Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos, Nik Bonitto CONTRACT Talks Going Well Ahead of Season

Starting point is 00:00:00 Nick Benito says between he and the Denver Broncos, it's only a matter when for a contract extension to get done. That could mean it's coming soon. We'll talk about that more here on today's episode, Locked on 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 of Locked on Broncos,

Starting point is 00:00:28 your daily Denver Broncos podcast, part of the Locked on podcast network. Reno is your team every day. for all your Broncos news, content coverage analysis, and more, this is the place to be every single day all year long. So a special shout out to all the everydayers out there in Broncos country. Thank you so much for tuning in and making us your first listen, however you choose to do so. And if you're not yet an everydayer, it's easy to become one.

Starting point is 00:00:51 All you have to do is hit this subscribe with that follow button. That way you'll never miss out on what's going on with your favorite team. I'm Cody Rourke, Broncos reporter for Mile High Sports. Join as always by Sarah Bedinger, site expert over there at predominantly orange.com. We've got a lot to break down here on today's episode of the show as Nick Benito returned to practice on Tuesday. But he talked about his contract extension and the talks that are going on right now between he and the team after practice. Where are they at? Could it be coming soon?

Starting point is 00:01:18 We'll dive deep into that. Plus, Sean Payton doesn't care about wide receiver two, three, four, or five. He cares about the roles that this team is going to have for these players. We dive deep in his archetype there. And why one player is hard for the Broncos to replace right now that's currently dealing with an injury. And then we're going through our Broncos news and notes with Drey Greenland returning to practice in full gear, ready to rock and roll. As you set up for the final preseason game, get all that on today's show. Sarah, my friend, it was great to see Nick Benito back on the

Starting point is 00:01:47 practice field on Tuesday as training camp. The final week of it has kind of gone by, gone through a little bit quietly here. This is where we're at. We're almost to the regular season. We get out there at practice. We see Nick Benito on the field. He's in full pads. He's doing team stretch. He's doing an individual. He's doing full team period. It was a welcome sight to see. I think, especially as the season gets a little bit closer. Now, obviously, while we're glad to see him there, he talked a lot about his contract and where things are at right now between he and the Broncos. Yeah, the transparency between Nick Benito and the Broncos has been really exciting, I suppose, if you want him to be part of the foundation and core of this team going

Starting point is 00:02:24 forward, right? I think there's a split a little bit in the fan base. I wouldn't say it's 50-50 based on what I'm seeing Cody, but I think there is a bit of a split in the fan base in terms of some want to see Nick Bonito go out there and prove it again this season. Others are like, no, he's proven enough. Let's get him the bag now before the price continues to go up, which interestingly enough, I think he also referenced that as well. I mean, there's a lot going on right now with this whole situation, but let's just hear from the man himself, right? I mean, Nick Bonito, update us on your contract situation. Let's hear it. Going well. I feel like there's been good communication on both sides.

Starting point is 00:03:00 You know, I think, you know, it's just my agent. You know, I feel like he's one of the best in the game. I feel like I got to trust what he's doing. And knowing how they feel about me upstairs, I feel like something will get done, but it's just a matter of when. And, you know, until then, I just got to keep doing me. You know, we heard Mike Kliss say during the preseason broadcast, Cody, that he felt like because the similar agent situation that we could see something a few days

Starting point is 00:03:24 before the start of the regular season, maybe even before that now, Cody. I think you get the impression, like, it wasn't quite the same as when Sean Payton was talking about Cortland Sutton's and then you and I were kind of, all right, we better get our written pieces ready. We better get our breaking news episode of the podcast ready. It doesn't necessarily feel like we're at that point, but I mean, maybe, maybe we are. I have a feeling it's coming soon. I think that something will get done before the regular season gets here and it'll probably catch us at like a 530 a.m.

