Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos Avoided FURTHER DISASTER With Russell Wilson's Contract

Episode Date: June 26, 2025

The Denver Broncos avoided further disaster with the Russell Wilson contract by not giving him the initial extension he was seeking. How have Sean Payton and George Paton navigated the Broncos out of the mess that was Wilson's deal and why are they heading in the right direction with Bo Nix and the foundational pieces of this roster intact? Cody Roark is a credentialed beat reporter for Mile High Sports and covers the Broncos daily in person. Sayre Bedinger is the site expert for Predominantly Orange. Both bring Broncos Country the most in-depth and objective coverage of the Denver Broncos. WANT MORE DAILY DENVER BRONCOS CONTENT?For all of the latest Denver Broncos news today -- Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOBroncos?sid=YouTube Locked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNFL Follow on Twitter: @CodyRoarkNFL and @SayreBedingerFollow the show on Twitter: @LockedOnBroncos Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!RugietHead to Rugiet.com/LOCKEDONNFL and use code LOCKEDONNFL to get 15% off today. GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime. FanDuelRight now, new customers can get $150 in BONUS BETS when your first $5 BET WINS! Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNFL at monarchmoney.com/lockedonnfl for 50% off your first year. 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.

The Denver Broncos are in a great spot of building for their future. But we'll tell you how the almost Russell Wilsondale could have crippled the Broncos for many, many years on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos. You are Locked on Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. What's up, Broncos country? Welcome into another episode, Lockdown Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Thank you so much to all the everydayers. out there in Broncos Country. Thanks for tuning in, making us your first listen.

However, you choose to do so. And if you're a brand new viewer, listener to the show, be coming every there. Hit that subscribe to that follow button and you'll never miss out on what's going on with your favorite team. I'm Cody Roark. Broncos reporter for Mile High Sports. And I'm Sarah Bedinger's site expert at predominantly orange.com. And here's what you're going to got in today's episode of the show.

Broncos Country. We're all excited about their direction that this team is heading. They're building for the future. They have everything that they need. But we'll tell you how the Russell, Wilson almost deal that he was proposing could have crippled the Broncos for more years than what they ran into initially in the last couple of seasons here. Plus, we'll tell you why now the Broncos are in a great position for the future

and why the recent draft classes here for Sean Payton, they could be responsible for helping shaping the future direction of this organization. We'll look at all that on today's episode of the show. Let's get into obviously the bombshell kind of news. Now, look, obviously we are two years removed from the Broncos moving on from Russell Wilson. We knew that in year one of moving on from him. They ate the largest portion of that dead cap, which was $55 million. We know that they're going to eat the final $32 million this upcoming season. But thinking about maybe the numbers that could have been, those numbers

could have been bigger if Russell Wilson initially got the contract extension that he wanted. We just found out the NFL, the NFLPA. There was a court hearing about some potential collusion that was going on. Greg Penner, I think, testified. I think Russell Wilson testified here. Come to find out the details. Russell Wilson almost got a contract deal that was bigger than Deshaun Watson's. And Deshaun Watson's deal was unprecedented and almost remained unprecedented for a few years there until Josh Allen finally beat that with his 250 million and guaranteed money from

the Buffalo bills. At the time, Cody, $230 million on a fully guaranteed contract for Deshawn Watson. It was a clear like the Browns doing something to get. Because remember at the time, Deshaun was going to go to like Atlanta or Carolina or one of those two places. The Browns were not even in the mix. And then all of a sudden it's like, you send a fully guaranteed $230 million deal. So you throw that kind of money on a fully guaranteed contract out of guy. And then of course, Russell Wilson, who had one of the best 10 year stretches of any quarterback in modern football history.

Of course, he's going to say, well, let's why not go even bigger than that? And I think that part of Russ's situation here in asking for what he did. which allegedly seven-year deal, $350 million fully guaranteed. That's more than a, that's, that's, that's 120 million more than what Dishon Watson got. Cody, I think I'm a big subscriber. You have not because you ask not. So I don't hate that he made the ask. And I think that Russ, obviously, you know, he foresaw and his agency foresaw the market for

quarterbacks getting to that level eventually. But man, can you imagine the Broncos being in that kind of a situation? That is absolutely bonkers. For that time in particular, that would have been not just a historic deal for the NFL. It would have blown every historic deal out of the water. Well, I mean, the asking price there are seven years. That's crazy. That's a wild astronomical deal here.

