Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - BRONCOS SQUAD SHOW: Is The Broncos Schedule As Daunting As It Seems?

Episode Date: May 19, 2026

The Denver Broncos schedule is here and there is plenty to unpack from it. While the first 6 weeks are brutal, there are some soft spots in the middle portion of the season. Plus, OTA's are round the corner with plenty of anticipation brewing. Join Aniello Piro, Cody Roark, Sayre Bedinger and Nick Ferguson as the break down the latest news and notes in the world of Broncos football on today's Locked On Broncos Squad Show! Everydayer Club If you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans. Click here to learn more and join your team’s community: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/everydayerclub Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Square If you’re starting a business, or running one that deserves better tools, Square helps you sell, manage, and grow without slowing down. Right now, you can get up to $200 off Square hardware at https://square.com/go/LockedOnNFL. FanDuel Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now new customers can bet just five dollars and get one-hundred and fifty dollars in bonus bets if your first bet wins. Visit https://FANDUEL.COM to get started — Play Your Game. Indeed Listeners of this show get a $75 Sponsored Job Credit to help give your job the premium placement it deserves at http://Indeed.com/podcast. Gametime Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

I'm an Ilo Piro and the Broncos schedule is an absolute doozy, but that might not be the worst thing in the world. I'm Sarah Bedinger. We might now know why the Broncos are prioritizing certain people at the wide receiver position. And I'm Nick Ferguson. There are a couple of players coming up for the Broncos OTAs that you definitely want to make sure you pay attention to. We'll talk about it all on today's Locked on Broncos squad show. Let's get into a gentleman.

From the South stands, it's the Broncos squad, everything Denver Broncos every week, covering all the big hits and game-changing plays from the Mile High City, the way only the Locked-on podcast network can. Gear up and squad up. The Broncos Squad show starts now. It is your Locked-on Broncos squad show right here on your Locked on Broncos YouTube channel and audio feed. Hope everyone is doing well out there in and around Broncos. country. Anilo Piro, Sarah Bedinger and Nick Ferguson hanging out with you guys here on this Tuesday afternoon. Cody Rourke should be joining us in the middle of the program. He's taking care of some stuff in his household, but he should be with us sooner rather than later. But we'll hold down the fort for now. Good show lined up for you guys today. We'll continue to talk about the Denver Broncos schedule. I think, you know, Sarah, I know you and Cody have had a number of different shows kind of breaking down the schedule. We can kind of continue to do so here as a squad on the program today. And we'll also.

also take a look forward here towards OTAs, as that is right around the corner as well. So a lot to unpack on the program today. If you guys are watching on YouTube, make sure to hit that like button, smash that subscribe button. It really helps us out here on the channel. And today's Lockdown Bronco Squad Show is brought to you by our friends over at GameTime. Download the GameTime app today, create an account and use code locked on for $20 off your first purchase.

What's up, fellas, how we live in? Doing great, man. Another day in paradise, as they say, right? Absolutely. Nick, what's good? Nothing, man. It's always great to be six feet above ground, but it's interesting that you reference the Broncos schedule. We haven't had a chance to really dig into it.

So it's going to be tough out of the gate, but towards the middle section, smooth selling. But out of the gate, man, that's a murder of teams that the Broncos will have to face. Yeah, I mean, look, worst case scenario to use your six feet above ground. analogy. Worst case scenarios, the Broncos are six feet under after we're through the first six weeks of the NFL regular season. I mean, it is an absolute gauntlet of games to open up the season for the Denver Broncos. The back half, I think, is pretty tough as well, some

softer spots in the middle as well. And I mean, why don't we just kind of dive right on into that? Because I think that's the biggest takeaway, right? Obviously, New England towards the end of the year is going to be interesting as well. But at least my first reaction, when the schedule came out, fellas, was, oh, my goodness. okay Kansas City week one and then you look at all these other games kind of in the order in which they've come and it's just absolutely it's a bit intimidating at least to me to be honest with you chiefs jags rams San Francisco Chargers Seahawks those are your first six games of the regular season for the Denver Broncos so Sarah I'll kick it to you just kind of your first initial thoughts on the schedule as a whole but if there's a game or two that maybe sticks out or the way that the six games kind of shake out to open up the season the floor is yours I think the craziest thing about those first six games is the fact that they're being played from, I think it's September 14th to October 15th. That's crazy.

You are spot on. In that amount of time is insane regardless of who you're playing. But for the Broncos to have to go up against six, I mean, you could save Super Bowl contenders in that amount of time. It's going to be a great test for this team. I know that there was some, Cody and I got to do a segment on Colin Cowherd. I don't know if you guys heard what he said about. He feels like the NFL was punishing Sean Payton by putting those six teams up top. And to me, I was kind of thinking the opposite.

I'm like, dang, I'm glad they're not playing all six of those teams at the end of the season. So I kind of like that they're getting that gauntlet at the beginning of the year. It just really puts a lot of pressure on. We were kind of talking like, who does it put more pressure on between Davis Webb or, you know, Vance Joseph on the defensive side? I don't know. I'm interested to hear your guys' takes on that. because like I don't know who's under more pressure because you're facing off against you know you're facing off against mahomes

Trevor Lawrence Matthew stafford Brock Purdy Justin Herbert and then Sam Donald to close it all out but on the other side of things like davis webb as a first time play caller on offense has to go up against Steve spaginalo and you know all these veteran defensive coordinators or these I mean like Mike McDonald's defense in in the short week in week six like come on now so I think it's going to bring out the best in the Broncos, but we know, like, in football, that doesn't always mean that you're going to necessarily, like, run the table, so to speak, in that time frame. But I do like that they get that gauntlet, I don't know if out of the way is the right way to put it, but that's kind of what I feel.

Yeah, I know you said Colin Cowher, you know, say maybe the league still has a vendetta out for Coach Payton. I'll say this. There are certain people in the league offers who don't have high affinity for Coach Payton based on a couple of things that happened in New Orleans, but I don't think the league is out to get the Denver Broncos or Sean Payton. You look at it one or two ways.

Maybe they didn't do the right by the Denver Broncos, or maybe they did the Denver Broncos a favor by getting some of those tough games out of the way so they can make a run in the back half. Because the way I look at the Broncos, you know, this schedule, it is the Pillsbury Doe Boy schedule. You know why? It's soft in the middle. Right. So when you look at some of those other teams that they put who were not above 500 last year and they were drafting in the top 10, to me, seem like those games should be winnable games for the Denver Broncos.