Starting point is 00:03:54 And we're going to be up and Adam very busy, you know, when that happens. But here's the thing I like about the Broncos and Nick Benito situation. Because one thing he did say is that he's been in constant communication with George Payton with the Broncos and that communications have been great. They've reminded him even when Cortland was getting his deal done. Zach Allen was getting his deal done that the Broncos were still in conversation with him, making him a priority of saying, hey, we still want to get an extension done with you. We're, you know, we're getting this. And I think all along there's been this belief, I could tell you from Benito's camp and also from the Broncos side of things where there is no impasse. It's just working on getting all the framework together, what the incentives look like, what the fully guaranteed money looks like.

Starting point is 00:04:35 All of these things take time. Ideally, we could go on Madden and do a contract extension, snap our fingers and be done with it. But it just takes so much more time in every little detail because it's not just like, hey, we want to get you a little, say, four or five year deal. But it's like, all right, what does that look like? Years three, four, five. What room do we have? Void. Like, there's so many different aspects to a contract that go into these conversations.

Starting point is 00:04:58 And Nick's not focused necessarily on that. He even said himself, is I'm still in a contract for another year. I'm just going to come out here and keep books on grinding and continue to find ways to improve. Where are you at in terms of this perception of the Broncos and Nick? Just because I think we see sometimes these contract extension talks, they drag out so long it kind of muddies the water. And you get situations like Cincinnati, that's not the case at all here with Denver and with Nick. It starts with everything that Sean Peyton always talks about with the ownership, right? right, how important that ownership is on down.

Starting point is 00:05:31 You're just a well-run franchise as compared to a franchise. It's not because even when the Bengals were getting deals done, they were ruffling feathers with their star players. And that's not to say that you just have to play every player who plays well for your organization. You can't always do that, right? But at the same time, they've alienated a star pass rusher. While the Denver Broncos have made a guy feel so comfortable that he can go up to the podium

Starting point is 00:05:54 and just freely talk about negotiations. You know, if negotiations were going poorly, first of all, you wouldn't see him at the podium. But second of all, if you did hear from him, it would likely be stuff like I'm letting my agent take care of all that. I don't have anything to do with it. I don't know how things are going. Like you would be trying to be way more coy about it, right? So I know he acknowledged that the agent is dealing with that stuff and that the timing is out of his control. But it seems to me like just the difference of how business is run is significant with Denver as compared to other organizations.

Starting point is 00:06:26 and this is the George Payton philosophy, right? He wanted to draft guys and get them to a second contract with the team. And you get this deal done a year ahead of time, right? You get it done, like he said, yeah, he's in a contract year. He's still got a year left on his deal. This is why you get a deal done now because next off season, the percentage of the cap, edge players, all these different resetting of the market, XYZ, it's going to substantially affect the bottom line for him.

Starting point is 00:06:53 So in a way, like, let's think about it. this way. Nick Bonito, Cody, he's doing the Broncos a favor by saying, let's get a deal done now because he could just as easily wait till next year when the price would skyrocket. Well, long story short, Broncos country. Things are going well between the Broncos and Benito. I think that something will happen here very shortly. And when that does happen, of course, you'll get an episode here locked on Broncos. We find out all the details. But that extension we expect to get done. Benito expects that to get done. That's a good thing. But let's get back to football here as well. I had a chance to ask Nick. about the continuity on defense because really for the Broncos defense, it is the same unit as last year with the addition of two elite level premium players in Tallanoa, Hufanga, and Dre Greenlaw, guys that are going to make this defense even better. We talked about, and I asked him about the continuity of this unit going into yet

Starting point is 00:07:43 another season together. It's been real good. I mean, a lot of the guys now have been in the BJ system for three years now. So it's kind of like in the back of our head where we have to do, all the checks we have to make, obviously catching the new guys up to speed. And they've been great. They've picked it up really fast. So, I mean, it's been great so far.

Starting point is 00:08:00 And I feel like with the more guys there are coming back from injury, the more time we get to play together, it's going to be even better. This is just something the Broncos have not had the last handful of years, Cody, continuity. And that extends not only to player personnel, but the coaching staff. And so it's really nice to see that continuity. And it'll be fun to all kind of collectively find out together just how much that really matters. because you, like I said, how many times the Broncos changed coaching staffs since the Gary Kubiak, you know, Super Bowl 50, all that.

