-rusher to a behind-the-scenes mentor, left for a monster three-year, $63 million deal with Tennessee. Backup safety P.J. Locke went to Dallas. Denver cut linebacker Dre Greenlaw to save cap room.

There are a few explanations for this confusing puzzle. Piece together hints from across the past year, and Payton and general manager George Paton are clearly focused on development from young, cheap talent under a new-look staff. That starts, of course, with a continued third-year leap from quarterback Bo Nix.

Payton made it clear at the combine that Nix wasn’t a factor in the decision to pass play-calling duties to Webb; people close to Nix, though, have told The Post that Nix was generally supportive of the move.

“There’s certainly things we want to be better at,” Payton said at the combine, speaking on Denver’s offensive operation. “But it����ap also being quicker. And look, it����ap only if there’s someone that you feel like is good enough to do that, and (Webb) will have that opportunity.”

The Broncos are also plenty high on their young receiving corps of Troy Franklin, Marvin Mims Jr. and Pat Bryant, with the potential to hand-pick another weapon come April: Indiana star Omar Cooper Jr. visited Denver for a pre-draft visit on Friday. Rising second-year back RJ Harvey will have every opportunity to show he can improve as a runner from an equally dynamic and shaky rookie season. 2025 third-round pick Sai’vion Jones, who received just 39 snaps in the middle of a logjam in his rookie year, could also make a push in training camp for Franklin-Myers’ role on the defensive line.

Denver has room for growth in its tight-end crop, too, despite preserving a middle-of-the-road group for 2025. Veteran Evan Engram is tight with Webb dating back to their shared playing days in New York, and Engram had a 58-yard catch-and-run in Webb’s preseason play-calling showcase against the Cardinals in August. 2025 seventh-round pick Caleb Lohner, meanwhile — a raw big body who spent his rookie year on the practice squad — is training in Texas this offseason with former Packers Pro Bowl receiver Donald Driver, Lohner’s uncle Mike told The Post.

Another possible hidden wrinkle to Denver’s offseason: the 2027 draft is already generating substantial buzz in the NFL. The Broncos will likely receive a fourth-round compensation pick in ’27 with Franklin-Myers’ departure, which becomes particularly valuable given the strength of next year’s class. This would not be a foreign strategy.

The Jaguars, who’ve also been notably quiet in free agency, have let star running back Travis Etienne and linebacker Devin Lloyd walk specifically to acquire 2027 draft capital.

“I think on its surface, you would think, ‘Oh, OK, you’re going to make picks in 2027,'” Jacksonville . “Whereas, in reality, those draft picks and having more of ’em actually allows you the luxury of remaining in the hunt at different intervals throughout the entire calendar year, for acquiring players.”

Cap considerations

The Post sourced 10 different NFL agents for their thoughts on Denver’s lack of activity early in free agency. The clear consensus from those sitting across the table: the Broncos haven’t taken a bad approach, given they were a Bo Nix fractured ankle and an AFC title game winter wonderland away from a Super Bowl appearance.

“They had a great season,” one agent texted. “It makes sense to me to build off of what you already have.”

“Why would you not bring that entire team back (?)” another agent texted. “Good chance they win it all if no Injury (sic) and maybe even just if no blizzard.”

“It is odd,” another agent mused. “They probably see it, like — it’s not worth overspending on anybody.”

That point is key. Two NFL sources who spoke with Denver earlier in the week told The Post that the Broncos weren’t willing to spend more than $10 million per year at running back and $6 million per year at tight end. That ruled out the dynamic Etienne, who signed for four years and $52 million with New Orleans. That also ruled out Chig Okonkwo — a skilled tight end the Broncos called about, according to a source — who ended up signing for three years and $30 million with the Commanders.

That’s not stinginess for the sake of stinginess. At his end-of-season presser, Payton likened the Broncos’ financial freedom from Russell Wilson’s contract to renovating one’s house.