But I would rather get these tough teams out of the way early. And you ask the question, well, who is it tougher on and put more pressure on? It puts more pressure on everyone as a whole. But I would agree that from the offensive side of the ball, there's a significant amount of pressure for Davis. Webb, what will the offense look like under him? And if it doesn't look that well in the first six games of the season, will we see Sean Payton take back over? Yeah, I think it's very interesting thoughts that you lay out. And first and foremost, I'll just triple down on the point that you guys make. I'd rather have this gauntlet of a schedule to open up the season.

But the last three weeks of the year are not exactly a cakewalk either. Buffalo Bills on Christmas, followed by the New England Patriots and the Chargers. So those are three pretty competitive games as well. tough games to round out the regular season too. So, yeah, the middle portion is where the Broncos shouldn't, in theory, be able to eat. But when it comes to pressure and scrutiny and expectation for this Broncos team in the first six weeks of the season to kind of answer your question there, Nick, like let's start with Davis Webb as a whole. I think with the Broncos committing to Davis Webb, and I understand these first six games are a lot to kind of take in. let's say just for conversation's sake,

the Broncos go two and four, right, or one in five. And it's like a really, really bad start to the season and the offense looks a little bit out of whack. In a way, I think you have to see it out with Davis Webb as offensive play caller because I think if you're going through

the hardest part of your schedule, and I understand that there's kind of a double whammy of it being at the start of your season as well, like you made this decision in the off season knowing that you wanted to get more out of your offense from Sean Payton as a play caller. Like you've entrusted in Davis Webb to be your play caller. I've been on record on this show that I think that Davis Webb could potentially be the head coach of the future for this Denver Broncos organization as well.

So if it goes awry early, I think you almost have to kind of kick it into gear and just ride the wave for lack of a better phrase. I don't know unless it is just like worst offense in the league. Bow Nix is a mess. Jailin Wada looks like a bust of a trade. Unless it is just like rent alert and nuclearly bad, I think you've got to stick with Davis Webb. But I think the pressure is entirely on the offense, guys. Yeah, because last year the Broncos won six games scoring just 21 points or less. And that was the most in the league.

So that's a lot. And that is definitely something that, and you look back at last year and Sean Payton even reflected on this and was kind of just having a self-aware moment of saying, hey, like we're not oblivious to the fact that we won a lot of one-score games last season. And it wasn't just the fact that they won one-score games. It's the fact that you won a lot of games without scoring a lot of points.

right. So to Nick's points on a lot of our previous squad shows, the defense did a lot of heavy lifting. And I think they're going to have to do that again this year in a different way, though. I think we're going to need to see the turnover margin be much better for the Denver Broncos this year. And that puts a lot of pressure on, especially early on in the season when you're facing a gauntlet of quarterbacks, but you're also facing off against teams that, you know, would give ball away quite a bit last year, especially like I know Seattle was up there. I think the third most or second most turnovers in the NFL. It's not like these teams are are unstoppable in certain ways.

They're flawed just like the Broncos are. And they're sitting on their squad show podcast or they're sitting there looking at their first six games and they're circling the Broncos game as one that's like, dang, like we got to take on Denver early in the season. That's kind of the nice part about this is that it's not the last two seasons, especially 2024, but even including last. year. I think the Broncos played Philadelphia, week five last year. So going into last season, we were looking at the schedule and saying, you got to go to Philly in week five. Like,

you might as well just put that one down as a loss because that's just a clear mismatch on paper. Well, that no longer exists for the Broncos. They are able to talent-wise match up to any team in the NFL, whether it's on the road, whether it's in Denver. Yes, they need to stop playing down to their opponents. Yes, they need to find ways to blow some teams out that they should be blowing out instead of, you know, getting into these one score close games, like too close for comfort against the Raiders, the Jets. That's why I look at the meat of the schedule and I'm thinking to myself, that's where the Broncos really have to come through. Like they might struggle in the first six games and go three and three or, you know, whatever it might look like. But when they get to the meat of that schedule before

those final three weeks. That's where they have to really just, I mean, remember that, do you remember the 2012 team? The 2012 team, I think they started off one in three or two and four or something like that. And then they just ripped off like, you know, 12 straight wins or something like that because they got into a point of the schedule where, you know, you're playing like not the best teams in the NFL. Let's just say it like that. And you're starting to blow these teams out. And that's what I think this Broncos team needs to figure out how to do when you are the favorite, when you're, you are clearly the better team. You need to go in there and absolutely put your foot on the gas and be the better team and leave no doubt.

So even though with that being said, Sarah, I do agree with you. The Broncos after last season going 14 and 3, they have to go in with a leave no doubt mentality. I know Coach Peyton has said, and he's been on record saying this is not a rebuilding, reboot or, you know, running it back the whole gamut. But this is a team that no one expected for them to do what they did. And they did it. And they brought back so many of the guys who were on that team. So their frame of mind has to be different.

While other teams are saying, well, this is where we're trying to get to. The Broncos can top and say, well, we're already there. We just fell short in a couple of errors here and there. And with us bringing guys back, adding some new talent, some young. guys, they're figuring as though they can run the table. They can go back and do the same thing. I truly believe it, you know, myself, but I'm not playing anymore. So these guys have to believe it and they have to go out there and they have to execute. But to Anilis point, like, if the Broncos don't start out fast in the first six weeks of the season, maybe Sean Payton doesn't take

all the play calling duties away from Davis Webb, but I would like to think with him knowing the roster that he has, he's got to assume control. He's got to, he's got to take a little of it back. Maybe, maybe 60, 40 in favor of Sean Payton, but he can't allow things to go, I guess, south, if you will, because if they start out two and four, at some point, you got to stop the bleeding, right? And what is going to say to us from a media standpoint, we're going to say, well, maybe Davis Webb wasn't ready and maybe was a little premature. And for me, if you're Davis Webb or you Sean Payton, you have to tolerate that because at the end of the day, the only thing that matters is that you write the ship. We're not going to see Davis Webb

demoted back to being quarterback coach. It's just like whatever you were doing before, it wasn't working. So we need to tweak a couple of things. We need to sit down, me, you, and Bo Nix and figure out how do we dig ourselves out of this particular hole. But I don't think that's going to be the scenario. I don't see the Broncos going to enforce. It's going to be some tough games, man. And here's the other thing that I'll add. The games that they are having at the very beginning of the season could be a preview to maybe a Super Bowl matchup.

Because here's what we know, that NFC West, they got three teams. Three teams are going to be there. And obviously I left off the Arizona Cardinals for the obvious reasons. But this gives the Broncos an opportunity to see where they are. And here's the other thing. If you look within, I think, it's week from week four, the week six, they're going to play, I think, three to four NFC West teams. The great part of that is you've already practiced against one offense.