Starting point is 00:08:34 Like, they've changed it so much that it's really been difficult to get a grasp on just how important that is. I think we've seen it with Kansas City, how crucial that continuity has been with their roster and coaching staff. But Broncos fans haven't really got to experience that. And I think that's going to be something to watch this coming season. As that, like Nick said, you're now in year three under Van Gog's. Joseph with a lot of the same guys.

Starting point is 00:08:57 And that's so important, too, because now you carry over already knowledge of the scheme, but now you can start to add things, little bits and pieces, tiny wrinkles here and there, and so much of it could change on a week-to-week basis. I mean, now you add, you know, guys in the secondary where you believe you can lock up and play man-to-man coverage, you can send the house. I mean, we saw the Procos be blitz happy last year. We saw them play a ton of man coverage. And now with the addition to Hufanga, Greenlaw, with guys like Cooper locked up, Benito,

Starting point is 00:09:23 more than likely going to get locked up, hopefully before the season begins. You have just this dog of a defense. You could just unleash on game day and say, hey, let's go after and get after people there. And with that, there's going to come some risk reward with being blitz happy or, you know, playing some man coverage. But that's why you do it. Like sending a six or seven man rush means, hey, we're taking a chance here, you know, because it could be timing.

Starting point is 00:09:45 And the perfect play could beat that blitz. And we might be in trouble. You're going to live with that. But this Broncos defense should be very, very good this upcoming season. Benito believes the same exact thing. He's going to be a big reason why it is. Broncos country, let us know your thoughts on the ongoing contract talks here with Nick Benito.

Starting point is 00:10:01 And on top of that, the Broncos continuity on the defensive side of the ball and strengthening two positions where they were pretty much a little bit down last year with adding Talano Hufanga to the mix. And now, Drey Greenlaw, who returned to practice during Tuesday as well. We'll go through all that here on today's show. But coming up next, we're going to I. Why, Sean Payton doesn't care about your wide receiver two, wide receiver three, or wide receiver four.

Starting point is 00:10:22 We'll tell you why he cares more about roles, and he'll tell you himself here on today's episode, Locked on Broncos. This episode is presented by Yahoo Fantasy. It's the best time of year. NFL kickoff is almost here, and that means fantasy football season. It's back in full swing. And this year, Yahoo Fantasy is turning things up with a fantasy football experience like never before. This year, myself, Cody Roark, we are playing Yahoo Fantasy, and you should too, whether you're a first-timer or a veteran making your millionth league. Well, to celebrate 28 years of fantasy football, great-ness, Yahoo! Fantasy is dropping 28, big new features over 28 days throughout August.

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Starting point is 00:11:34 you're probably going to be wondering who's wide receiver two for the Denver Broncos? Who's going to be getting those targets right behind Cortland Sutton? Well, Sean Payton don't care about your fantasy football team, no matter how clever your name is or how good you are at drafting. It might be a streamer type of year, Broncos country. if you want to use Broncos players in your fantasy football lineup, we're going to tell you why Sean Payton don't care about no wide receiver, two, three, four.

Starting point is 00:11:56 These guys are all going to play and they're going to play significant roles here in 2025. But before we get into that discussion, I want to say thank you so much to every single one of you out there that makes locked on Broncos your first listen of the day every single day. If you haven't done so already, hey, take a couple of seconds. Hit subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts as well as on YouTube. We really appreciate you taking the time to do that.

Starting point is 00:12:18 and for investing your time in this show every single day. It means a ton to Cody and I. Let's talk about it, Cody, because fantasy drafts, I know mine is Wednesday. Mine's today. So, wow, I got to really prepare. This is the only draft that I do. And of course, my bent is always to try and take a Bronco sleeper or two. But you know what?