“If I said I’m going to give you $50,000 to decorate your home, or $200,000, your home’s going to look nicer, I think, if you’re a decent shopper,” Payton said.

Denver, though, really has closer to $50,000.

Much of the Broncos’ cap room has already been gobbled up by a rollicking run of long-term extensions across the past year, locking in core pieces from Zach Allen and Nik Bonitto to Luke Wattenberg and Malcolm Roach. The Broncos really haven’t had much to spend after extensions for Alex Singleton, Justin Strnad, Dobbins and Trautman — and need to keep an eye towards possible in-season extensions for key players like Mims, Riley Moss, and Ja’Quan McMillian.

The Broncos, too, may have to consider future renegotiations with All-Pros Pat Surtain II and Quinn Meinerz, who Denver extended at such bargains in 2024 that both are now making well below their market value. Surtain’s now the fifth-highest-paid cornerback in the NFL via average salary, and Meinerz .

The draft and the trade market still beckon, and Paton and Denver’s front office head into April with enviable capital: nine total picks, after being awarded two seventh-round compensatory picks for losing free agents in the 2025 offseason. There’s still time, as owner Greg Penner said in late January, for the Broncos to be “opportunistically aggressive.”

Thus far, though, Denver’s been all opportunistic and hardly aggressive.

Hey Parker, so I’m quite, um, whelmed by the Broncos’ moves on Day 1 of free agency. We need to get Bo Nix more weapons. George Pickens would be amazing, but I feel like that’s a pipe dream. Are we looking at Romeo Doubs, Calvin Austin III or Jauan Jennings? Dallas Goedert? How about Deebo Samuel? He seems like he’d fit that joker position for Sean Payton.

— Mike, Denver

Hey Mike, you’re certainly not the only one. It didn’t figure to be a spending bonanza for the Broncos, but even given what Sean Payton, George Paton and Greg Penner said earlier in the offseason, it����ap been a slow start.

Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean ineffective. They’ve retained a bunch of their own guys, which means they think their roster is in a good spot. It����ap good to have a group of players that you want back.

Still, this was the first time since George Paton became the general manager in 2021 that Denver didn’t sign at least one external free agent on Day 1. It����ap perfectly fair to say it����ap been slower than many expected.

The Broncos came out of the 2025 season recognizing they needed more offensive playmaking. They’ve retained tight ends Adam Trautman and Nate Adkins (along with Evan Engram) and, of course, have a two-year deal in place with running back J.K. Dobbins.

But if you thought you needed more playmaking and you retain the group you had, then conventional wisdom would be that you still need more playmaking.

Of course, if the Broncos get a full, healthy season from Dobbins, that issue is partially resolved. Dobbins ardently believes that����ap going to happen. He’s also never played a full season.

I agree with your assessment of weapons and the idea of adding a dangerous pass-catcher, whether a receiver or a tight end.

The issue: Where are you going to find one? Working through your list, George Pickens would indeed be massive, but now that he’s been franchise tagged, that would require trading Dallas a premium pick and then signing him to a massive extension. Romeo Doubs agreed to sign with New England on Tuesday. Denver had interest in him, but never felt like the favorites. Calvin Austin and Jauan Jennings are still available as of this writing. So, too, are Deebo Samuel and Dallas Goedert, though age is a factor with both of those guys.

Several of the other tight ends still available fit the Engram profile as a receiver-first move player, so doubling up there doesn’t quite square. I was intrigued by Cade Otton and Charlie Kolar for their all-around abilities — certainly some projection involved there, especially with Kolar — but Otton went back to Tampa Bay and Kolar got a strong deal at $8 million per year with the Los Angeles Chargers. There, he’ll play for Jim Harbaugh after playing for John Harbaugh in Baltimore.

Denver could see if Goedert, 31, has another productive year or two left in the tank. Maybe there’s a receiver still out there on the free agent market that they like.