And I think when you look at the context of it, you know, you're grateful the Broncos didn't do that. Ultimately, they landed on what was a five-year, $245 million deal that really Russ never really aches. actually even got to the point of his contract, right? Because he had two years left on his original deal. He actually never got to that point with the Denver Broncos, which I found to be a little interesting here. But let's go into the details here of this court document because it has definitely brought up, I think, some old wounds, some old scabs here from the Bronco side.

Now, obviously, Greg Penner, the team's owner and obviously the day-to-day controlling CEO of the franchise, he was not in position yet, right? The Broncos had not yet been approved, like the ownership transition deal with the Walter Penner family ownership group had not been approved just yet. But he was being brought up to speed on a lot of the ongoing developments, right? Because the Bronco was back in April before everything had gone on. They had made the trade there for Russell Wilson. I think it's important, right?

Let's look at what the court documents say. It says here that Greg Penner, obviously the team CEO, asked the question and was a little skeptical on giving a deal early on, saying two years left on the deal, why not wait? That's a guy who has not been in an NFL franchise. yet. I think that's a very logical and valid question for him to ask at that point. Why not wait? And certainly, you know, you would have hoped the Broncos would have waited. But here's the issue that you run into. While it stated that in the court document that he said, why not wait? It also acknowledges in that same document there that Penner also understood the rationale of getting a deal done. Because in the world of football, what are you always up against on a year to year basis when you're trying to figure out what you're going to do for a contract extension? It's, the ever-changing market, right? And guys at the time that had yet to get a new deal that were in the market for it, Justin Herbert, Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, Kyler Murray, these guys

were in line to get these big deals. And that would have changed the market. That would have raised the price, right? The Sean Watson's contract already kind of set this unprecedented. And, okay, this is what the quarterback market's going to be. Well, if Deshawn's getting out, what are these guys going to get? Russ asking for that seven-year, $350 million deal is wild to me, and that would have ultimately crippled the Broncos. I don't know if they would have been able to move on from Russ if they had actually given him that deal. The Broncos might be in a position now if they gave him that extension, where they would not be able to make a move for probably three or four years at this point.

And that would have been a pain point. This Broncos team would look entirely different right now because of that. But I also want to bring it up to you because this also brings up more questions. People are like, oh, George Payton, what is he doing? Greg Penner ultimately gave George Payton the Greenlight to move ahead with the deal. Because I think some people are forgetting Russell Wilson had a no trade clause in his contract with the Seattle Seahawks there. He initially waived it because Denver wasn't even a team that was initially on the list, right? But he waived it as a sign of good faith for saying, hey, if I waived this, I want a contract extension.

I think that gets lost in the shuffle of all of this. Yeah, there's there's so many different factors in details with all of the. like the Broncos to say, hey, they would have been in this situation or that situation. You don't have to look any further than the Cleveland Browns right now with what they're dealing with with Deshaun Watson. And then it would be an even larger scale with the Denver Broncos. So to me, I think you obviously avoided disaster by actually having those negotiations and still giving Russ a fair market deal for the time, obviously, and giving him a lot of guaranteed money up front. And the Broncos did that.

And yes, ultimately the ownership did give the green light on that. And to answer Greg Penner's question, this is how I imagine that conversation would go. Two years left on a contract, why wait? The answer to that question for somebody who's not been in the football world, but is obviously expert level in the business world is, but two years from now, that contract, if he plays well, is going to be astronomically higher. And we're going to have to pay a new market value and we're going to have to overpay. And we will wish we had gotten this deal.

deal done. But also, the Broncos were in such a weird position that offseason because you had the Aaron Rogers drama, the Nathaniel Hackett higher, which was seemingly to get Rogers to come to Denver. And then you pivoted to Russell Wilson right after Aaron decided to resign in Green Bay. You make the trade for Russell Wilson and you get that deal done. You get a franchise quarterback in the building, somebody that you believe you can build around. That's something the Broncos had lacked since Super Bowl 50. It's exactly what I think George Payton felt the team needs. needed when he acquired or when he got the general manager role in 2021 and said, this team's a sleeping giant, right?