Starting point is 00:12:38 When it comes to the wide receiver position, like, yeah, we've been trying to rack our brains all offseason. I think you want, there's like a, it's almost like this unwritten desire. in your brain to have like a okay i want this pecking order i want to know who's going to be first in line for target second third fourth you kind of want to know that because you feel like going into a week we gives you buttons right i would say it's going to be courtland sutton evan engram you know the backs out of the backfield j k daubbins and r j harvey those guys would get a lot of work but man trying to figure out who wide receiver two could be what's been an impossible exercise all off season long and

Starting point is 00:13:18 And for Sean Payton, he says, really, it's kind of by design because some teams, he said, the way that they are built, some teams will have a primary wide receiver. And the way that they line up, they'll have a number two guy who you can kind of designate as a wide receiver too. Well, Sean Payton was asked a question by our good friend Mike Cliss during, after Tuesday's practice about the wide receiver pecking order. If there is a wide receiver two here for him, here's what Sean had to say. I think some teams are more predictable with where the X is and the slot. the Z and then in the term, the number one, the number two. I get all that. They're all going to play in different roles. And so we probably are a little bit different with our rotation, substitution patterns that you guys can decide who two is and three is and four is. But

Starting point is 00:14:11 there's going to be a role if they're dressing and they're getting on the field. And they're not going to line up in the same spot all the time. I think that would be the easiest way to describe it. We've seen that. Yeah, I was going to say, what's been your perception out there, Cody? Because you've seen these guys at practice. Do you feel like there's any, do you feel like Sean is kind of saying that just to say it? Or do you feel like there has been a better, you know, clearer, I guess is the better word.

Starting point is 00:14:36 They're a clear pecking order at this position. No, no, it's exactly how Sean has said it. And that's something I've been trying to tell Broncos fans all throughout training camp. because I mean, you probably see there as well on social media. I get a ton of questions as I'm sure you do about who's wide receiver two, who's wide receiver three. And I've been telling folks, there hasn't been this consistent, you know, Cortland's the top guy.

Starting point is 00:14:57 We know that. But they're rotating in four or five different guys here to where it's like you really can't say that this guy is by and large the wide receiver two here for this offense. It's, you know, it's a feature of Devon Valle one day, heavy feature. Like, for example, Tuesday's practice was a heavy feature. feature of Pat Bryant and Troy Franklin with Bo Nix and Cortland Sutton and Evan Ingram that those guys, the connection was was thriving between all of them in Tuesday's practice against the defense. So for me, it's okay, these guys are playing different

Starting point is 00:15:28 positions. Of course, Cortland prototype wise is probably going to be, you know, a big X, but John likes to move Cortland into the slot. John likes to move Troy Franklin to the slot. He likes to play Troy at the Z position. You know, Marvin is this guy who could play outside, I could play inside the slot and play in the backfield. So it really is about, I think, trying to make it position lists in the sense and say, hey, we can take advantage of different matchups and certain personnel packages. If we put Cortland in the slot when the defense comes out in this grouping, and we get a matched up on a smaller nickel defender or we had like the matchup against a lineback or whatever it may be.

Starting point is 00:16:04 Like, that's how Sean views it. And so you are seeing all these guys rotate in. And to be honest with you, Sarah, I have such a difficult time believing. that there's going to be an inactive wide receiver on the game day roster the way that there has been in the past. If six guys make this 53, Trent Sherfield is that six guy, essentially, and Valet's still in the roster, all of these guys are going to play. They're going to get reps.

Starting point is 00:16:27 They're going to get snaps. And I think that has kind of been established here throughout practice. And I think that's what Sean Payton loves, right? He loves to mix up personnel groupings. He loves to use his skill position players as chess pieces. I mean, that's exactly why there was so much. much emphasis on the Joker spot this offseason. Evan Ingram coming in, playing a role that nobody has played the last two years.

Starting point is 00:16:50 So not only did Sean have a top 10 offense in terms of points scored last year, but now you're adding a piece that there's nothing on film from last season. There's nothing. So you have a whole new wrinkle that you have to deal with. And you have all these young wide receivers that there's really not all that much film on either. And to Sean's point, if you're talking about the packing order at receiver last year, it's different almost any way that you slice it, right? Because in terms of snaps, wide receiver two was Lil Jordan Humphrey.

