Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos Patrick Surtain II wins NFL DPOY, Sean Payton Highlights Team's Biggest Need

Episode Date: February 7, 2025

Denver Broncos cornerback Patrick Surtain II won the NFL Defensive Player of the Year award for his impactful season. What's next for the Broncos star corner? Plus, Broncos head coach Sean Payton high...lighted what the Broncos biggest needs and wants are for the offseason when he was making the rounds of Radio Row ahead of Super Bowl 59. 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!BetterhelpDiscover your relationship “green flags” with BetterHelp. Visit betterhelp.com/lockedon today to get 10% off your first month. LinkedInLinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFL. Terms and conditions apply. PrizePicksDownload the app and use code lockedonnfl to win $50 instantly when you play $5. You don't even need to win to receive your $50 bonus, it's guaranteed! Prizepicks. Run Your Game.Click Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNFL 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. FanDuelSuper Bowl 59 is here, And there’s no better way to make every play more exciting than with FanDuel Sportsbook. New customers can bet just FIVE DOLLARS, and if you win, you’ll score TWO HUNDRED BUCKS in Bonus Bets. Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of Super Bowl Fifty-Nine. 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.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Denver Broncos cornerback, Patrick Sertan the second, took home the honors of NFL defensive player of the year. Plus, Broncos head coach Sean Payton says that this team at 2025, they're going to be a problem. We're going to react to that and break it all down here on today's brand new 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 happened in Broncos country? Welcome into another episode of Lockdown Broncos, Your Daily Denver Broncos podcast.
Starting point is 00:00:34 part of the Locked-on podcast network where you know it is your team every day. Thank you so much to everyone in Broncos country, all the everydayers out there, all those who make us your first listen to the day. We appreciate you so much for all your Broncos news, content coverage analysis, and more. You get that here locked on Broncos. I'm Cody Roark, Broncos reporter for Mile High Sports. Join as always by Sarah Bedinger, the site expert over there at predominantly orange.com.
Starting point is 00:00:58 And we got a lot to talk about on today's episode of show. Broncos Country. We're going to wrap things up by going through Sean Payton's Radio Row Tour with Kay Adams on the Up and Adam show. He highlighted what the Broncos top needs and must-haves are in 2025. He also said that the Broncos, they're going to be a problem this upcoming season with the young roster that they have. We're going to kick things off on today's episode show by talking about the biggest news of the day. Pat Sartan II, named the NFL's defensive player of the year in terms of voting,
Starting point is 00:01:27 and it wasn't even close. You get all on today's episode of the show brought to my friends over there at Fanduil. make sure if it's a new customer you can bet $5 and if you win you'll get $200 and bonus bets download the app or head to fanduil.com to get started. Sarah, you know, the moment we were all kind of waiting for is we were watching the NFL honors last night just hoping saying, okay, hey, is this the moment where Pastor Tan takes home NFL defensive player dear to nobody's surprise. He did just that.
Starting point is 00:01:54 He absolutely did. Pat Sertan going from being a, a highly questionable first round draft pick in George Peyton's first class. the team by a lot of people to now being the best defensive player in the NFL in 2024. It doesn't get much sweeter than that. And obviously, the numbers speak for themselves. I mean, Cody, defenses they were not trying to throw at Pat Sertan this year.
Starting point is 00:02:17 Historically speaking, he's averaged about 11.4, 11.5 yards per target in his area. This season, that was down to 6.4 yards per target in his area. So what does that tell you that teams, A, if they're throwing at Pat Certan, they're kind of just whipping it out there as quick as they possibly can to see if they can get any inch on the guy, but he doesn't give up really anything. And I love the fact that he talked about this. It's so tough for a cornerback to win this award. But you and I have mentioned, man, advanced analytics and the access to all 22, hopefully I would say has helped cornerbacks and Pat Sertan in this instance specifically to win this award because you have to actually watch the games.
Starting point is 00:03:01 You have to actually watch the film to see and witness his dominance. And then when the ball actually does come his way, Cody, interestingly enough, 91 targets last year, one interception this season, 62 targets, four interceptions. So the interception percentage skyrocketed yards per completion, yards per target, quarterback rating aloud. Pat Sertan deservingly awarded defensive player of the year after a dominant season. And the biggest difference this year is that the Broncos finally put him in a position to do what he does best, right? That's playing press, man-to-man coverage.