So you bring in a quarterback that's won a Super Bowl. That's been basically a guaranteed ticket to the playoffs for the Seahawks every single year. And you just assume like this guy is the way that he works, the things that we see on tape, even if he declines a little bit, it's going to be okay. But I think we underestimated maybe the state of the roster at that point. and I guess certainly Nathaniel Hackett's impact on that and the one, two, three, Cancun type stuff going on.

It's just really, Cody, highlights the fact that Russ was not the same as, as what Peyton Manning brought to the table in 2012, right? Yeah. That team was still young. That team was inexperienced. That team had barely done anything. And yet at the same time, the way that Peyton operated when he came in, I mean, he made everybody better.

And he required that excellence out of everybody else. It just wasn't the same with Russ. And so I'm glad the Broncos figured away out of this mess. Now, the fact that they got into the first place, I guess all is well that ends well, right, now that you got Bow Nicks in the building. Hindsight is always 20s, if there was a crystal ball that would have told the Broncos

how things were going to go with Russell Wilson, maybe they would have been a little bit more patient and maybe they wouldn't have made that move here, but their hands were also kind of tied in that situation. And I think the Broncos' ability to admit that, hey, you know, we flubbed on this. and we got to figure out a way to get out of it. They ate the 55 million.

They're eating the final 32. Though that 32 million is not really impacting them negatively right now. It'll be entirely off the books as the Broncos going to the 2026 off season, which where you look at the Broncos were at two years ago compared to now, they're in a much better spot here. And we'll tell you why the Broncos are now in a great position to build around this team. And they are free of the Russell Wilson thing. Going into 2026, we'll break that down much more here on today's episode of the show.

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One of the most surprising things I think to me, Cody, when I started finally getting stuff all into that one app is figuring out, okay, this is how much I'm spending each week on eating out. This is how much I'm spending on just going to buy coffee for me and my wife every day and then subscriptions, the things that you may not even use anymore that add up to more than you would ever expect. That's why you want to take control with your finances with Monarch Money. use the code locked on NFL at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year. That's monarchmoney.com code locked on NFL for half off your first year. Despite the fact that they had to climb out of a $90 million salary cap hole last year, the Broncos are they're pretty really good position to build for the future. They've got a young core of players.

They've got a great coaching staff. They have stable ownership now at this point. It's a far cry from where the team was at in 2022 when they end. initially hired Nathaniel Hackett and made the trade for Russell Wilson. And Cody and I were going to talk about that on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos and Broncos country. Shout out to all of you who make us your first listen of the day every single day. Cody, the Broncos are in a great position now compared to where they were at with the Russell Wilson deal. I think the majority of fans felt really good about the Russell Wilson era and how it was going to go.

I mean, there were at the time, George Payton said it. The roster was a sleeping giant. You felt like there were aspects of that team that could really compete in the AFC West. And certainly that didn't happen. They were embarrassed that season. That's not my words either. That's the ownership's words. Remember after that Christmas Day game against the L.A. Rams, they were embarrassed by that.

They fire Nathaniel Hackett before the end of his first season with the team. I think now, though, you're in a really good position where, like you mentioned in the previous segment, only 32 million left on that Russell Wilson deal on your salary cap for 2025. just gives you flexibility and Sean Payton acknowledged it at the end of last year that they were looking ahead they're like yeah we know we're going to have that 32 million dollars a dead cap but that's not going to impact how we're going to operate and how we're going to approach the free agency look what did Denver do they went out there and they added two big pieces one at safety in Talanoa whofanga he got a pretty big deal

Drey Greenlaw got a pretty big deal you get Evan Ingram not on a big deal but you get them on a very team friendly but also beneficial deal I think for both sides at this juncture where they're at. And you have your draft capital going into the 2025 NFL draft. And certainly that was a benefit because the Broncos, it had been a while since they had that flexibility. You know, obviously going into 2024 when you had your draft capital, you had your first, first round pick and forever.