Starting point is 00:17:19 In terms of targets, it was Devon Valle. In terms of receptions, wide receiver three was, you know, Marvin Mims. And then in terms of targets, wide receiver three was Troy Franklin. There's so many different aspects of this that you can look at and say, all who's going to be this, this, this, this, this guys all serve their role. And each week, that's why I said, I joke about the streamers at wide receiver. because we know on a given week, I mean, Cortland's probably going to get his share of targets. Evans going to get his share of targets.

Starting point is 00:17:49 Beyond that, I don't think I'd be drafting a Broncos wide receiver in fantasy and banking a lot on that guy being something. But, hey, on a given week, if you're saying like, hey, I need this guy to step up and step in, like, take a risk on Marvin Mims. Take a risk on Troy Franklin. You know, take a shot and see what happens. But I just think that it's funny that this has become such a big deal when the reality. is that we want all of these guys getting almost an equal number of targets because of what they can do for this team. Yeah, and so much of that is dependent upon how well the run game does too. And I think if the run game is having a lot of success and then the Broncos start opening up the play action game a lot more.

Starting point is 00:18:29 I think for a handful of these wide receivers, running backs, tight ends, more opportunities are going to open up in the passing game for them than I felt like last year. Because we all know, like, Denver last year, their offense was predominantly, we're going to throw the football, because we have to. You know, we can't run the ball. But when you have success in one area, and it forces the defense to kind of cheat up a little bit saying, hey, we're going to load the box to try to stop the run. Well, that's when you bite them with play action.

Starting point is 00:18:54 That's where you hit that bootleg play that Jared Stidham, Evan Ingram this past week against the Cardinals to Evan Ingraham for a big yard catch and run at that point. Like those opportunities open up and you can start to see in the film how Sean is setting some things up for maybe the regular season. I'm excited if you watch my film review this week, you were going to see exactly what I'm talking about. So make sure you check that out if you haven't.

Starting point is 00:19:16 But I'm excited about this. You know, a quick note on Tuesday's practice, Bo Nixon, the offense. It was a sharp day for Bo. He was getting the ball to his hands quickly, throwing against pressure, identifying the blitz and finding guys like we mentioned, Pat Bryant, Troy Franklin, Cortland Sutton, Evan Ingram, getting the backs involved. J.K. Dobbs and RJ Harvey, each had a couple of nice runs in practice.

Starting point is 00:19:36 But we're at that point at training camp now, Sarah. What's not like, what was the highlight of the day? No, it's not really that anymore. It is about refining the technique and the offense, getting to where they need to be, the defense adjusting and getting to where they need to be. We're no longer like, okay, who won the day of the offense or the defense? That time of Trenti Camp is over,

Starting point is 00:19:52 and that leads all to the final preseason game here on Saturday, where you get all the coverage, post-game coverage here, Sarah Bettinger, myself, locked on Broncos. But Broncos, country, we're not done just yet. Not only did Nick, but Nito return to practice on Tuesday, but Dre Greenlaw, he was back and he was in full pads. What does this mean for the defense? We'll go through that.

Starting point is 00:20:11 more here on today's episode of the show. Today's episode of Lockdown Broncos is brought to you by Game Time. Have you ever decided at the last minute to head to a ballgame with friends or family? Maybe it's game day and you suddenly realize that you just want to be in the stands. That's exactly where game time comes in. It's the easiest way to grab last minute tickets without all the stress. And with the money that you save on tickets, well, then you can splurge on food, drinks, merch or even invite a bigger group to come with you.

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Starting point is 00:21:14 Again, create an account and redeem code. L-O-C-K-E-D-O-N-N-F-L-L-N-FL-L-T off. Download the GameTime app today. Last-minute tickets, lowest price, guaranteed. Drey Greenlaw was back in action for the Denver Broncos, fully dressed in pads and a full participant in the Broncos team period defensively. How important is this for the Broncos defense ahead of their regular season opener against the Tennessee Titans, which is coming up.

