The Broncos have signed all of this year’s draft picks.
Wide receiver Troy Franklin was the last holdout and the team announced on Saturday that he has signed his four-year deal. The wideout was one of seven Broncos selections in April.
The first of those picks was quarterback Bo Nix and Franklin won’t need to work on building chemistry with his fellow rookie. The two players were at Oregon together and Franklin caught 142 passes for 2,274 yards and 23 touchdowns over the last two seasons.
Courtland Sutton has not been with the team for offseason workouts, so Franklin has been working with Marvin Mims Jr., Tim Patrick, Josh Reynolds, and seventh-rounder DeVaughn Vale in recent weeks.
The Broncos traded Jerry Jeudy this offseason and Courtland Sutton has not been part of their offseason program, so there’s been an opportunity for other wide receivers to step up this spring.
Marvin Mims Jr. has taken advantage of that opportunity. A deep ball from Jarrett Stidham to Mims was a highlight of Thursday’s OTA practice and head coach Sean Payton said it showed the “transitional speed” that receivers need to succeed in the NFL.
Mims said plays like that were a result of a “night and day” increase in his comfort level in the offense.
“Coming into Year Two, knowing what to expect, knowing the routes, knowing what I have to do as a receiver, I feel like this is starting to go a lot smoother for me, especially mentally,” Mims said, via the team’s website.
Payton said that he expects to “see a lot of growth” for Mims because there’s less of a “crowded room” at receiver with Jeudy now in Cleveland and the early returns on that move up the depth chart have been positive ones.
Technically, the Broncos are letting three quarterbacks — Bo Nix, Jarrett Stidham, Zach Wilson — compete for the Week 1 starting job. As a practical matter, they’re hoping that the twelfth overall pick in the 2024 draft will win the job.
And so, whenever Broncos coach Sean Payton speaks to reporters, he’ll be asked about Nix’s development. Payton got that question, based on Nix completing six OTA sessions.
“It’s hard for me to catch you up like on a Netflix series,” Payton said. “You guys watched one [episode], and then you missed three, and then you watched one and I’m trying to catch you up. All three of [the quarterbacks] are doing well. Specifically to Bo, he’s doing really well. He’s picking it up. There’s a lot that’s going in. He’s throwing the ball extremely well.”
Picking it up is very good for Nix. Throwing the ball extremely well is even better. He’s making progress, confirming to the Broncos that they got it right — and making them comfortable that he’ll deliver if/when he plays.
To be truly ready to deliver, Nix has to be ready and able to thread the needle into smaller windows. Payton was asked about the adjustment to tighter windows in the NFL.
“I think that you immediately begin to feel the speed difference and the reaction difference and the length,” Payton said. “What was open in college, those windows were bigger. Generally speaking, then you begin to adapt to the timing. One of the things that all of these [do is] get the ball out quick. Holding onto the ball and waiting can sometimes be obviously detrimental. I think it’s the studying and the understanding of the defensive scheme, and then understanding where the windows are in regard to the spacing. I do think that begins the first time you’re out here and everyone is moving around full speed. It’s like, ‘Wow!’ The speed of your simulator just went up a little bit.”
And that’s during offseason workouts that aren’t happening at full speed — or aren’t supposed to be that way. It’ll ramp up during training camp and then, when the Broncos start the season for the second time in three years with a trip to Seattle, with both a different head coach and a different starting quarterback than they took to Seattle in Week 1 of the 2022 season.
At a time when the Chiefs are thinking about letting safety Justin Reid handle kickoffs in order to keep kicker Harrison Butker out of the hot kitchen of making tackles, a division rival is thinking about the downside to such an approach.
“I don’t want one out of every four going to the 40-[yard line] though because he kicked out of bounds, but he’s there to make the tackle,” Broncos coach Sean Payton told reporters on Thursday. “I think you will see a lot of change in every one of us. I’m just as anxious as you are to see it. We’re trying to go through it.”