And you used it on Bo Nix. You were able to, in return with both of those scenarios, you're able to find your franchise quarterback. And look, we didn't know that Bo was going to be the franchise guy just yet. It was, hey, we hope he can be the guy. You draft him 12th overall. He goes out there and he proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is the guy. He's the right pair here for Sean Payton and this team going forward.

And all of a sudden it makes that, oh, no, we have this $92 million in dead cap that we got to deal with here, which is astronomical. It was unbelievable. And Denver was still able to go out there and win 10 games last season because of that. All right, now you have breathing room. You have leeway. You have the biggest question. that every franchise, for the most part, ask themselves,

do we have a franchise quarterback? Only a handful of teams can say, yes, we do. Because now everyone else is trying to figure out if they have that guy. And luckily, Denver's not in that boat anymore, which is nice to see. But I think the benefit here, Sarah, about how the Broncos are now in a great position to build for the future is because they have that question answered. You have your quarterback. That gives you an idea on how to build the rest of your team. Yeah.

And they've also hit on their draft picks over the last four, their top draft picks anyways over the last four years, whereas you can't say that for a lot of teams either, even teams that were picking, you know, multiple times in the top 50. Overall, the Broncos first round picks since George Payton took over, or their top picks since he took over, Pat Sertan, Nick Benito, Marvin Mims, Bo Nix, and now Jada Baron.

So far, Cody, the guys who have actually played, that's a four-for-four-hit rate. And you're able to build around guys like that, when you find cornerstone pieces at different parts of the draft. Those are premium position players, quarterback, cornerback, edge rusher, and then obviously a wide receiver that we feel like Marvin could take that next step this coming year after exploding in the second half of last season. So you get guys at premium positions with your top picks,

especially when it's not in the first round. That's huge. You also found players that can be cornerstone pieces and free agency at those premium positions like Mike McGlinchie at offensive tackle. Zach Allen on the interior defensive line. And then you add complimentary pieces hitting in the draft at other spots, right? So there's aspects of this whole thing that's like, okay, yeah, it'd be so easy to look at George Payton's mistakes as a general manager, the Russell Wilson deal, the hiring of

Nathaniel Hackett, signing Randy Gregory and free agency. You could look at those sorts of things and say, man, he's really set this team back. But simultaneously, then you have all these other things like his, hit raid in the draft and bringing in the right free agents and say that Sean Payton's the reason for that all you want. Those guys work together well. And the fact that they've gotten out of this whole, it's not just because of Bo Nix, but he's obviously probably the biggest catalyst for that. I even think finding undrafted rookie free agents that can have an impact on your team have been big for this team as well over the last handful of years, George Payton included. But I'd

say even George, you mentioned finding some of those other, you know, mid to late round draft pieces. I mean, look at where the Broncos, they found a cornerstone player at the end of round number three in 2021 and Quinn Miners, right? Obviously, you can make the argument he's one of the best offensive linemen right now in the National Football League, finding those pieces and hitting on that, in my opinion, what George Payton has done, the hits that he has made, have significantly outweighed his flaws or his flops or misses there, the Hackett hire, the Russell Wilson trade, you name it. Those things right there are the big marks against him. but I think that George has done more than enough to, you know, while you acknowledge those

mistakes, they don't even shed in comparison, I think, to what George and Sean combined have done to make this team, I think a team that everyone's talking about right now. And I think they're in a great position here going forward. They have the foundation. I think also the scouting department, too, which George Payton helps assemble that scouting department. I mean, you look at what has happened here this offseason of Denver's front office, losing several major key pieces.

that's a testament to the staff that George Payton initially built here in Denver, the way that they've transformed it. And now the way they're continuing to evolve it by adding co-directors and being able to build that out because you want to have, I'd say, an organizational structure where if you lose a guy, you could promote from within and you're not going to get drop off. You know, you have guys that you trust. Of course, the Broncos brought in two outside names here to the front office structure. But that's guys that, you know, one guy has former familiarity with you.