You're just seeing it on a different week with a different guy calling plays. One week is Kyle Shenahan. The other week is Sean McVeigh, but it's the same damn offense. Here's a comparison that I'll make. This is going to be the first time since Sean Payton's become an NFL. coach that we'll kind of see him in a different role. Like he's still the head coach, but he's not going to be the offensive play caller. I'll equate it because I

remember this so vividly when I was 15, 16 years old, however I was when I was getting ready to get my license, right? And my parents take me to the grocery store, parking lot, you know, when it's early in the morning or late at night, there's no cars in there, right? And they're like, okay, like foot on the gas, blinker this, blinker that. And I remember, like, my

parents are like my mom's, like, holding it on to, like, the side of the door because, like, I'm driving for the first time, right? I think it's going to be a little bit like that where, like, I'm sure there's going to be some Sean Payton where Davis is calling plays and he's like, I don't know about this one, right? Like maybe I'd go here, you're going there, right? It's going to be a learning experience for everyone. And I think the point that I just try to make is like, you have to stick with it.

And here's kind of the flip side of it as well. Like, do I think the Broncos are going six and oh through those first six games? No, probably not. But I can sit here and I can say, yeah, there's not a single team. There's not a single game to kind of Sarah's point that I'm like, well, that's a loss. Kind of like how you felt about the Eagles game. Like I feel really good about Denver's ability to compete, if not, win all of, if not a majority of these games, right? And if the Broncos are this true Super Bowl contender,

which we all believe them to be, you should be able to go out there and have a pretty good record. I actually think the fact that it's earlier in the season is a little bit more of a conundrum than the games all in a row themselves. And again, I agree. I'd rather have them earlier in the season rather than late in the season. But since it's so early in the year, like you still are kind of finding your identity of what your team is going to be like in any given season. Like that to me is the bigger angle than just the overall game after game after game nature of the first six. And I think Darien in the chat makes a great point, too, that Sean Payton historically has struggled in the month of September in the early goings of the season.

And that, you know, obviously directly relates to the offense. And so I do think that there might be something to the idea of having somebody different out there, even if it's the devil you don't know for a bit of time just to see. And to your point, Anilo, it's kind of like, I know this is not the best comparison. Maybe you compare it to a rookie quarterback, but it's kind of like if you commit to a rookie punter, right? And that's the only guy that's on the roster.

And you have to kind of reason with the fact that, hey, like last year, Jeremy Croshaw, he's going to have struggles. He's going to go out there. He's learning on the fly. We believe in what he can do. We believe that he can be in this position. Same with Bo Nix, 2024, and he's a rookie quarterback. We believe that he can do this.

You get those early season tests against Seattle on the road. against Pittsburgh right away, that tough defense that they have. And you're sticking with that process. You're obviously things are not always going to go great. There's going to be games where you have your quarterback, you know, rookie quarterbacks throw interceptions, young quarterbacks make bad mistakes. They, they look rough out there at times. For Davis Webb as a first time play caller,

there might be times when things look rough. There might be times when he wishes he had done something different. But I think to your point, it's sticking with that process. in believing that those results are going to be there in time because he's hopefully only going to get better the more that he does it. But I do think there's something to what Nick is saying as well, that this is a Super Bowl caliber team. You can't just throw away a year of that just for the sake of it because you feel like Davis Webb is worthy of having that title of offensive coordinator and calling the plays. And just to say, well, you know, it doesn't matter. If we don't win the

Super Bowl, no big deal. We still made sure Davis got to call the plays. I don't think that's their attitude, obviously, but that can't be the hill that they die on either. So there's going to be a lot of interesting moving parts. And you kind of just have to hope that everything works out the way that they envision it working out. Yes, sir, you're right, because this season is bigger than the development of Davis well. Obviously, we know before the draft, he received a couple little head coaching interviews. And I know how much Sean Payton likes him. I mean, he retired.

And then a couple of months later, he's the Broncos quarterback's coach. And two years later, he's now the OC. And who knows where he's going to be later on. But it's bigger than the development of Davis Webb. For me, everything is about both. And it drives me nuts to say because I'm not the type of person that subscribes to the concept that everything is about the damn quarterback. No, I'm totally against it.

But for this purpose and this purpose only, it's about Bo. How do you surround him with the right people? How do you set him up for success? Because if he has success, everything is going to fall alive for everyone else on the offense and defense the side of the ball. So it's about him and it's not about having egos. And the toughest thing is to be given a position not to do as well as everyone expected you to do and then have some of that.

Howard taking the way. So I'm hoping that the Broncos start out well where we're not having that conversation. But if they don't start out well, oh, we having that conversation for sure. You know, interestingly enough, I know we talked about it a little bit last week as well. We'll hit a break here in just a moment. I think you can make a legitimate argument that opening night might be the easiest game of the bunch of the first. I think if you had to say if I had to pick one win, Out of the first six, I think I'm picking week one.

I think I am because I'm still not, I think the Jaguars are still better than the Chiefs. I think the Rams are going to be a top three team in the NFL. I think, if they're anything like they were last year and they're going to be healthy, they're going to be very good. You know, the Chargers, I think, are a competitive bunch. We'll see what McDaniels does out there. And then Seattle's defending Super Bowl champion. I mean, I think you could make a legitimate argument that of the six,

Kansas City, week one might be the most winable. I'm going to push back for just a second. Even though I know last year was a short week, it was a third. Christian Knight, Chris Oledoken. Remember that guy's name? He was like the third team quarterback. Do you remember what that game looked like and how close it was? And if it wasn't for Chris Jones, jumping offside, the Broncos lose that game.

So I'm going to tell you, man, it is tough as hell to win. And I can't tell you why. I can't tell you why, but it is tough to win in Kansas City. No, you're not wrong. All right. Let's hit a quick break. I want to continue that conversation because I think we get to. have some fun with that. So we'll hit a quick break. We'll come back to do just that right here on

your locked on Bronco squad show. Back in the only folks. All right, you guys. Well, if you want to go to Kansas City, our friends over at game time can definitely hook you up. Make sure to check them out. And we can stream anything, order food in minutes, do everything from our phones. And somehow buying tickets to live events still feels way harder than it should be. Long lines, confusing checkout, prices jumping at the last second. It really should not be that complicated. That's why there's game time. It gives fans the advantage and makes getting tickets fast and simple. I was just looking at tickets for an upcoming game and it took me minutes to find great options. I could see the full price up front with no surprise fees at checkout, which is my personal

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Again, create an account and redeem with code L-O-C-E-D-O-N for $20 off. Download the GameTime app today. Let them know that locked on Bronco Sentia. And as I always like to say, guys, I am an active GameTime user. it is like the one place that I buy my tickets. I literally don't think I buy tickets anywhere else. Like it's game or nothing for me at this point. Went to a Mets Rockies game a couple weeks ago with my folks.