At this point, it����ap also worth looking forward to the draft and considering the trade market.

At receiver, there have been persistent rumors about the availability of Philadelphia’s A.J. Brown, Jacksonville’s Brian Thomas Jr., Miami’s Jaylen Waddle and others. Thomas makes the most sense from a money perspective, but I’ve heard they’re not actually interested in trading him and Tuesday afternoon, they seem to be reiterating that to national reporters. There had been back-and-forth reporting on that in recent days. Miami, similarly, has repeatedly said Waddle is a player to build around.

The combined acquisition cost and $29 million guaranteed for 2026 with Brown is a steep hill to climb for anybody and Payton and Paton have rarely carried two expensive receivers on their rosters.

On the draft front, it����ap a deeper receiver class than running back or tight end, but there are interesting players at all three positions. The search continues.

I’ve seen lots of WR draft and free-agent recommendations for the Broncos, but not much analysis of the type of WR they need. Is there a WR style you think the Broncos lack today and who would fit that need? For example, Courtland Sutton and Pat Bryant are big receivers capable of winning contested catches. Marvin Mims Jr. and Troy Franklin are speedsters who seem to lack shiftiness. To me, they lack shifty route runners. Who do you think could fill that need? Thanks!

— Chad, Austin

Hey Chad, thanks for writing and good question. Payton likes receivers that can play in multiple spots, but he also has specific roles that he wants filled.

Denver, the past couple of seasons, has waited until the later waves of free agency and then looked for bigger guys who can run and block. Payton often points back to Devery Henderson and Robert Meachem from his years in New Orleans as sort of the archetypes. The Broncos haven’t found that guy so far in Payton’s time in Denver.

Two years ago, they tried with Josh Reynolds. Last year, it was Trent Sherfield. Neither stuck a whole season. They could be in the market for a similar body type this year.

I agree with you that a pure route-runner would be a value add, too. Payton, though, doesn’t normally look for those smaller, shiftier players to operate in the slot. He likes big, power slots.

In my mind, then any search for a receiver is in one of two buckets: That big, physical player or a guy who elevates the room across the board. The former is maybe still out there in free agency. It����ap hard to see the latter being a free agent at this point, so a trade or the draft are more realistic routes.

It����ap worth continuing to point out that Denver likes its receivers and has either spent a Day 2 pick, traded up or both in each of the past three drafts to select Marvin Mims Jr., Troy Franklin and Pat Bryant.

It wouldn’t be a surprise at this point if they followed a similar path this spring, though let����ap not count them out at No. 30 overall in the draft, either.

Hi Parker, I’m amazed at all the new metrics and stats that are now available. I recently saw one that measured tight ends and missed blocks rates. It showed that some of the TEs I’ve seen linked to the Broncos, like Cade Otten was rated poorly. How does the Broncos staff use these advanced stats? Sean Payton seems like an old-school guy and might rely on feel or the eye test. Thanks.

— Gene Ryan, Green Valley, Ariz. (by way of Aurora)

Hey Gene, thanks for writing and great question. The amount of information out there these days is staggering. The stuff that����ap publicly available or accessible via subscription has changed a ton in the past few seasons. Now imagine what kinds of systems NFL teams are building.

This is one of the areas where artificial intelligence is booming in football, just like it is across any number of other industries. I was talking with a front office executive of another team at the combine last month about the ways in which they’re building models and tools in-house that can be used across football operations. It could be draft prep, pro scouting, salary cap management, film study or any number of other things.

The Broncos are working on all those kinds of things, too, like every team in football is.

Payton last year marveled at some of the stuff Denver’s technology could do. That will only continue to ramp up into the future and, I’d imagine, when the Broncos move into a new, state-of-the-art building this summer.

Having all of that at your fingertips might help you sniff out something you want to know about a player who has been playing in a different system. Can he move the way you want, even if he’s not moving the way you’d teach? Is he getting to where he needs to go and not finishing a block? Or can he not get there? Is he good only at certain things, or is he used only in certain ways? So on and so forth.