The most jarring aspect of the rule will continue to be 19 or 20 players standing still after the kick and until it’s caught or touches the ground.
"[Special teams coordinator] Ben [Kotwica], our special teams coaches, we’re practicing it,” Payton said. “We had the officials in yesterday. They kind of went through all the rule changes, but specifically we spent probably half an hour on this. I would say the one thing for you — the kick is made, no one moves and when it’s caught, we all move. I would liken that to being on second base and I’m tagging up. I’m watching, I’m watching, and when the ball is caught, I can go to third. So you’re going to see if you leave early, it’s a foul. It would be very similar. Now there was a time when most of these guys played baseball. Now maybe a third of these guys have played baseball. I would say, ‘You’ve never tagged up on a fly ball?’, but I think that’s what it would be like timing wise as you wait to move.”
Whatever happens, Payton is among those who believe the approach will change as the year unfolds.
“In Year 1 of this, what you see in Week 1 and what you see in Week 8 could be dramatically different,” Payton said. “Now, it’ll be the first year where—follow me—there are three kick scenarios that may not be returned where the ball could go to the 20-[yard line], the 30 or the 40. Now there’s always been in the history of our game only two scenarios. We always knew 40 if it went out of bounds. Then we went through 20 and then 25 [on touchbacks]. Now there are three, so that will take everyone a while to figure out. So I think a lot of it is going to be dependent on what our goal is structurally as to putting it in the landing zone, and then who is that player that we’re talking about. If you have that player, then yes, that’s a good idea.”
That’s going to be the key. Who is kicking the ball, and then who is fielding it?
“Who’s catching it can change,” Payton said. “The decision makers as these balls are coming—let’s say line drives—making the decision, ‘Is it going to go into the end zone?’”
It all adds up to a lot more time being spent in training camp and during the practice week on the play. Because it suddenly has become both consequential and brand-spanking-new.
The Broncos announced the election of tight end Riley Odoms and defensive back Steve Foley to the team’s Ring of Fame.
The Broncos had not added anyone to the Ring of Fame since 2021 when Peyton Manning was elected. Odoms and Foley will join 35 former players, coaches and administrators on the Empower Field at Mile High Ring of Fame façade and their pillars will be added to the Ring of Fame Plaza outside the stadium’s South Stands.
“It’s been a lot of years but all highways are not straight,’' Odoms told Mike Klis of 9News. “But we got there, and I’m excited about it.”
Foley has held the Broncos’ record for interceptions since 1986 when he made the final two of his 44 career interceptions.
Odoms is one of 13 Broncos twice selected first-team All-Pro. He totaled 396 receptions for 5,755 yards and 41 touchdowns, ranking third in receiving yards by a tight end in NFL history at the time of his retirement.
He still ranks seventh in franchise history in receiving yards and holds a franchise record for the most consecutive games (seven) with a touchdown catch.
Broncos fifth-round pick Audric Estime won’t be on the field for the rest of the team’s offseason program.
Head coach Sean Payton told reporters on Thursday that Estime suffered a knee injury. The running back underwent platelet-rich plasma treatment and had an arthroscopic procedure that will keep him in the rehab group for the near future.
“We did a small scope procedure just to make sure everything’s clean,” Payton said. “It is. He’ll be available at the start of training camp, so we won’t see him working through the rest of the OTAs. But, on the conservative side, he’s going to be just fine. It was all good news.”
Estime ran for 1,341 yards and 18 touchdowns at Notre Dame last season. Javonte Williams and Samaje Perine are the top veteran backs on the Broncos depth chart.
Peyton Manning’s name sometimes comes up as a person who could become a part-owner of an NFL team, or an executive running a team’s operations. But he says he has no interest in that.
Manning told the Denver Post that he enjoys the role he currently has of staying in contact with the teams he played for while working on his Omaha Productions, and he doesn’t see himself becoming a member of an NFL team’s front office.