Day of pull up the GameTime app. I got like $20 tickets like 10 rows behind home plate. That's the beauty of the Rockies being as bad as they are. But seriously, game time is the number one place to get your tickets. Be sure to check them out and let him know that locked on Barranco's Sancho. All right. Welcome all back into the squad show. to Lopiro, Sarah Beniger and Nick Ferguson,

and hanging out with you guys here on this Tuesday. Sarah, what's been going on with the Every Day or Club lately? You know, we get an ad-free episode of the show every single day for the fans over there. And I think that's honestly just the biggest thing right now. And we'll kind of see what's to come there. You get access to an exclusive Discord server and all that. But for right now, ad-free episodes of the show every day. I know for me, man, if I can get ad-free episodes of every podcast that I listen to,

I'd be all over that. So that's going to be huge. But yeah, we really appreciate everybody considering that and supporting the show in that way. Yeah, definitely be sure to check it out. Cody and Sarah do an excellent job. But I mean, the ad-free version of the show alone to me is enough to make me personally want to subscribe.

So make sure to check those fellows out. All right, let's continue along with a little bit more scheduled conversation here. We'll pivot to some OTAs and whatnot down the stretch here as well. You got me thinking about Kansas City a little bit more now, Oh, you're taking a lot. No, no, no, no. I really haven't changed my mind. I mean, I would ask you guys this,

find me a game in the first six weeks that it feels more winnable. Like, you think the Rams game? Like, I know the Broncos are an underdog, but like, I'm just saying, like, I don't expect the Broncos to win all these games. That's a game, right? Well, I'm saying in that first six weeks stretch.

I mean, all those games are going to be tough, man. Whether you're playing at home or you're playing on the road. And I know when you look at the Seattle Seahawks, no more Ken is Walker. he's in Kansas City, so you'll see him week one. And there's no more Clint Kubiak, but you have to figure that the Seahawks are going to be tough. The Rams are going to be tough.

Think about what the Rams have done or what they did over the offseason. They got two of Kansas City DBs. And it may not seem like, well, Kansas City DBs. Those guys didn't do anything there. But you coupled that with a Jarrett verse. Now you've changed a whole lot of things because your quarterback's got to get the ball of his head quickly. So this is not at the very beginning. Obviously, we're saying it's not an easy schedule for the Denver Broncos.

It's not to say that a couple of things don't bounce their way here and there. They can't win because think about this, Sean McVeigh, when they play, you know, Bryce Young and the Carolina Panthers, not once but twice. I mean, Matthew Stafford has some issues. He turned the ball over with pressure. So that's one thing that you could take advantage of early because remember last season how Matthew Starford started the season, right? Remember the back issues?

And I can tell you, once you get a back issue, they don't go away. And I don't know what he did during the season to help him out, but he's not a mobile quarterback. And after being pulled down by Nick Benito and Jonathan Cooper, that may be a way to kind of even a playing field with a quarterback who I think is a Hall of Famer.

It's a good point. It's a good point. It's going to be fascinating, man. It's going to be fascinating. But I also think it kind of speaks to kind of something that you hit on Sair and Nick, you touched on it as well, is that the Broncos have to win the games that they're supposed to win, right? Because after that first six-week stretch, you get the Cardinals, right, who are expected to be one of, if not the worst team in the NFL.

You got to win that game. Then you got Kansas City and Carolina back-to-back weeks. You know, you'd hope to win both, if not at least split there. But coming out of the buy, that's the real soft portion of your schedule. You got Raiders, Steelers, dolphins, jets. Raiders again. I mean, that's a five-game stretch where it's super necessary, not only for the Broncos to have a winning record, but probably go four-on-one and hopefully even five-at-oh in that stretch. Obviously, easier said than done. But if the Broncos don't have a winning five-week stretch, like that could mean some trouble for them, but that is essentially the soft spot of the schedule for them. Out of the by, Raiders, Steelers, Dolphins, Jets, Raiders, Sarah. Yeah, and I think even with Aaron Rogers coming back, that Steelers game never really was intimidated. dating, right? And so, yeah, you have to take advantage of those opportunities, especially going up

against either bad or young quarterbacks. I mean, that's kind of where when I look at the schedule, that's kind of what I base. How tough is this game going to be based on the quarterback that they're facing off against? Because we know, like we saw against Buffalo, like the Broncos can go toe to toe with even arguably the best quarterback in the game, right? So we know they can do that, but how many of those guys do you have on your schedule? Because that takes a toll when you're going up against quarterbacks who can will their way to victory. That's why I think, you know, playing in Arrowhead week one against Mahomes, it's got that. It's, it's always going to come down to who's got the ball last, it feels like. I mean, if the Broncos can go into Arrowhead and beat the brakes off the Chiefs,

that'd be awesome. I'd love to see it. But like to Nick's point, I mean, I think I was at the last time that that happened in Arrowhead was Peyton Manning 2012 or 2013 season. I can't remember when it was. But yeah, that was and that was a very, very nice time. Eric Decker had like three touchdowns in that game. And that was a satisfying walkout to the parking lot after. But it doesn't happen all that often, right? It doesn't happen very often where you see, man, they just blew those guys out on the road. I just, when you look at the quarterbacks in those first six weeks, I would say the most winnable games. The Broncos play Mahomes really well. They do. I mean, that's just the reality. Go look at the splits against AFC West. I think his QB rating is the lowest against Denver,

fewest touchdowns, touchdown passes, most interceptions, most times sacked. That's just the reality. The Broncos play Mahomes well, even though he's like 13 and two against him. Sam Darnold, I mean, without Clint Kubiak, without his running backs, I don't know. I don't, I'm, I hate to say this, because it's terrible. to say I'm about as skeptical about the Seahawks being anywhere near as good as they were last year. Even they deserve all the respect in the world for being the reigning Super Bowl champs. That game on Thursday night football scares me more because of the fact that it's a Thursday night game and Mike McDonald's defense than it has anything to do with Seattle's offense

and the fact that they're going to be this powerhouse coming into Denver on a short week. Yeah, I really couldn't say it. I was skeptical of Seattle even when they were winning all those games last. year. I was like, really? Like, I was team Rams all the way. Like the Rams where I picked from preseason all the way until they got eliminated in the playoffs. I'm like, that's the team that I thought was coming out of the, uh, the NFC. Obviously, that was not the case. So yeah, Seattle's going to be an interesting one. But Nick, I think just just going back to that soft portion of the schedule. Like you talked about it as well. Like, easier said than done.