That����ap all good stuff, but the Broncos and other teams around the league also have to see it with their own eyes. Extra data is good, but teams aren’t going to commit to somebody based on analytics alone.

Hi Parker. Longtime subscriber and appreciator of the Post’s Broncos coverage. You guys do a fantastic job.

Thinking about the Broncos’ enviable secondary depth, I was wondering: if Denver extends Ja’Quan McMillian (they should) and also keeps Riley Moss, could Jahdae Barron be converted full-time to safety? Does he have the skillset to play there, for if/when Brandon Jones is let go after his contract expires?

— George, Seattle (Not a “12”)

Hey George, thanks for the nice note and for subscribing. We really appreciate it. Interesting question, too.

In the exact situation you outline, yeah, it����ap a possibility. The Broncos believe Jadhae Barron can play inside, outside or safety and do so at a high level.

From right here and right now, that doesn’t feel like the most likely scenario, but you never know.

There are several machinations in play when it comes to the Broncos’ secondary over the next year and they essentially count as good problems to have because Denver has quality depth that a lot of teams don’t.

The first step is McMillian. He’s on the tender now, so they can either extend him now or during the season or risk him hitting the free agent market next spring.

It����ap a little early to say categorically that the Broncos have to choose between paying McMillian and Moss, but the way the roster is currently constructed and with a potential Bo Nix extension looming out there as early as the summer of 2027, it����ap reasonable to wonder if they can play with both corners, the nickel and at least one safety on big contracts long-term.

Nothing has to happen right away. They can keep everybody right where they are through this season if they want. But each move made in the secondary is going to have a ripple effect over the next few months.

A fascinating group to watch.

Coach Prime announced this past Friday, his first media scrum of the 2026 spring football calendar, that the Buffs are going into his fourth season without a special teams coordinator.

Now this got several corners of the ol’ interwebs worked up into quite a lather. After all, CU has to replace Sanders favorite Alejandro “Auto” Mata at placekicker — and when you’re coming off a 3-9 campaign, you need all the gameday advantages you can muster.

But then the cooler heads at the Grading The Week offices reminded us that the Buffs also had gone into the 2024 season without a dedicated special teams coach — without one who was listed on the CUBuffs.com website, at any rate.

So they’ve been here before. Sort of. Reilly resigned just before the start of the 2024 season and multiple reports popped up not long after confirming that he had sought NIL funding for CU from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

Now it is unique — among Big 12 football programs, CU was the only one entering spring ball that didn’t list “special teams” as an assignment for any of its assistant coaches.

According to CU athletics’ website, counting analysts, the Buffs had four offensive line coaches, three defensive line coaches, three linebackers coaches, and two coaches each assigned to wide receivers and running backs, officially.

So maybe we’re just gnashing our teeth over semantics.

Then again, maybe not.

No special teams coordinator at CU? — Incomplete

As precedent goes, Ohio State went without a dedicated special teams coordinator during the 2024 and ’25 seasons.

In January, coach Ryan Day hired former Illinois Robby Discher to oversee Ohio State’s special teams units.

CU listed Michael Pollock as special teams coordinator last season. The Buffs ranked No. 131 out of 136 schools in unadjusted special teams position efficiency in 2025 and checked in at just 104th in 2024. Like a lot of things in CU’s Sanders Era, the results for the Buffs’ special teams the last three years — like the rosters, the coaches and the results — have been all over the map.

JR Payne’s CU extension — A

New CU Buffs athletic director Fernando Lovo may be young, but he’s wise enough to know when to leave something alone. Especially when it’s something good.