Starting point is 00:03:35 You talk about receivers not being able to get separation. When you've got a guy like Pat who can play off-ball coverage, but in my opinion, his strength is playing press, jam at the line of scrimmage, man-to-man, being able to get up vertically inside, outside because of his footwork, his fluid hips. That's the strength there. I mean, and he's long and rangey. I mean, Sarah, when you look at your perfect cornerback model in terms of body type, athletic build, Pat Sartan really is that in today's day and age. of the modern NFL. And obviously with him winning defensive player the year, he becomes the seventh cornerback in NFL history to do just that. More recently was Stefan Gilmore back in 2019.
Starting point is 00:04:11 And you compare those numbers, Stefan Gilmore had more interceptions. But, man, you look at the yards allowed. You look at the average yards per catch. You look at all those advanced analytics. Man, passer tan would have swept it, you know, in that regard there back in 2019. It's just crazy to think of how the game is today a cornerback winning this award. And he becomes the second Bronco in franchise history right behind. Guess who? Hall of Famer, Randy Gratashar. So as you and I talked about, I think, on an episode of the show just a couple of days ago here on lockdown Broncos, him winning this already cements a Hall of Fame stake for him, right? And it's like, at this point, you look at Pat and it's like, all right, he's been the all pro. He's been
Starting point is 00:04:50 a Pro Bowl starter. He's gotten all these recognitions year after year after year. Now he wins defensive player the year, which I think for any defensive player, your goal is to win this award once in your year. And it's so rare to do it. We know talk about the past rush dominance, the guys that have been able to put up high numbers. Like even Champ Bailey's historic season back in 2006, he didn't win defensive player of the year.
Starting point is 00:05:12 Von Miller lost to JJ Wadden on a defensive player of the year campaign as well. Even guys who put up these elite numbers at different positions miss out on it. So for Pat to do it, Sarah, it makes it so much more special here. And he's also a two-time mile high sports magazine. cover athlete the newest one is available you can check out mile high sports.com for that broncos country if you want to get your hands on that but to me sir now it goes to the question right i love
Starting point is 00:05:39 that the broncos put out a video of everyone talking about you know like how proud they are pat and you had some really historic names in there guys who played the position but for me it's like okay how do you take it to the next level what's next right to me what's next really for pat or tan hopefully one day it's getting a Super Bowl championship really that's all at this point when you look at his whole body of work if he has a Super Bowl you can make the argument he'll be the greatest cornerback of all time when it's all said and done he's got the pro bowls he's got the first team all pros he's now got the defensive player of the year hardware so you're right cody getting a ring is now the biggest factor ahead and i believe he obviously won the national i'm pretty sure
Starting point is 00:06:20 Alabama won every national championship while he was there it feels like you know that sort of thing So he knows what it's like to win big. But, you know, I really loved that tribute video, Cody. I wish, I hate to nitpick something like that because it takes so much work and effort to put forth in that. But I would have loved to have seen Von Miller in that video as well, who's the best defensive player in franchise history. But it's so cool to see like Akeb Thelib, Chris Harris, Chant Bailey, Peyton Manning, all those other guys come together. It's like it's like the last episode of your favorite show when everybody comes back. You know, I love that kind of stuff.
Starting point is 00:06:53 So, but with Pat Sartan, you're right. The next step is that, that ring because he's already got the contract as well. Like that's something that we already discussed last year, four years, 96 million contract extension, 77 plus million and guaranteed money. I was telling my wife about the fact that Pat Sertan won defensive player of the year. And her first question to me was, does he get extra money for that? And I was like, I don't know. I should look that up because that's interesting to think about. but but I also explained to her.
Starting point is 00:07:24 I was like, I think he's doing okay, regardless if he gets any extra money for that. But, you know, congrats to Pat Sertan because he sets the example in every possible way. He's a Jersey guy. I put the jersey up behind me if you're watching on YouTube. My kids have a Pat Sertan jersey. I feel like he's the type of guy that, man, you want your kids representing Pat Sertan. And Cody's got the, look at that. That's clean right there.