The other guy is, you know, was longly tenured. with the New England Patriots and is a guy that is a rising star in this industry who gets a promotion in Denver. So I think all those things considered, the Broncos have, I think the roster, the coaching staff, the front office structure and a scouting department that will put them on a track, I think, to compete for the next handful of years. And they really have to maximize this as well, especially with Bow Nix on a rookie contract right now. You have that franchise QB in place.

Now you have to figure out how to build this team the right way around. him. I think that Denver's got the foundation there. And we're going to see in 2026, I think a new approach that we haven't seen from them just yet with Sean Peyton and George Payton, where I think they'll be ultra aggressive this upcoming season. But 2025 still has to be played and we're excited to see how everything all plays out here. But Broncos country, part of that success on the field here this upcoming season, I think will be contingent upon how these recent draft classes in Sean Payton and George Payton's mind will shape the future of this team. We'll discuss sat here on today's episode of the show.

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But George Payton, Sean Payton, they feel strong about the last two draft classes that the team has had. And even in Sean Peyton's first year as a head coach, there's some players who are rising up in that draft class, even though the Denver had limited capital in those years. How are the recent draft classes helping shape the future of this franchise? We'll discuss that you on today's episode of the show. show. Sarah, I feel like we'd be remissed if we don't start talking about Sean Payton's first

draft class here with the Denver Broncos, right? Year one, you come in, you have Russell Wilson as your quarterback, you don't have a first round pick, you don't have a second round pick, you only have a third round pick and some limited picks in between there. It limits your approach as to what you can do, but we saw the Broncos trade up back into round number two in 2023 to get Marvin Mims, a speedy playmaker, as we all know in his first two seasons, an all pro return artist and a guy who is an absolute weapon at wide receiver that can be used can be a dangerous chess piece for you. There's he, Drew Sanders in line for a little bit more run this upcoming season.

Sean and George believe that these recent draft classes can help shape their future. How can they do that with this 2023 class specifically? Well, we've talked about Riley Moss quite a bit over the last couple of weeks here on the show. And I think he's one of those players that if he takes that next step in his career and becomes more of a ball hawk out there, which we saw at Iowa. He was one of the best in the nation in terms of creating takeaways for that defense. If he can do more of that in Denver, Cody, he's going to take this defense to another level. So I think he's huge.

We talked about Marvin Mims taking the next step as well in the offense. After the trade deadline last year, dude was awesome. And he was consistent on a week-to-week basis. And the Broncos finally found ways to get the ball in his hands and let him make plays and build his confidence. What does Sean Payton say all the time? Confidence is born from demonstrated ability or something like that, right? And so get these guys, the ability to demonstrate their ability.

That's the key in year three for Drew Sanders because he has not been able to demonstrate his ability. He went from being an off ball linebacker to switching to the edge and switching back to the offball linebacker position. And now we don't know. Is he going to even play? Is Alex Singleton going to start ahead of him? Justin Sernod, who's going to play next to Drey Greenlaw? It's his opportunity this year. He's that wild card to me that if he steps up and becomes something that Denver defense now all of a sudden takes on a completely different complexion because of what he brings to the table as what the Broncos say, a pressure player.

Well, let's go to 2024 now. And this is the one where I think we look at the immediate contributions. I think we look at the biggest question being can Bonix be a franchise guy? He proved that. He answered that as a rookie here. But it was what Sean Payton said to Greg Penner and what Sean Payton revealed that he. said to him initially, he said years down the road, when we look back, this 2024 draft class is going to be the reason why.

That I think is, like for Sean to say that is a level of excitement, right? Because Sean's not a guy who normally goes out there and puts out hyperbole, you know, he really believes in letting the guys work, letting the work speak for itself, not putting out Bolton board material. I don't think this is Bolton board material. I just think that Sean looks at this saying, hey, we have the right pieces here with this group, with the guys that we have on this roster. already, but these guys are going to come in and they're going to be the reason why we take that next step.