Buffs women’s basketball coach JR Payne has had the best hoops team, men or women, in the market since the season tipped off. She’s built up the kind of consistency in her program you can set your Apple Watch to. If the fates (and committees) are kind, she’s about to notch her fourth NCAA Tournament bid over the last five seasons, and has already clinched five 20-win campaigns in a row. The last Buffs coach to reach 20 victories or more in six straight? The legendary Ceal Barry.

This past Wednesday, Lovo announced that CU had extended Payne’s contract through 2031. It’s hard to argue that every nickel wasn’t deserved.

DU’s Carson Johnson dominates — A

Meanwhile, the top men’s college hoopster in the metro just might call DU home. A belated tip of the GTW week cap to who on Tuesday was named both Summit League Player of the Year and Summit League Newcomer of the Year.

Dude’s not just a heck of a player. He’s a heck of a story, too. Johnson grew up in Ankeny, Iowa, the same hometown as Broncos cornerback Riley Moss, and wound up at Minnesota State-Moorhead — a Division II program in the Great White North — as a 6-foot-1 freshman.

Johnson followed Minnesota State-Moorhead coach Tim Bergstraser to DU when the latter took the Pios job, and the young man didn’t miss a beat while stepping up a level. Over his first 31 games, Johnson led DU in scoring (20.2 points per game), assists (94) and 3-point makes (85). As of Friday morning, he was tied for ninth among Division I players in 20-point games this season. As Bergstraster rebuilds DU, Johnson’s already shown the goods to be one of his key pillars. To say nothing of an absolute keeper.

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

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

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

Quarterback

Who Denver has: QB1 Bo Nix, QB2 Jarrett Stidham

Who Denver could lose: QB3 Sam Ehlinger

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

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

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

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

Running back

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wide receiver

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

Who Denver could lose: WR5 Lil’Jordan Humphrey

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tight end

Who Denver has: TE1/TE2 Evan Engram

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

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

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

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

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

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

Offensive line

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

Who Denver could lose: Nobody

What Denver needs: Maybe another swing tackle

Key market options: Wide-open

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

Defensive line

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

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

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

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

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

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

Inside linebacker

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Secondary

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

Who Denver could lose: S2 P.J. Locke

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

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

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

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

Special teams

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

Who Denver could lose: Nobody

What Denver needs: Nothing

Key market options: Wide open

Denver need not spend much time here on specialists.

That was the last time these Broncos made a significant trade, with no in-season deals coming last season. As Denver approaches free agency with quite a few position groups already tied up for 2026, though, that surplus could come into play again for Paton and crew.

The Broncos have several assets at a variety of spots who’d present tantalizing value league-wide, and making a move could help clear up further spending power once free agency hits next week. The club currently sits with about $28 million in estimated cap space. Here are five potential trade chips that Denver could look to dangle on the phones.

Jarrett Stidham, QB

2025 stats: One playoff start, 17-of-31, 133 passing yards, one TD, one INT

Contract status: Expires after 2026

What the Broncos would save in cap room by trading him before June: $6.5 million

Denver will always be Stiddy City for that week in January. Faced with no other choice, the entirety of the Broncos’ fanbase rallied around their cucumber-cool backup quarterback in the AFC Championship Game after Bo Nix’s stunning season-ending injury. The building believed in Stidham, too. He just never quite got a fair shot. A highlight 52-yard bomb to Marvin Mims Jr. against the Patriots was mitigated by a disastrous fumble and a second-half snowstorm.

The Broncos have prioritized Stidham since head coach Sean Payton arrived in 2023, and Stidham has signed two separate two-year deals to stay in Denver as a backup. But NFL teams have poked around Stidham for years — the Patriots, in fact, checked on him before Stidham re-signed in Denver last offseason — and that teams have reached out to the Broncos on a possible Stidham trade.

Payton has said multiple times he feels Stidham could be a starter for several NFL teams; if there is indeed a team that views him that highly on the market, the Broncos could recoup a significant haul for him. This particular NFL Draft class is remarkably light at quarterback, which could further drive up Stidham’s value. Denver would be smart to at least entertain this, if it had a plan to replace Stidham (the Broncos could always look to re-sign QB3 Sam Ehlinger).