Starting point is 00:07:50 That's clean. Cody, if you're watching the show, you see it the throwback jersey just looking so nice um if you're listening to the show cody just held up like not not the like replica version of the throwback pat sir tan this is the authentic got like the cinched sleeves and everything right there just looking real good uh that's nice that's a nice hey broncos country if you haven't already done so i think now's the time you can feel free and clear to go buy yourself that pat sir tan do it because he's that dude remember i just remember a lot the takes after he was drafted.
Starting point is 00:08:24 A lot of people saying, no, never should have went after the quarterback. Old takes exposed to going after some people today and rightfully saw. I enjoy to see some of that. And they're like, well, they should have taken Justin Fields. It all goes back to the Broncos, even Broncos fans too. And they even said like, hey, I'm guilty. Like don't, don't expose me. Like a lot of Broncos fans said that to me when I put the tweet out there.
Starting point is 00:08:42 But, you know, a lot of it was the Broncos. And I understand where the position that they were in with not having a quarterback, right? Not being, you know, sold on that. They're saying, hey, like they should have, you know, drafted Justin Fields. Broncos fans, you know, a lot of them, and even a lot of national media people wanted them to take Justin Fields, even if they didn't love Justin Fields. Like that was the thing. And I think you and I even did a show reacting and saying, hey, Paso Tan can be a game changer here. And George Payton caught some flak for saying like we feel like it's harder to find a star level corner than it is a quarterback, which certainly, I mean, you've got to have some marbles to say that. And, you know, now look at it here. A few years removed pretty dang good decision by the Broncos on that night here.
Starting point is 00:09:18 And I just think that the ladder for Paser Tan, he's just going to keep climbing it. He makes everything look easy, right? And, sir, that was one thing I pinpointed as well. Like, even when I watch him in practice, just a simple back pedal, turning, opening up the hip, something I did a lot in my career, right? He makes the harder stuff of that element look so easy and so seamless. His transitions, his footwork, and not to mention, he's just an all pro on and off the field. This was a great moment for Broncos country, a great moment for Pat Sertan in his young career,
Starting point is 00:09:45 and certainly breeds credence to what Sean Payton says that in 2025, he believes that the Broncos are going to be a team that's going to challenge some people here. But look, Broncos country, we're not done yet. Up next, Sean Payton says that the Broncos, they're going to be a problem for some teams here in 2025 and going forward. We'll react to that and much more here on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos. This show is sponsored by BetterHelp.
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Starting point is 00:11:17 Sean Payton has come out and said, we're going to be a problem. going forward. And I love that energy. And I know you do too. In Broncos country, we're going to break down. What does that mean? What does it mean for the Broncos to be a problem in 2025? Sean Payton outlined the team's must have their top needs. And we're going to discuss maybe what some of their biggest wants are on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos. And hey, we appreciate you so much if you're an everyday listener already of the show. Mile high salute to all of you that tune in every single day. If you're not already an everyday listener, why don't you become one today, hit subscribe on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts and get us at the top of your feed and algorithm every single day as we await to find out the answers to some of these questions, Cody.
Starting point is 00:12:01 But it was already going to be an exciting off season anyway. Then Sean Payton goes on the K. Adams show and kind of divulges everything he said he wasn't going to divulge, which I thought was so funny at the end of season press conference. He's like, in a couple weeks, we'll know our team needs after evaluating the roster. He's like, but I still won't tell you what they are. And then he goes on Kay Adams show and he talks about all these needs, must have, wants, and things like, it was just hilarious. The guy marches to the beat of his own drum. You love to see it.
Starting point is 00:12:30 But more than anything, you love to hear the confidence without a single move being made. Sean Payton says that this Denver Broncos team, they're going to be a problem here in 2025. I'm really happy. And we're going to be, listen, I know, we're going to be a problem. I know. You've been a problem to even as cheeps that are in the Super Bowl. I do want to ask you, you're talking about the youth of the team. There's some really interesting, I want, you know, you fell in love with your quarterback, you got him.
Starting point is 00:12:57 Now we got the draft. We felt like we had a good rookie class. In the culture, everything that you've done in such short time, right? Yeah. But now it's like, now I want you to, you know, I love Cortland, great veteran, insane and amazing. I know you love them too. Are we, what are we looking to fall in love with here in the next couple of months? Are we going, can I tell you what I think?