Starting point is 00:21:41 very, very soon here. And some other Broncos news and notes following Tuesdays practice. Real quick want to say thanks once again to all the everydayers in Broncos country. Thanks for making us your first listen. However, you choose to do so. We appreciate you all so much for making the show exactly what it is. Sarah, my friend, you know, we've been following the Dre Greenlaw timeline for the last couple of weeks since he suffered that initial injury scare to his quad where Sean

Starting point is 00:22:03 Peyton told us last week that it was more of a scar tissue type of thing that kind of flared up in his quad more so than it was. injury itself. So monitoring this, Dre returned to practice last week. He dressed but did not participate in the team periods. He was individual. Well, that changed on Tuesday. He was back, fully participated in pads in individual, and he was also fully participating in the Broncos team period defensively. Drew some praise from Nick Benito as well saying this guy, he loves to hit people and that he brings the tenacity out of the defense. What does it

Starting point is 00:22:38 mean for this Broncos defense to now have Drey Greenlaw fully back in the the mix here. It means everything. I mean, he was one of the biggest offseason acquisitions that this team made and one of the most important around the league, I would say, in terms of upgrading an area of weakness on a roster that's already pretty good. Dre Greenlaw has done that for the Denver Broncos, at least on paper. We know what he brings to the table from what we've all seen in San Francisco. And when he gets out onto the field for the Broncos, man, that's the thing that everybody is, again, Just like with Evan Ingram offensively, we can't quite quantify what he's going to do to a defense that led the team in Sacks last year that created a lot of turnovers over the last two seasons. Like this Broncos defense has already been very good.

Starting point is 00:23:22 And now you're adding potentially a top five player at your weakest spot in the league. I mean, like, that's what I'm excited for, Cody. That's why I've been saying and you've been saying we've all been saying, get this guy to week one, whatever it takes. And it's great to hear that he's already back out there on the practice field because we know that those reps, they're only going to serve to make him be playing faster right when the season starts in week one against the Titans. I can't wait to see the actual tangible on-field results as to the impact of what Drake Greenlaw and Talano Hoofonga are going to bring to this defense, you know, in other ways and how it's going to help the guys next to them? How does Brandon Jones excel now even further with a guy like Hufonga next to him?

Starting point is 00:24:03 How does the secondary guys like Pat Sartan or Rodley Moss, how do they excel? Because that pass rush is getting after quarterbacks a lot quicker and it's forcing quicker, tighter throws into maybe contested windows, more opportunities for takeaways this year. I think that those two guys can be difference makers to what you said was a defense that was already full of difference makers last season. And knock on what I hope that this unit and this room can stay healthy this upcoming season. They're going to be big for the Broncos, especially when Camer, Ward comes to town because look, I think the more and more people talk about this, Sarah. I know people have already been talking about the Colts game week two, saying, oh, Daniel Jones is starting the Broncos should be 2 and 0.

Starting point is 00:24:43 Don't do that. Like, I always hate when folks get ahead of themselves a little bit because Cam Ward has got a pretty nice supporting cast of receivers around him. I think that Titans defense has some really talented players as well. I don't think Broncos fans should be sleeping on any team. We should not be right now at this point saying, okay, hey, the Broncos are going to get off to a two and oh start take it one game out of time folks we're not even to the tennessee game yet let's wait be patient i i always feel like that kind of jinches things a little bit i don't know

Starting point is 00:25:12 that's just me on my end i don't know how you feel about that but this is going to be a good test here for this broncos defense early on because they are going to get maybe a matchup here in week one against someone they don't really have a lot of film on on the NFL level that you're just trying to reference what the college tape looks like and how it may translate it could we don't know yet yeah we don't know yet yeah we don't don't and you got to do what you're expected to do in games like this if you're the Denver Broncos. So yeah, fans can manifest all we want, right? We can say all we want.

Starting point is 00:25:42 We can talk trash all we want. But at the end of the day, like the team has to go out there and live up to those expectations. And they can't be, they can't start slow. Like they might, but they can't, right? That's the whole mentality there. And that's where the fan expectations for the Broncos are always high. Cody, you know this being there in Denver. Like it's always Super Bowl or buzz.