Like the Raiders are going to be better, right? We'll see what happens with the Jets. Aaron Glenn kind of coaching for his life where they're at that point of the season. But you would think that's where the Broncos has got to try to do some damage and rack up some Yeah, I mean, look, I'll tell you this about Aaron Glenn because he was one of my Jets teammates. He was a veteran when I was a rookie. And he comes with a certain, let's say, spark to him. I mean, you've seen him coach on the sideline with Dan Campbell when both of those guys were part of Sean Payton's staff.

I mean, they got a little edge to them and they want their players to have an edge to them. They're going to be really competitive. That game, the game this season is not. going to look anything like last season game. Even though Gino Smith is the quarterback, they believe in him, but now they have a little more weapons around it. I mean, you got Garrett Wilson, right? You picked up Sadiq from who I thought was arguably the best flex tied in in this past draft. And then you add a Broncos favorite, tough guy himself, Tim Patrick, who's going to get one or get a

little get back on his former team. So that game is going to be competitive. But I still still have the Broncos winning. And we're at a point with the Broncos now, fellas. I mean, beating the Broncos, a team that did as well as they did last season, that's going to be a notch in the belt for a lot of these teams. So we may look at that is not an easy game, but a winnable game for the Denver Broncos. But when you look at the Jets,

talk about the Miami Dolphins and the Las Vegas Raiders, for them, that's a confidence booster. If they can beat the Denver Broncos, hell, I even throw the Pittsburgh Steelers in on the Thursday night with Aaron Rogers. They're still looking up at the Denver Broncos as that's the team to beat. So the Broncos have to approach every single game with that mentality. I mean, we're going to squash the neck of every single opponent because everyone is trying to beat us. And we are now the hunted opposed to being the hunter.

It's really well said. It's really well said. I mean, the schedule coming out last week, you kind of start going win loss, win loss, right? We'll see how it shakes out. some predictions from when we get closer and closer to the season, but you finally get to kind of visualize what this season is going to be. Real quick, before we hit another break,

primetime games. That was something that we talked about. I mean, the Broncos are featured a lot. Obviously, we know they play on Christmas against the Buffalo Bills. That's going to be insane. The Black Friday game I love as well, Monday night football to open up the year. Thursday night football, as Sarah alluded to. So I think we were all pretty spot on.

I think what, we said, what, five, I think was our guest, the maximum malotted for the Broncos. we get there with that. So I think the Bronco, you're going to see a lot of Broncos football, maybe not as much on Sundays, right?

Because you're going to get Black Friday, Thursday and all that kind of stuff as well Monday night. But the Broncos are going to be featured frequently in primetime once again, fellas. And not to mention, I mean, I guess to go back to the point also about the NFL, you know,

not having something against them. They got a week 10 by a really favorable spot right in the middle of it all. So I think it kind of works out well. You get those prime time games. You don't have a ton of travel. you only play one game this year against a team coming off a buy, and that would be the New York Jets coming off thereby. So it's not necessarily the worst thing in the world because we don't even know

Gino Smith, who's going to be the quarterback at that point in this season. He's a ram or Hayd Club Nick or whatever, however you say his name. So I think that it's going to be, you know, a really favorable situation overall. And I like, I almost like the fact that they're playing teams like Pittsburgh on Black Friday instead of playing in the noon slot on, I hate the noon games on Sundays. And the Broncos don't have that many of those this year. That's another huge W going to Arrowhead on Monday night. Football, that game usually feels like it's played at 12 central time, my time,

here in the Midwest, where we got tornadoes ripping through a tornado alley all over the place. But yeah, I like the setup, the primetime games. It feels like they're set up really well. They're spread throughout the season. It doesn't feel like the Broncos are. being showcased too much. It feels it feels just right.

I'm looking at this. I think there's only two of those 11 a.m. Mountain time, noon, your time games. It's the Jets in week 14 and the Panthers in week nine. They play the Steelers at 1 p.m. on black Friday, but everyone's going to be home for that. So yeah,

no, that's pretty good. And selfishly, like, obviously I love watching and covering and talking Broncos, but like the fact that they're on Monday night and Thursday night and they got all these prime time slots. means I get some NFL Sundays where I can just sit back, relax with the bag of chips and, you know, watch my red zone, right? And so I think it works out for everybody involved.

Christmas will be interesting. Will I be seeing you in that press box on Christmas, Nick? Yeah, of course you. My mom is not happy. She is not happy. My kids are not. So I know the Broncos have a, well, not the Broncos, but the league, they have a pre- Thanksgiving game on Wednesday.

So it was recommended to me with the game being on Christmas, why don't you celebrate Christmas on the 24th? I'm like, man, I'm not setting a new president in my household. No. Maybe we say, you know what? Maybe we take a page out of New Year's Eve, how they start early on the East Coast. Maybe we start opening at least one give, you know, once things get late on the East Coast time. But other than that, man, I don't want to ruin Christmas. It's a good thing, but it sucks from sharing your holiday with your family that you're working on Christmas.

So, yeah, that part sucks. Yeah, it's when I broke the news to my mom, she was, you know. Quite upset. Yeah, quite upset. That's a good way to put it. Good way to put it. All right. Well, it'll be fun.

It'll be fun either way. Looking forward to Christmas, Black Friday, all that good stuff. And just frankly, Broncos football in general. Heck, I'm even, like, excited for the preseason. Like, usually I'm, like, so, like, bored of the preseason. And sometimes I'm like, oh, like, all right, get me to week one. Right. I'm just excited for football to be back and we'll, of course, be there sooner rather than later.

But obviously, there's an order of operations that we have to go through. We've got minicamp and OTAs coming up here as well. Let's hit a quick break. When we come back, we'll talk about that stuff right here on your locked on Bronco Squat show. All right, you guys, real quick, let me tell you about our friends over at Indeed because workplace chaos, deadline. stack it up, inbox is overflowing. And the one position you have to fill is still sitting open.

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and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Indeed.com slash podcast, terms and conditions apply. Need to hire. This is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs. Be sure to check out our friends over at Indeed guys and let them know that locked on Barraco's sent show. All right. Welcome on back into the squad show at Elo Piro, Sarah Bedinger and Nick Ferguson.

I hope everyone is doing. well out there in and around Broncos country. Good conversation to open up the show on the schedule. If you guys want to get involved with the chat, let us know your favorite game on the schedule, your thoughts on the first six games as well. We'll go back and forth and have some fun with that. But let's move it on forward here to OTAs and mini camp gentlemen.