Starting point is 00:13:15 No, it's a fair question, though, because we do the, evaluation of our team. Yeah. And the purpose of that is then to establish what we call must needs and wants. And he certainly highlighted, you know, quite a few of those there than what we're going to get into that here on today's show. But for the fact that, you know, he said, you know, we're going to be a problem. And he mentioned that we really liked our rookie class.
Starting point is 00:13:35 Like, I mean, Sarah, it goes back to what he had said. He had told Greg Penner and Kerry Walton Penner, he said, looking back on it three or four years from now, we're going to look back on this draft class and say this, this was the one that did it. It just goes to show the level of confidence that Peyton obviously has in these guys. And also, you know, you got your quarterback. I mean, you've answered that question you've been searching for and asking yourself for a handful of years as an organization. And you did it. And I think the most wild circumstances possible considering the Russell Wilson dead cap. So for Denver, almost 90 million in dead cap this year to be where they were at, to be as young as
Starting point is 00:14:12 they were to compete the way that they did, I think it speaks volumes. And now you get these guys more ingrained, more comfortable in the system. I mean, Sarah, I'm with you on this one. And I believe, Sean, and I even said this too, because you and I, we caught flak from people by saying we think the Broncos, they're going to win 10 games. I went out in training cap and said they're going to win 10 games this season. People called me crazy. But you see, like, just being around the guys and seeing it, you're like, hey, there is something
Starting point is 00:14:37 special here. And it hasn't even reached its full potential just yet. Which is really saying something, because I think you'd look at this team last year, like you mentioned, 90 million in dead cap, which that's one third of the salary cap. So like you're already down one third of the entire salary cap. And on top of it, you had one of the top three youngest rosters in the NFL. And you still manage to win nine of your 10 games that you did win, which Pat's on back for Cody. You called that one.
Starting point is 00:15:05 They won nine of those 10 games by two scores or better. So they were, they were blowing some teams out this past season. Just imagine what this team could do. they can flip the script on one score games where they were one and six this past season, one and six in one score games. So I mean, it's really one of those things to where, hey, you got blown out once by Baltimore. You got blown out in the second half against Buffalo. The gap, though, I think people assume it's way bigger than it is. And you heard that from Sean Payton. Like, I think fans assume, like when he talks about, okay, we have our must haves, we have our needs, and we have our
Starting point is 00:15:43 wants, there was really one specific thing that he put in the must have category. And I think it's something that we're going to be talking about a lot over the next handful of weeks. Must needs wants. Okay. So who are our must? You need a better and wide receiver. That's what I think.
Starting point is 00:15:57 I'd like to see you. I would say we need a Joker. You need a Reggie Bush. An interior. Well, and a Joker now can be a tight end or running back that has exceptional. We were spoiled here. Yeah. When you think about it, all right, you had Reggie, you had Jimmy Graham.
Starting point is 00:16:13 Jeremy Shockey, Darren Sproles, Alvin Camara. Those are interior either tight ends or running backs. Jokers. They have to be elite receivers that play tight end or running back. And then you get the matchups. And we had quite a few of them here because you're getting too high defense and you have to work the inside. I really wonder what he means by that, though.
Starting point is 00:16:43 Like what does that look like? Who does that look like? And is that guy, sir, is that guy on the Broncos roster? We've heard Sean say it so many times that, you know, he says, we got some candidates. But it's like, who could that really be? Like I think we look at it. And what he's highlighting right there, pinpoints, it's not a guy like Javante Williams on this roster. That means that Javante will not more than likely be back here.
Starting point is 00:17:05 Jalil, I think has the potential to become that. But I think the size factor is obviously something where it's like, can he really become the Joker, you know, at the size and the that he's at. To me, it's like, if I'm looking at anyone that maybe has a chance on the roster right now,
Starting point is 00:17:19 Blake Watson kind of fits that bill a little bit. But I don't know if Sean's going to go into 2025 saying, all right, like Watson, you're the joker. Let's get ready to roll. So, I mean,
Starting point is 00:17:27 there's so many options that Denver could go with here. But it's important he highlighted that as must have. Right. And I think it is the must have because we saw Greg Dulcich get cut midseason. I mean, Lucas Crowell led the tight end position with 19 catches. Adam Troutman led the tight end position with 19 catches.