You look at that. I think it's very prevalent with that class led by Bowdo Nix. And then followed closely behind by Jonah Ellis, who you and I both talked about recently, he could be one of those sleeper guys on this team to take a next step that not a lot of folks are talking about right now and be more than just an asset in the rotation, but actually be a factor for this team in terms of a not just situational pass rusher, but somebody who's actually making a consistent week-to-week impact. I think he's one of those guys.

Troy Franklin as well. We heard a lot of great things about him this off-season, Cody, and I know you saw him out there. Sean Peyton said that he's making a lot more explosive plays than even the media was seeing at the practices available to them. So you add Devon Vele into the mix. And we have other wild cards from that class as well. That could be really fascinating for this team.

It just feels like that is the class that's going to be the mark of, man, we're going to look back years from now and say that was the group that really helped turn things around for the franchise. They made it to the playoffs, their rookie season. And then from that point on, they established themselves in the AFC West. Well, now you look at the 2025 class. And look, I think this year, the Broncos, they're in a position to pick based on luxury. They didn't necessarily need to draft by need. I think in 2024, the biggest need was quarterback.

And the Broncos obviously drafted that with Bo Nix. They drafted the guy they thought was there. But I think the 20, class, you look at it, I think their first three premier picks in the top 100, I feel like these are the guys that will probably be the foundational pieces of 2025's class. And I'd say in years ahead to come. And that's obviously Jaude Barron at the cornerback position, R.J. Harvey at running back, expectations for both of these guys are high.

Pat Bryant as your third round pick where Pat really, he's kind of this under the radar guy that is generating a little bit of buzz here going into training camp because of what we saw from him in the offseason program dating back to rookie minicamp, OTAs mandatory minicamp. He is a player who consistently stood out on a day-to-day basis as a route runner, reliable hands, and a guy who got more volume when Devon Valey was not there for mandatory minicamp. So I look at these three guys right here and say, okay, from the 2025 class, like Denver, they drafted, they didn't necessarily have to go out there and draft starters,

but it's like Denver coming into the draft, they had arguably all of their starters in place minus running back. I think that was the one position where it's like, ah, you don't know who a clear starter is here. RJ Harvey certainly could be that. I look at all these guys. They're great additions to an already young and solid team that has a lot of playmakers and potential already.

Yeah, you look at the selections they made in 2025, other than RJ Harvey at running back. I think you could argue, man, they really just, they went with the strategy and approach of let's strengthen a strength, like with the Jada Baron pick. He strengthened arguably already the biggest strength unit on the team at cornerback where they were so deep,

especially after Chris Abrams Drain stepped up late last season. Then you get Pat Bryant, who Sean Payton said early in the off season, right? I don't think wide receiver is as much of a need as a lot of you are saying, you know, and he believed in these young guys. And then you add another young player to the mix.

And then how about Savian Jones? I think probably the one guy that not the least talked about rookie from this year's class, I would say, Cody, in terms of at least you and I are both really tapped into Broncos' country. I don't hardly see anything about Sabian Jones. And that's not to say that he's not a good prospect, but another example of the team drafting a, we're going to strengthen a strength. The defensive line, Sean Payton and George Payton both said, along with the O line was one of

their highest graded position groups on the entire team. So you add strength to a strength when it comes to your draft strategy. I think that ultimately plays well for you because then you do have to let guys go in free agency eventually. You do have to say goodbye to some players, even with your cap situation getting better. Even with the Russell Wilson dead money coming off, you still have to do future planning and things like that. And so you strengthen a strength now so that you can have those guys ready to go down the line when they're needed.

Yeah, you had Savian, you had Q Robinson, who, you know, has been to stand out, at least in the early portions of the offseason program without pads. We want to see what it looks like when the pads come on. You get Jeremy Croshaw, a guy who can absolutely boom the football as a punter.