What did you say, Sarah? First week of June, I believe is when the OTA started up. Yep, that's correct. Yeah, first week of June, second week of June. I think they have another session. And I can't remember if that's the last one before the break. before training camp but that sounds about where we're at in the office that sounds right because training camp is middle of july or like you know like that third week of july i want to say so i don't think

there's anything in between necessarily um nick i mean you can just speak to it having played in the league and just your background and everything like like o t a least to me kind of feels like a glorified training camp like i know you can't do certain things that you could do in training camp right but like o t a is like when i feel like we start to really get get back in the groove of ramping up for football season. Yeah, it looks like a regular kind of, you know, Wednesday or Thursday practice. And the biggest thing is this is when you're going to have everyone together. Like when you had the rookie minicamp, there were a lot of those rookies who kind of receive the bulk of the reps. Now you get to the OTAs. Now you get a chance to really test your skills and your wits against

some real professionals, not the amateurs, but the real professionals. And coaches get a chance to sit back and say, well, what guy elevated his talent level versus other rookies? But now can that guy duplicate that same thing? Like, I mean, who was it that Sean Payton was raving about a loner, right? He was talking about loner to tie it in, how he looked great. And, you know, he built up his muscles and he just seemed a little more attentive and focused. Yeah, you should be that guy because you're a little more experienced in the college guys and you're familiar with the offense.

Now, will he look the same against the guys who have equal to more experience as he had? We get a chance to see it maybe not that often, maybe one day out of the week, but this is where you get a chance to really evaluate those guys and you start to put, I guess, somewhat of the practice depth chart together. All of it's still going to be in pencil with the exception of your quarterback in PS2. everyone else is probably going to be in pencil. But we'll get a chance to see a lot of those guys and they'll be able to test their wit

and their might against some proven NFL veterans. Yeah, I think it'll be big because there's like no contact in OTAs, right? Like it's basically like it's drills, it's kind of walk-thruy type of stuff as well. So just kind of thinking out loud here, like that's going to be big for a guy like Jalen Waddle. Like I'm sure he's been practicing with the guys already

and has gotten to know a lot of his new teammates, right? But it's like, to me it's the new faces coming in on top of the rookies and guys that are fighting for roster spots because you talk about how it's pretty much everyone but Bowens or tan. Like Garrett Bowles is going to be locked in, right? Quinn Miners is going to be locked in. But to me, it's more so about kind of just the start of the marathon that is the NFL season while getting some of the new guys acclimated

and getting a feel for how they might impact your team on the field, off the field, and then really just kind of setting up some of these battles that I'm sure we'll be talking about consistently throughout the course of training camps there. Yeah, and maybe getting kind of a glimpse, I guess, at least from their perspective, the first glimpse of what the Davis Webb, you know, play calling looks like. I don't necessarily know that they're going to sit there and call a bunch of plays, but kind of implementing his vision for the offense and what that looks like, right?

Personnel groupings, how they utilize Evan Ingram differently this year, which I hope is different from what we saw last season. And that could unlock something new in the offense. How many, you know, different are they going to kind of whittle back to not doing the, I remember last year there was a talking. point about them adding extra stuff into the run scheme. Garrett Bulls brought it up. I think it was around OTAs and it was kind of, you know,

something that you perked your ears and raised your eyebrows and you're like, wait, what did he just say? You know, talking about I think it was adding in more zone stuff. Or I can't remember maybe Nick or Anil and maybe one of you guys will remember what he said. But I suppose the ultimate thing that I'm looking most forward to is hearing about, yes, the new guys and how they're fitting in. But I want to hear about all these players that, man, they could, they've got question marks surrounding them. I mean, Evan Ingram is, you know, a really big one.

But Sean Payton has said as well that these practices without pads, it's the most difficult to evaluate guys, the closer they are to the ball. So we want to hear about the receivers. We want to hear about the defensive backs. I want to know more about the Jonah Ellis stuff because he was posting videos about, you know, he was basically rushing the passer. in the videos that he was posting and the things that he was working on. He's working as an edge guy. And all we've heard this offseason is he's moving to linebacker. So I want to know what's going on with that.

I want to hear about how guys are. I know people think this is overrated, but I want to hear about who's in the best shape of their life. Because if you ain't showing up to OTAs in good shape, well, that's bad news for this, you know, this upcoming training camp and this upcoming season. So I'm excited to hear about all these young guys, their development, the vision for them.

want to hear from the coordinators. Like there's so many different things that I think when you talk about the development of players on this roster, the vision for guys who didn't have clarified roles last year or who were maybe disappointing last year, how does that change, you know, now? So that's what I'm most looking forward to because obviously there is only so much you can evaluate when the guys aren't wearing pads out there. Yeah, and I think to that point, like OTAs is a total ramp up period to training camp. So when you get to training camp, you get hit the ground.

running. Like there is a defined vision for this Denver Broncos team this year. Not to say that there necessarily wasn't the last couple of years, but like it is a Super Bowl caliber team with a Super Bowl or bust type of mentality, at least from the fan base and some of the media alike, right? And so while last year was a bit of like, okay, like Bowen Year 2 and Welcome Evan Ingram, like you're going to have some of that stuff as well with welcoming Jalen Wattle and how is Jonah Coleman fitted to the offense, just like we saw with R.J. Harvey last year. But I think the biggest thing for me, Nick, is let's try to iron out as many of the kinks as we can now. So when we get to training camp, we don't have to.

And look, training camp is the time to experiment with different things. I'm not saying to take that out of the equation, but just knowing what you are sealing is for this season. And really just knowing what your floor is, right? Like anything short of an AFC championship game, appearance, assuming your quarterback's healthy, is going to be relatively disappointing to the fan base and the team alike. Like, know what's in front of you and what you have to do to get there.

Get as much of the heavy lifting and the hard stuff out of the way. OTA so you can focus on the mission ahead and training camp. Well, you know what? Let me change a little of that narrative really quickly. Because once before, that was the narrative. Well, you know, getting to an AFC championship. For me, no, that's not what it is for the Broncos. It is winning the whole damn thing.

I mean, you set your goals as high as you can set them. And if you fall below them, hey, whatever. It happened. But once again, as fans, we have to set those expectations. And I don't think that I'm out of pocket by even suggesting for anyone to even have that frame of mind, especially after the season that the Broncos have. But going back to OTAs, this is where you kind of set the pace for that. This is where the veterans have to come back and say, you know what?

Last season was disappointed, right? That last game, you know, we had walking back, getting in our cars, driving home, and snowy Denver, Colorado, while we listen to sports talk radio and they're all talking about how we lost to the New England Patriots, albeit without Bo Nix or not, still a very talented team and they should have won that game.

So they have to come out with that fire and brimstone from day one. It's like no days off. Treat it just like training camp. Even though you can't make contact, you just have to make sure everything you do is full speed. And I'll tell you guys, I was a habitual line stepper

because I know in OTAs, they said no contact, but I was drawn to it like two magnets, right? So I was a culprit. I was a violator, right? Because I was so used being around Bill Parcells, you do everything full speed. Everything you do full speed, you let everyone else figure it out.