Starting point is 00:17:41 Adam Troutman led the tight end. end position with 188 receiving yards on an entire season. Like and, and so those are just unacceptable figures. And then you look at the running back spot where, hey, it's interesting to note like Alvin Camara has never rushed for a thousand yards. So when we talk about a joker, it's not necessarily somebody who's going to be carrying the ball 300 times, right? It's not that kind of a guy necessarily.
Starting point is 00:18:05 It's somebody that, hey, they're probably going to be able to get 1,500, 1,600 yards from scrimmage, but that it's not necessarily going to. to be that bell cow running back. And that's what Sean Payton alluded to earlier the offseason. Like it's not necessarily going to be a bell cow back situation in Denver, but somebody who can be featured in this offense. And that's what, like you said, it's not,
Starting point is 00:18:27 I don't know that it is on the roster. It could be Blake Watson, but I don't think Sean's going to go into the off season saying, hey, it's Blake Watson or bust for the Joker. I think that you and I discussed this earlier this week. For those that didn't get a chance to hear, I think we were talking about this on our Bleacher Report stream. where we talked about this idea of,
Starting point is 00:18:45 hey, do you want the Broncos to, like, target somebody specific for this Joker spot? Or do you want them to throw a number of darts at it with the draft, free agency, trades, what have you? Because Sean Payton has found those guys every which way. Every guy that he just mentioned, he acquired a different, by a different means, right? Draft, free agency, trade, day three, you know, early round picks, etc.
Starting point is 00:19:07 That's where the Broncos, I think, Cody, they need to be throwing some more darts this offseason. Well, so Sean telling us that the must have is a joker here, and not really saying, like, we need a running back or we need a tight. And it's either or, right? So that leaves more mystery for us throughout the entire off season. Very curious to see how it all formulates once free agency comes around. The NFL draft has to, as you mentioned, how they try to attack this.
Starting point is 00:19:29 And part of me does think, like, it is the dark throws. Like, you have to figure it out. You have to take a couple of shots at this position here. But also what he said to Kay Adams, and it makes a lot of sense to, especially he said with the NFL playing those two high safety defenses, now you need to be able to attack the middle of the field. And the only way to really do that is can you attack it in space or even on a delay with a guy who's athletic and gets those mismatches against linebackers?
Starting point is 00:19:52 That might be the key here going forward. And look, obviously for the Broncos to become a problem, they're going to obviously have to add that joker, whatever position it may be the Sean Payton envisions to the mix here. But we still have more for you here, Broncos country. Up next, Sean Payton highlighted some of the other needs and maybe some of the wants that the team has from a positional standpoint. You get that here on today's episode of the show.
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Starting point is 00:22:06 in Broncos country. Make sure you stay tuned in every. single day all throughout the entire off season because for the true fan guess what there is never an off season your boys cody and sarah we got you covered every single day here on the show however you choose to engage with the podcast we appreciate you so much here broncos country more from sean peyton as he made his rounds around radio row and really the only round he made was to kay adams who he's got a really good relationship with i feel like if you ever want to find anything out about the denver broncos maybe where they're going we need to find a way to bring k adams to town or to send Sean Payton to Kay Adams because that's the only way things are getting out of the building.
Starting point is 00:22:44 Sean is not very keen. And look, I'd say this is a good thing, too, especially about being a reporter. Like, they're not letting anything out to people. There's no leaks inside the building. So if Sean's going to say something, it's going to come from him himself. And I think Kay Adams at this point is the only person who can get it out of him. And obviously, shout out to Kay, you know, for the ability to do just that here. But, you know, he highlighted that the must have was the Joker position here for the Broncos.
Starting point is 00:23:08 and there's a multitude of ways they can maybe go about that. But I felt it was also interesting too because Kay brought up specifically, she brought up, as you heard, veteran wide receiver, you know, adding a receiver. You and I've talked about that as, hey, is it a big need for the Broncos? Like they absolutely have to do that. No, but it's nice, right? But for Sean, his categorization is entirely different.
Starting point is 00:23:29 You know, it goes must have needs wants. There's three buckets. So it makes it a little tricky to figure out where things are at. But here's what Sean Payton said as to what the team needs. So I think... Where does a veteran-wide receiver go in which bucket? I think a better-wide receiver fits in a need, you know? Not a match-tax.