Starting point is 00:26:03 us. It's always, you know, win as many games as possible. And I get the excitement. And I do. I really feel like Cam Ward, realistically speaking, going into an environment on the road, playing against the number one defense, like everything's stacked up against him. But shoot, then he's out there playing with house money. And it's like, remember the game where Gardner Minshu, early in his rookie season, came to Denver as a six-round pick? I mean, we're talking about a guy that there was absolutely nothing that he could possibly do to go out there and win a game against, I believe, a Vic Fangio-led defense, Cody. And sure enough, it happens.

Starting point is 00:26:37 So, yeah, crap happens in the NFL. And you've got to be ready for that because anything can happen, especially week one where weird things happen. So there's no point in riding off the Titans at this point in time. Let's have our fun after that game is over. But of course, yeah, the expectation should be you should go dominate a rookie quarterback. You should go as a top 10 offense that's gotten better this offseason, added a new wrinkle, you should go out there and beat this team.

Starting point is 00:27:03 Like, you are better. They had the number one pick last year. They're not that good. But at the same time, they're good enough to win any given. That's the whole thing about any given Sunday, isn't it? The NFL is a crazy game. That's why we love to watch it. It's why we love to cover it, though, Broncos country. You know, one thing is Sean Payton did say,

Starting point is 00:27:20 and he kind of highlighted the importance of this after practice. Nate Atkins means a little bit more to this. Broncos' offensive operation than most might think. We'll continue to pay real close attention to the title. end wire and also the fullback. We had a few of those guys into workout. We've always kind of had an F

Starting point is 00:27:38 and I think quietly Nate was one of those players that I don't know got a lot of attention in yet, man, there was a lot of respect around the league and in the locker room for the way he did a number of things.

Starting point is 00:27:57 So it would be good to get him back when we do in the meantime. We've got to filled that void somehow. It sounds like it should be Adam Prentice right away, right, Cody, the former Bronco who is now a current Bronco once again. But yeah, Nate Atkins plays an underrated role. I think as everyone's been assembling their 53-man rosters this offseason, he's kind of been one of those guys that's easily negotiable for people who are putting stuff together on paper. But I don't think he's easily negotiable for Sean

Starting point is 00:28:26 Peyton. Well, think about it this way, too. The more I've thought about it is that Denver has flexibility here. I mean, you look at it. Adam Prentice. He's a vested veteran. Michael Burton, a vested veteran. We don't know the timeline on Burton, but worst case scenario, when you go to do your 53, you waive those guys. You can sign them immediately to your practice squad because they're vested at this point. And then you have three elevations that you can use at any time throughout the season, as long as they're on your practice squad. You have three practice squad to game day elevations. We saw that happen with Burton last year after roster cuts happened. Same thing with little Jordan Humphrey here. Denver's got flexibility. But really,

Starting point is 00:29:04 It seems like Nate Adkins is probably that primary favorite there. So they could maybe have a different approach from a number standpoint to building out this 53. And those guys who are vested, Sam Ellinger is also a guy who would qualify as a vested veteran at this point as well. So Denver might have more flexibility with getting these guys back to their roster after cuts more so than hoping some guys clear waivers. They can just sign these guys immediately back to it. So that is something I think we should keep an eye on here, especially as roster cuts happen next. Tuesday, they go from 90 to 53. But in the meantime, Broncos country still got a lot of action this week.

Starting point is 00:29:39 Here's the Broncos continue with the final days of training camp before their final matchup against the New Orleans Saints on Saturday morning, 11 a.m. Mountain Time kickoff will have you covered for all you every dayers. We appreciate you for rocking with us. Here's what you can expect on tomorrow's episode of the show. Sarah and I, we're going to sit down. We're going to highlight three players who have the most approved Saturday's preseason finale and why Audric Estime is the headliner of this.

Starting point is 00:30:04 conversation, especially at the running back position. We'll go through that and much more. On tomorrow's episode, Lockdown Broncos, Broncos country. We'll see you then.

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