That's the mindset that the team has to take. I'm not advocating for anyone to get injured, but you have to hit the ground running because there was an opportunity right before them, right? It was a difference of what, maybe three points, three points. And you're in the damn Super Bowl. You should be freaking frustrated by it.

And when those rookies come in, you have to let them know, this is what the standard is, period, bar none. Yeah, yeah. No, I think you're spot on. It's a big season, right? Because, I mean, we talked about it a lot, I feel like in the offseason, at least I did. like the Broncos are still going to be able to win once Bo gets paid.

But like it's going to become very interesting to see how they navigate that, just knowing what the cap is, right? Like you still have Bo on a team friendly deal, you know, a rookie deal at that. And so not that necessarily is going to, I don't think it's going to complicate things because I think the Broncos have done a really good job of kind of forecasting and projecting. But like you can make a legitimate argument that like this might be the most talented team around Bo that he could have for quite some time just because of the flexibility that he presents. to you being on that rookie deal as well

knowing that you were on the doorstep. As you were talking about Nick, like you're three points away. You're Jared Stidham not backwards pass away, whatever you want to call it in the AFC championship game away from being in the Super Bowl. And so you're right there. And assuming Bose healthy, right?

We're knocking on wood, all indications seem that he is, you should have that expectation to be right back where you were, if not take that next step going into the Super Bowl next year, Sarah. And you have to make your way there. You have to get there. And that starts with, like Nick is talking about, it starts with every single day, bringing that intensity to the practice field, bringing that to the weight room, bringing that to the meeting room, everything that they're doing to help make each other better. It's part of the reason why, I mean, I think that obviously, like, I know maybe I'm on an island with this. I know there's a lot of other fans out there, but it's part of the reason why I think the team should bring in somebody like Von Miller.

because honestly, like, I just, that guy's been there and he's won it. He's done it all. He's, that is the guy that I think can be the glue guy for this locker room to not, I'm not saying like, oh, you need to sign von Miller or you're not winning a Super Bowl. I think the Broncos could win one without him. But at the same time, why would you not bring a guy like that in? Like, for example, here's why I've brought up every time this discussion comes about is last season's team, 68 sacks, franchise record, right? You punched out two of those. And one came in

week one and one came in week 18. And so who could help you figure out how to, hey, when you get to the quarterback, I'm going to take that ball away. That's my ball. Somebody like Von Miller can be an asset more than just what he does on the field. You lose BT Jordan, the pass rush specialist, coach who's now with the Dallas Cowboys on Christian Parker staff. Von Miller, you're telling me that he can't be an asset teaching some of these young guys how to rush the quarterback, how to take the ball away once you get to the quarterback and somebody who can be in that locker room who's hoisted a Lombardi trophy twice in his NFL career. I don't know all who on the Broncos roster right now has won a Super Bowl before off the top of my head. I'm sure there's

I'm sure there's a player or two. Maybe there's not. But to bring in somebody who is not a coach, who has been to that mountaintop, who has climbed and done the offseason training, who has been in the league since 2011. I don't understand why you wouldn't make a move like that. And I know Sean Payton said earlier this offseason, like, hey, just let's look at the roster at the end of June. That's what he said, you know, when he's talking about fans being impatient about free agent signings and the team taking forever to bring guys in,

he's like, let's just wait, wait till the end of June. Then we'll talk, you know, about the roster and the state of the roster. I just think there's, that's a no-brainer type of move to me to bring in somebody who's won it all to a team that's. trying to win it all in a Super Bowl window like you guys are talking about. That doesn't mean that you can't win from now on. You've got the pieces in place to do that. But this is a strike when the iron's hot kind of a moment.

What would that be most better reserved for Bond being maybe a consultant, a pass rush consultant, or part of the team from a coaching standpoint, opposed to being part of a team from a player standpoint? The only reason I say that is because when you add a guy like Von Miller, there's a certain amount of money that you have to pay it. Now, you're not going to blow the doors off, but there's a certain amount of money you have to pay him. And then, I mean, to give him that amount of money just to be somewhat of a raw, raw guy is like, hey, man, you're going to take reps away from someone else. And all he is at this point in his career, no, no, no, throwing no shade at him. But he is a third down specialist, if that.

So I think he would be better, you know, utilize if he was part of the coaching staff. So that way, there's a, there's a, he's here long term and he can really help the guys out more. But I do agree with you, having a guy with that experience with some of the young edge rushes that they have, it would definitely help the Broncos. Let's, um, let's the final break. When we come back, why don't we end the show on this? I think it's a fascinating discussion. And Vaughn himself has kind of been pushing for a reunion with the Denver Broncos. So let's hit a quick break.

We'll come back. put a bow on the show with the Von Miller conversation. All right, Locked on Broncos squad show. Let's get right back on into it. And just to kind of feed off your point here, Nick, the Broncos, if they want to bring Von back, would have all the leverage. And who's to say that like, like,

if the Broncos offered Vaughn a vet minimum deal, do we think he's turning that down? Nope. Because like that's the thing. I agree with you. Like, if you have to pay him a bunch of money and all that kind of stuff, they didn't so much different conversation. But if you could bring Vaughn in on a vetman deal, like, why would you not do that?

And I think Darien makes an excellent point in the comment section. Like winning is greater than development at this point. I mean, maybe not just at this point, but just in general. And I would agree with that. And I think it was on that stream that Vaughn was talking about, I don't know, because Vaughn's talked about this a lot like over the last couple of years as well. But I did see something in the last month or so that Vaughn was like, part of the reason they traded me and I'm sure he was kind of joking to a certain extent was like,

you know, kind of what that team would become and my Halloween parties have gotten out of control and like this and that, right? And like, believe me, I've heard stories about Club 58 and how that all used to go down. But like, I don't think bringing back Vaughn would bring back any of like that stuff. And I don't think that's the reason that bomb was traded. I think the Broncos are just in a much different position organizationally than they are right now, right? But like from a financial factor, if you can get him on a vet man and knowing that he's going to come in and kind of be that elder statesman, he's going to bring some youthful energy just because that's what his personality is as well.

But not that you had to really worry about a ton with Vaughn, at least from what I can remember, you know, in the prime of his career with the Broncos. Like I don't really see the downside to it necessarily, guys. And, you know, maybe the coaching thing is something in the cards in the future, but the guy could still play. Yeah. I mean, over the last two seasons, he's had 15 sacks.

