The Denver Broncos didn’t finish their 2025 campaign like they had hoped. After falling short in the AFC Championship game to the New England Patriots, the Broncos are now in offseason mode—back to the drawing
board to figure out how they can get better next season.
Despite an unfortunate ending, the franchise has a lot to be proud of from last season. Winning the AFC West for the first time in a decade is a big deal. Earning a first-round bye with a roster inhibited by enormous amounts of dead cap is a significant accomplishment. All things considered, the Broncos are further ahead than most could have imagined several seasons into a regime change.
The Broncos have a strong roster. That’s a big benefit compared to a lot of other teams in the NFL. They’ve also got the right mindset from being a battle-tested team in ‘25. But in order to compete at a high level again next season, Denver will need to make some major additions in both free agency and the 2026 NFL Draft. And even though they made a lot of progress, Head Coach Sean Payton acknowledged the team is back to square one—just like every other one will be.
“We go back to the start of the race. Every 32 teams have to go back and go meet their parents, eat their oranges and get ready to start again. That’s really important. Now, 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. I think that’s important,” stated Payton.
Payton fielded various questions from the media. He expressed confidence in the players they had at various position groups—specifically wide receiver. He also spoke about ways the coaching could get better to help those players. Shortly after the press conference, it was announced Offensive Coordinator Joe Lombardi, wide receiver coach Keary Colbert, and defensive backs coach Addison Lynch were relived of their duties. That’s quite the staff shake-up. Who the Broncos choose to add to their staff to replace them remains to be seen, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see some high-profile names floated to bolster their coaching ranks.
Alongside Payton, General Manager George Paton also fielded questions today. Entering the last year of his contract with the Broncos, Paton is looking forward to the challenge of upgrading the roster. Since becoming GM, he has done a great job drafting a lot of All-Pro and Pro-Bowl players and had success with adding veterans in free agency or via trade.
First up in the priority order will be the pre-draft circuit which is already underway. Coinciding with that, Paton stated team is also in the process of end of the year evaluations on their in-house players. With the East-West Shrine Bowl wrapping up yesterday, the Broncos are focused on being diligent with the prospects competing at the 2026 Panini Senior Bowl.
“Our scouts are at the Senior Bowl. They’ve been at the East-West Shrine Bowl. We’ll do a deep dive on this team like we do every year, and we will determine our needs,” mentioned General Manager George Paton during the team’s season-ending press conference. “We know that we start over. Nothing is guaranteed. This was a great season, and we move on. Just excited for that challenge,” Paton added.
The other day, I authored the Broncos should be aggressive this offseason. They have a multi-year window of opportunity to legitimately compete for a fourth Lombardi Trophy. Yesterday, Paton also expressed that Denver will certainly be looking to make some moves and waves this offseason.
Currently sitting around $30 million in space, the Broncos could nearly double that by doing some minor retooling and restructures. That’s more than enough to retain some key players set to be free agents, as well as making outside additions in free agency at positions of need.
And that’s precisely the attitude he and Payton needed to have in the coming months. Leave no stone unturned. Do whatever it takes to be ready to compete at a high-level next year. And that work starts now.
“We’re going to be aggressive. Regardless of whose contract is what, I think it’s really important. Now we’re going to be sound and prudent with our decisions. The good news is we have some cap room, we have five picks in the first four rounds, and we could get two compensatory which would give us nine. We’re going to have all sorts of flexibility.”