“I don’t think that’s anywhere on my radar by any means,” Manning said of running a team. “I love being an ambassador for the Broncos and for the Colts, for the University of Tennessee. Obviously, living here I get to go to all the Broncos games. I was out at the facility the other day. Our kids do sports in the area around Dove Valley, so I’m probably at the facility a couple times a week. They have great snacks over there in their cafeteria. I don’t know if I’m being charged for those or what. I still have my key fob from when I played. Keith Bishop [the former Broncos linebacker who now runs security for the team] never made that go away, so that’s helpful as well. I’m excited about still being a part of the team and being part of the community. . . . I still feel an attachment and have really enjoyed getting to know the Walton-Penner family as well. But as far as running a team, I don’t think that’s on my radar.”
Manning’s name is well-regarded in football circles, and bringing him onboard would be a good way for an owner to bolster his team’s reputation. But Manning would have to be interested, and right now he says he’s not.
The Broncos are splitting their quarterback reps three ways right now, but they’ll have to pick one guy to run the offense at some point.
Jarrett Stidham was their choice for the final weeks of last season and he’s back with the team this year. The Broncos also drafted Bo Nix in the first round and traded for Zach Wilson, so they aren’t clearing the path for him to remain in that role when they take the field this fall.
While some might view the moves to add two quarterbacks as a sign that Stidham won’t be the choice, he doesn’t plan on rolling over.
“I’ve dealt with this before when I was in New England with Mac Jones,” Stidham said, via the Broncos website. “It’s a business and I totally understand it, but at the same time, I’m here to compete. I’m not going to just sit down and let someone else walk in here and [just take the role]. I’m going to work my butt off to get the job. I’m super excited about it.”
Sean Payton didn’t sound like he was in any hurry to change the current approach for the team’s quarterbacks, so Stidham should have quite a few chances to show the coach that he’s still the right guy for the job.
The Broncos drafted Bo Nix with the thought that he’s their future franchise quarterback. But right now, he’s being treated as just one member of a three-man group.
Broncos coach Sean Payton said that during Organized Team Activities, Nix is getting equal reps with Jarrett Stidham and Zach Wilson as all three quarterbacks get the opportunity to show what they can do.
“We try to split up all the reps,’' Payton said, via ESPN. “There’s going to be a time when you read into the reps, I don’t think it’s early in OTAs. It’s kind of the orphan group, they’re all orphan dogs. They’ve come from somewhere, but they’re doing good. It’s a good room.’'
Payton may still be three months away from naming a starter, and he says he wants to see as much of all three candidates as he can before making that decision.
“We go by what we see. We try to get them as many reps as possible. We rotate. We’re rotating all of them right now. They’re all in a race to learn this system. Man, they’re doing well.’'
Zach Wilson didn’t live up to expectations in New York. There are no expectations in Denver.
The quarterback is vying for the Broncos’ starting quarterback job, but with Jarrett Stidham and first-round pick Bo Nix also in the competition, Wilson is something of an afterthought for anyone outside the locker room.
The No. 2 overall pick in the 2021 draft doesn’t sound as if he’s lost his confidence.
“I feel like you learn the most when things don’t always go the best,” Wilson said, via Parker Gabriel of the Denver Post. “So you bank those reps. You learn from them and three years of things being challenging you can learn a lot of things.
“Hopefully, I can carry those with me.”
The Jets traded Wilson and a seventh-round pick to the Broncos for a sixth-round pick after the BYU product went 12-21 in 33 starts and threw 23 touchdowns and 25 interceptions.
“Obviously, there’s bittersweet moments in everything,” Wilson said of the trade. “I was grateful for my experiences there and the guys. I miss the guys out there and everything, too.
“But at the same time, a fresh start is good. I’m excited to attack a new challenge.”
Wilson gets a fresh start. It remains to be seen whether he wins the starting job.