He had nine last year for the commanders playing just 37%. I've done all the research. I've crunched all the numbers. 37% of their snaps, nine sacks. I mean, that's more than Jonathan Cooper, who, I mean, and I know that's not the only metric that measures pass rush productivity. But all I'm saying is that in a Super Bowl caliber season, you are one injury away at any position from what we saw in the AFC title game last year. And I just don't understand why they wouldn't bring in von Miller, who is willing to play whatever role it takes. Obviously, at this point in his career, he's not playing special teams.

big deal. You already have Dondray Tillman, Q Robinson, Jonah Ellis, all these rookie linebackers coming in. They play special teams. Vond might come in and even say, like, I don't have to necessarily even be active every single week. Maybe he wouldn't go that far. But I just think if you are one injury away, you've already lost John Franklin Myers. That, to me, is that the red alert to say, we need a veteran in here who can come help us close games if need be. Even if he's a three-point shooter off the bench. That happens to the best of them in the NBA level, right? I mean, the last thing to go is what? Your shot, right? So the same applies to Von Miller seemingly when it comes to rushing the passer. Like, yes, he might just be a three-point specialist at this

point in his NFL career, but dang it, he can make threes. I watched Ray Allen play late in his career. That guy could make some clutch threes. You need players like that on your team, even if they are specialists because they can come in and maximize every single snap. I don't think it hinders any development of you're already saying screw player development. We're moving Jonah Ellis to linebacker. Like we got fans talking about player development and saying like, hey, the Broncos can't afford to do this. They've got young guys.

They're moving Jonah Ellis to linebacker. They're moving Drew Sanders like Michael Scott with the snip, snap, snip, snap stuff. He's going from linebacker to edge to linebacker to edge. I mean, I don't, I don't want to hear about the stuff about, you know, player development. Yes, Q Robinson has three years left on his rookie contract. Dondray Tillman's a free agent after this year. You have an opportunity right now to win. And like if you don't do everything right now that you possibly can to set up yourself to win,

you're going to be kicking yourself a month, two months into the season when something happens. And you're like, dang it, I wish you would have signed Von Miller back. in May or June or whatever it is because now we could really use them. Don't get caught with your, you know, don't get caught in a situation like that if you're the Denver Broncos and you have an opportunity to win a Super Bowl. I think what they're thinking that they say, well, let's take a look at some of our young guys first. Now, I'm sure someone brought that, that the subject matter up of Von Miller.

Hey, what do you guys think about Von Miller and what he can add to our team? and it's okay, well, what are the pros and cons? What does he provide that we don't have within our locker room as a whole? And before we start talking, Von Miller, we have to first see what we have. This is why the OTAs are so important because they're not going to make this move in the decision right now. Obviously, if they were, we're getting into training camp, someone's getting injured. And I can tell you this. You know, there are contingency plans where they've already said,

if we lose this guy, where else can we go from a veteran guy that we might have had in our rookie camp? He may have been with us in previous years, didn't make the team, or guys who've been here before and we still think they still have a little juice in the tank. I think that would be somewhat of a conversation, but that's a dire straits conversation where, okay, well, we don't have anyone else out there. Vance Joseph Q. Robinson has come along, maybe not as quickly as we were like. We don't want to move Jonah back because Jonah Ellis is making the adjustment to the linebacker position.

And we don't want to create a Drew Sanders type situation. So where can we go on a temporary basis, right? A temporary basis, right? You guys have had a flat before. Got your entire plug until you go get a new one. that's in essence what Vaughn would be, a temporary guy. And who's to say that, you know, maybe he could be a players coach. I mean, I played with a guy who was a player's coach, right?

So that would be if this were to come to fruition. The only way that I can see this happening because George Payton and his scouting staff, they're thinking like, look, man, we love Vaughn if a situation developed where we could use him on a temporary basis, we'll explore. But I think for them, most of their development is going to be featured around some of their young players. Yeah. I think it makes sense.

I can tell you this before Bo Nix was drafted well after Baum was traded, the 58 jersey is still the one that I saw the most across this town. To be fair, I still see a lot of Tebow 15s. Believe it or not. Yeah, believe it or not, I still do see. I don't know why. I know why. I'll tell you why.

He's the most likable dude. He's the most likable guy in history. I mean, that's this, the reality of it. Here's what I'll say. When the heck did Sean Peyton stop collecting former Broncos players? Like, he did that with New Orleans. I remember when he was at the Saints, he brought in Chant Bailey for that random brief stint. He brought in Chris Harris Jr.

He brought in Emmanuel Sanders. And I know there was other ones. I have a post about it somewhere that it's just kind of crazy. Like he stops bringing in all these. older former Broncos players now that he's the coach of the Broncos. And fans are begging for this like nostalgia and just get it's not the one day contract that we want. We want to see 58 doing a sack dance out there after taking down.

That's the other thing. It's like this gauntlet that you play in the beginning of the season. Von Miller, man. Like get get him out there sick and Patrick Mahomes again. Get him out there after Trevor Lawrence, Matthew Stafford. he had he sacked justin herbert last year when he's with the commanders he got all these guys i mean so i just think yeah it's not a it's not a hill that i'm going to die on in terms of like it's going to make or break the season but man i would love to see it and sean dude come on like you brought in all

these other broncos guys when you're with the saints for no reason seemingly do it now do it now that you're actually the head coach of the broncos and you have an opportunity to bring in von Miller who's the best you know i yeah i've said my piece and it is what it is and we'll see what happens but von if if anybody is going to get no my fire and brimstone attitude it's von because he's the one who's out there putting all this stuff out there being like acting like it's going to happen well what's the old saying right takes two to tango von wants a dance the question is to the broncos well this is not you said he hawkins dance here fellas sometimes i'm left sitting on the wall.

But I was checking the roster. Right now, there's no one that I can see on the Broncos roster that has 58. Nobody has. Nobody has since he left. I'm just saying, I'm just, you know, I like the conversation. I like the idea, but will it happen? Could it happen? You don't know.

We'll keep you guys updated throughout the course of the office. season. I think if it were to happen, I think it'd be right before the start of the season because I remember he didn't sign with Washington, I feel like, until way late into the off season as well. So ultimately we shall see. I think most of Broncos country would welcome, like I literally can't

name a single person that would not welcome Von Miller back with open arms. I think we would all love the move. And ultimately, we'd just have to wait and see, right? Like I said, it takes two to tango. Vana's down. The question is, do the Broncos want to entertain that? All right. That is going to do it for us on today's program. Broncos

I'm sure you guys are the absolute best. Thank you guys so, so much for tuning into the squad show, as always. Great conversation on the schedule, little OTA preview, and a little nostalgia hit there with Von Miller as he tries to make his way back to the orange and blue. But for Sarah Beninger and Nick Ferguson, I am Anilo Piro. Make sure to hit that like button and smash that subscribe button on your way out the door. And we'll talk to you guys in a couple of days. Have a good one, folks.

Peace.