Sunday’s loss to the New England Patriots is one that will sting for the entirety of the offseason, but that sting should provide plenty of fuel for next season as the Denver Broncos reset the game board for the offseason ahead with more salary cap room, Bo Nix’s recovery timeline, and a deeper study into the Broncos’ run game issues from 2025.
Denver Broncos plan to use more of their resources with no looming dead cap
Sean Payton met with the media today for his annual end-of-the-year debrief inside Dove Valley, and while he was reflective of the season, it was clear as day that Payton and his staff are focused on getting back to where they were and going further in 2026.
There is no carrying over momentum from the 2025 season. The proverbial game board that Payton references often is reset, and the process of building it begins again. There doesn’t have to be a massive reset, but Payton outlined that with more resources, the team is in a position to be aggressive this offseason, especially with the Russell Wilson dead cap being off the books.
“I love the question, but I would not use that word ‘take the next step,'” Payton said. “We go back to the start of the race. Like every 32 teams has to go back, 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 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.”
The most important piece of the foundation is having a franchise quarterback in place with Bo Nix, who is still on his rookie deal. Coming into free agency, which begins on March 11, going back to the previous shadow of the Russell Wilson dead cap, the sun is now out and shining, and gives Denver flexibility to spend.
“I think, like in any case, if I say I’m going to give you $15,000 to decorate your home or $200,000, you know it’s going to look nicer, I think if you’re a decent shopper, if you have more money,” Payton said. “I think the same takes place with our sport. I’m proud of the way everyone else handled it, and looked at developing young players and didn’t use it as a built-in excuse. We can find those all the time. But I think it’s significant and it’s still important we evaluate wisely, we draft wisely, we make these decisions regarding free agency with well-thought-out plans and go from there.”
Bo Nix’s ankle injury revealed a predisposition
Bo Nix was the tide that raised all boats this season for the Broncos. His injury was a massive blow to Denver’s Super Bowl 60 aspirations after he suffered a fracture in a bone in the team’s big win against the Buffalo Bills in overtime in the NFL Divisional Round.
With surgery being successful and the estimated timeline being outlined, Nix is still finding himself in the team facility as the offseason process begins.
“He’s doing well,” Payton said. “He literally was just above us here. I asked him ‘What were you doing? Trying to get your scooter laps in.’ So he’s got X-amount of time on the scooter, then it goes to the crutches, then it goes to the walking boot. So there’s a process. You’ve got to know him. He’s fidgety to begin with, so he might have been just getting his scooter laps in, but he was up there like in an area he’d never be department-wise. I think he’s handling it like a pro. Man, I’m sure there’s disappointment for him to have to watch [the game on Sunday]. I think it’s difficult to get as far as he brought us and then maybe see one of his contemporaries, like someone in his draft class, that he would have loved to have competed against.”
We know from the initial report that there isn’t any long-term concern for Bo regarding his ankle, but Payton did reveal that where the fracture occurred, the injury or surgery was bound to happen sooner rather than later.
“I think what was found, though, what was a condition that was predisposed,” Payton said. “They always find a little bit more when they go in, and it wasn’t a matter of if, it was a matter of when. The doctor, operating surgeon, said this was going to happen sooner or later.”
Payton said he believes Nix’s rehab, coming off the surgery, will be strong.
Improving Broncos run game is important in the eyes of Payton
One of the more important studies Payton plans to dive deep into this offseason is the run game operation. Far too often this season, the run game was up and down, and the loss of J.K. Dobbins, who was the NFL’s third-leading rusher at the time of his injury, was harder for them to overcome.
Payton shared his thoughts on the run game operation from this past season and where his attention will shift to with it.
“I stepped into Zach’s [Strief] office yesterday,” Payton said. “I said, ‘Look’ it’s probably a series of answers to that. What we’re doing. I feel like we’re far enough along with the RPOs and some of that, but when we want to run it under center and control a game, we’ve been able to do it a few times, but not as much as I’d like. I think that’ll be an important study with urgency. That’ll be one of the points of emphasis, that I think we research and look into heavily. I want to play from the gun, but I will also want to play with a two-back or multiple tight end mindset, have that flexibility. It’s a good question, and I think it’s one of the key things we have to do this offseason.”
Whether that means adjusting the scheme or personnel remains to be seen, but if the Broncos want to go even further, having an effective run game will be one of the most important offseason tasks for them to figure out going into 2026.
