Good morning, Broncos Country!
As the debate over Denver’s free agency approach this offseason raged on last week, The Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue classified the Broncos’ in-house-only free agent signings as a clue that the Broncos are in “win now” mode, meaning they are “overtly going for a Super Bowl.”
Obviously fans and players like to say every year their team is aiming for the Super Bowl — as they should. But the truth is, there are more realistic years than others to claim it. And Rodigue’s rationale for putting Denver in the “win
now” category — along with the Rams, Niners and Seahawks — is as interesting as it is legit.
“The Broncos are here because of their roster completeness, from their top defense and offensive line to the continued emergence of quarterback Bo Nix (when healthy), and because their roster floor is so high, even with needs such as defensive line depth. They have also openly called their shot: that they like their developing players more than whoever was available in free agency.”
I like this take because it points as much to the vision the coach has for this current team — both in terms of performance and potential development — as it does to the talent level.
Sean Payton alluded to this in his postseason presser when highlighting the fact that nothing is given for next year just because the recent season was so successful.
“Every team has to go back and go meet their parents, eat their oranges and get ready to start again,” the head coach said. “That’s really important.”
But this time around, Payton added, the team has more to work with as it starts over in the new season.
“We do that with more resources. We do that without dead [salary] cap. We do that with a foundation in place. We do that with optimism and confidence from the journey we’ve been on,” Payton added. “I think that’s important.”
And if Payton called his shot last preseason that he believed the team could go to the Super Bowl, there’s reason to speculate he still believes that, especially after being three points away from doing it.
It’s clear Payton believes he has a foundation to build on and is not interested in adding free agents that he doesn’t believe significantly push the needle.
On a whim I decided to ask ChatGPT what year is statistically the best for quarterbacks still on their rookie contracts (sorry, Joe M., I’m sure your statistical analyses are much more legit).
The answer was year two or three. The second year is often the biggest leap in development while the third is the true contender window, mainly because the rookie contract of the QB easily allows for building the roster around him.
Among the quarterbacks on rookie deals who have taken their teams to the Super Bowl are Jalen Hurts, Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow. That’s pretty good company. The question is, how does the talent around Nix this coming year compare to the talent around those Super Bowl QBs?
If Payton’s actions during free agency so far tell us anything, it’s that the coach feels pretty good about that talent.