And then you have a, you know, a low risk, high reward investment as a seventh round pitch. a tight in and Caleb Loner, who's got really great size to him. I think he's going to be a very good blocker for the Broncos here. I think we'll be a vertical upfield threat here for the Broncos' offense and Bow Nix if he can continue to climb forward and make progress in his ongoing development there

to complement a guy like Adam Troutman and even Evan Ingram at this point. I think that Loner is going to be very much in the mix. And who knows what the undrafted class will bear here for this year's Broncos class. But, you know, Denver's in a good position right now where, look, you've got a young roster, but you've got a roster that believes. they can be scary. And I think that type of belief and that notion as a player inside that locker room, the culture that is being built because we talk so much about it in yesterday's episode show, the Broncos have a culture that is fostering this new level of confidence

as they step forth into this upcoming season that will ultimately test them in a lot of different ways with the tougher schedule. The stakes are always higher, but you have a belief now, we made it to the playoffs, we believe we can go further. We want to host a playoff game. We believe we can win the division. are the things that the Broncos have this belief on. And a lot of that is going to be structured and shaped by these young guys in their contributions, the guys who were rookies last year, they're going into second year players, and already the foundational pieces that you have, the veteran guys and the leadership

that you already have on this roster, Denver's in a great spot. And I just think we go back to what we talked about the very beginning of the show about how that potential Russell Wilson deal could have crippled the Broncos if they would have given him that seven-year deal. I look at it now, two years. that flip from where Denver was at perception-wise to now, Sarah, it's astronomical. I don't know if there's another team in the NFL

whose perception changed so widely than Denver in the last two seasons. There's absolutely not. The Broncos were projected to get the number one pick in the 2025 NFL draft. They were projected to have the worst record arguably in the entire NFL, and it was because everyone was laughing at them for cutting Russell Wilson, cutting Justin Simmons, trading Jerry Judy. those were perceived as moves that indicated this team is rebuilding in a way that they're tearing it down. I think the Broncos just realized that they had better options that they could turn to.

And they did. They did turn to those. So I love that this organization took the approach when they were in very clearly quarterback purgatory. They didn't get desperate like the Cleveland Browns did. And they didn't get to that point to where they were like, oh, we need Russell Wilson to come save us. I think they allowed him to come in and say, hey, we will. want you to be the face of the franchise, we're going to compensate you accordingly. And then Russell failed. And I don't think it was the other way around. I think Russell,

I think, Cody, there's aspects of the whole situation that certainly weren't in his control, injuries in his first year, Sean Peyton changing things in year two. But ultimately, he was paid $245 million or $124 million in guarantees over the first three years of that deal to be the face of the franchise. And he did not live up to that. There's no question about it. And I don't think it can be cut any other way. I don't think it can be sliced any other way because we saw last year the proof of what quarterback that takes fewer sacks can do for this team, even though he was a rookie and learning. And it just, it wasn't the same with Bo Nix as it was with Russell Wilson.

It's a completely different culture that this team has. It's not built around the gravitational pull is around the quarterback in terms of the attention. It's all about the gravitational pull in terms of everybody wants to be there. because of this guy and not they're there despite this guy. So I know that may sound harsh and things like that, but it's a huge reality check for this organization. And I'm glad that they didn't take that desperation approach back in 2022. I mean, it's evident.

I see it daily just how different the locker room is, how it responds to Bowen in comparison to Russell. The guys loved Russell Wilson. There were guys that liked him. But there was just a different dynamic when he was in the locker room versus now, like when Bow was in that locker room. It just seems like there is this, there's a level of calmness.

Like you're not walking on eggshells, I think in that locker room, so to speak. So I'm with you, sir, the Broncos are in a much better position. And look, Broncos country, we want to hear from you.

Your thoughts on all the developments are coming out in the recent case regarding the NFL, the NFLPA, and the idea of collusion going on to prohibit fully guaranteed contracts from taking place, what we learned from the Broncos

and Russell Wilson, let us know here. But for all you every dayers, here's what you can get on tomorrow's episode of the show, Sarah and I, we're going to take a look at three of the top quarterbacks. The toughest,

B's that the Denver Broncos are going to face next season and the pieces around them and where they could challenge the Broncos the most. We'll look at that much more on tomorrow's episode of the show.