Ben Powers, LG

2025 stats: Eight games, 595 snaps, 15 pressures allowed, 2.5% pressure rate, 0 sacks allowed (per Pro Football Focus)

Contract status: Expires after 2026

What the Broncos would save in cap room by trading him before June: $8.4 million

Denver has employed the same starting offensive line for two years in front of Nix, but 2026 could mark a significant shakeup. The 29-year-old Powers is still a valuable asset and was quietly off to one of the best starts of his career in 2025 before a lengthy absence with a biceps tear. But the Broncos now have close to $76 million in total cap tied up to their starting offensive line alone, and all five of Powers, Garett Bolles, Mike McGlinchey, Luke Wattenberg and Quinn Meinerz are tethered to substantial long-term deals.

The Broncos have to get cheaper here, at some point. And Denver indeed has a younger, cheaper option in 26-year-old restricted free agent Alex Palczewski, who filled in capably for Powers for 10 starts in 2025 (and earned a random All-Pro vote for it). The Broncos could slap a right-of-first-refusal tender on Palczewski, a one-year deal worth $3.5 million that would enable Denver to match any team’s offer for him, and work toward a team-friendly long-term deal in the meantime.

Powers’ representation met with Denver last week, but the two sides haven’t spoken since, as of Wednesday. A source said they believe Denver could be pursuing trade partners for Powers. The Broncos also haven’t officially put forth a proposal to restructure Powers’ deal, the source said.

Jonah Elliss, OLB

2025 stats: 13 games, 2.5 sacks, 28 tackles, five QB hits, one forced fumble

Contract status: Expires after 2027

What the Broncos would save in cap room by trading him before June: $1.1 million

This is much less about any financial benefit and more about surplus. Denver is so stacked at outside linebacker that it had to finagle several elevations for fourth-round rookie Que Robinson last year as a fifth OLB on gamedays, and the building is high on Robinson’s potential. The Broncos will almost certainly re-up with reserve Dondrea Tillman on a one-year exclusive-rights deal, and will face the same logjam of depth in 2026.

The interesting name in the mix is Elliss, a 22-year-old 2023 third-round pick who’s flashed big-time pass-rush potential when healthy but has been banged up through his two years in Denver. There’s no greater path to snaps for him behind Nik Bonitto and Jonathon Cooper. The Broncos could well look to shift Elliss to inside linebacker, given positional needs, or dangle him as a promising edge rusher with two years left on his rookie deal.

Riley Moss and Ja’Quan McMillian, CB

2025 stats: Moss: 17 games, 80 tackles, 19 passes defensed, one interception; McMillian: 17 games, 56 tackles, four sacks, two interceptions, nine passes defensed

Contract status: Both expire after 2026

What the Broncos would save in cap room by trading them before June: $3.7 million (Moss), specifics unclear (McMillian)

The NFL world now has a point-blank baseline on the trade value of quality corners, after the Rams gave up several arms and legs on Wednesday to swing a trade for Chiefs All-Pro Trent McDuffie.

Yes, neither Moss or McMillian have nearly the resume to draw similar capital as McDuffie got. But Kansas City received a first-round pick, a fifth-round pick and a sixth-round pick in the 2026 draft for McDuffie — and a third-round pick in 2027. The Broncos love having a variety of options to develop at cornerback, but they’ll soon have to make some complicated decisions in their secondary. Moss and McMillian will both hit unrestricted free agency after 2026, and the Broncos wouldn’t love first-round pick Jahdae Barron to sit behind both of them for a second straight season.

This isn’t a likely option. Moss’s camp strongly believes he’ll be back in Denver in 2026, and McMillian is an incredibly valuable asset as the starting nickel in Vance Joseph’s defense. But a route will need to be paved for Barron soon enough.