Starting point is 00:23:47 And yet, man, we... I would say we're stronger there than some would think. Okay. You know, Devon Bailey, Troy Franklin, there's a number of receivers that we drafted a year ago. We'll look closely through the middle. inside linebacker safety. There'll be a few other positions. I think that's a great way of kind of describing what you and I have talked about on the show before, Cody,
Starting point is 00:24:18 and things that we've written about as well that, like, hey, the fans may not be overly thrilled about it, but I think the team really likes the young receivers and not pictured in a way in that video clip right there was the, you know, waxing poetic that he did about Marvin Mims as well. when Kay Adams brought up, hey, here's my favorite play from the season. And then Sean was like, you know, going on about Marvin Mims and his growth late in the year, which we all saw, which was tremendous. So, yeah, the young receivers, like, we want to see these guys continue to grow and succeed. So what kind of veteran can come in and play a certain role?
Starting point is 00:24:54 Because he did characterize that in the need bucket. And what's fascinating to me, Cody, is I've been having so many weird debates on Twitter. I've seen. I don't understand it. people are like splitting hairs over what he said and being like, well, he didn't say veteran receiver. Kay Adams said veteran receiver. Go ahead and play back the clip.
Starting point is 00:25:14 Sean Payton said veteran receiver. And then people are telling me, well, he's just doing that to appease Kay Adams. He doesn't want to make her feel weird. And I was like, well, that'd be weird that he would do that because he kind of like jutted in when she started saying veteran receiver. And he said, I think we need a joke or jokers the must have. So he already corrected her and said like, no, it's joker. that's the top thing.
Starting point is 00:25:36 So I just, I don't know. I'm going a little crazy over here, Cody, with some of these discussions that we're having. And then it's not just veteran receiver. It's like, well,
Starting point is 00:25:45 is it an expensive veteran receiver or an inexpensive veteran receiver? My goodness, everybody. A receiver is needed. There's no question about it. I love the Cooper Cup, tin foil had ideas. I'm here for it.
Starting point is 00:25:58 You should share yours here because we shared it on Bleacher report and we didn't get a shared in the lockdown Broncos. That's right. I forgot that we haven't talked about. about that. So in that interview with Kay Adams, Sean Payton starts telling a story about how he's in Cabo hanging out with his wife. He's hanging out with the Broncos quarterbacks and their wives. And he has all these people over to his place in Cabo. And sure enough, who shows up at this, you know, that he invites Sean McVeigh and Sean McVe's wife over to this little gathering and
Starting point is 00:26:25 get together. And I was like, hmm, very interesting timing that he would invite Sean McVe and his wife over at his place in Cabo with the Broncos quarterbacks and then Cooper Cup, timing is not coincidental, post on Twitter about how, you know, the Rams informed him he's going to be traded. Put your tinfoil hats on with me for a minute here, Broncos country and let me live. This is the offseason. We got to have some fun theories, right? So Cooper Cup to the Denver Broncos, here's my tin hat foil, tin foil hat theory of 2025. Well, you know, you have the George Payton and the Seahawks GM on the napkin in a bar theory right now. This is the Cabo theory. And maybe it'll come to fruition here. Maybe that
Starting point is 00:27:02 veteran receiver, which to your point, and I've seen some of the debates you've had on Twitter, and I agree with you. I think people are trying to split some hairs on it. It's like, but people are like, well, you know, what's the point of, you know, Josh Reynolds and Tim Patrick's like the reality is, is, you know, they want something else at that position. And they could get that, right? It's maybe something that those players didn't offer that maybe somebody else offers. And when you're in this season, like obviously the Broncos, they release Josh Reynolds, they realize like, hey, this isn't the fit. This isn't what, this isn't what we're going to do. And to me, I think that's very important.
Starting point is 00:27:32 look at a guy like Cooper Cup as we've highlighted here. Veteran guy, captain, does the dirty work. And man, his tape, if you watch it, especially, you know, down the stretch of the season, watch him run routes against coverage, folks. And I guarantee you if you're off the Cooper Cup train, you're going to be on it. Because then I think to myself, you add that to the mixture of this offense. And let's say Denver adds that joker, right? Whatever, if it's tight end or running back.
Starting point is 00:27:55 And they address a couple of these other positions defensively. To me, I'm thinking to myself, there's no way that this Broncos team is going to take a step back in 2025. Like that's that's the formula. That's it. I found it interesting, though, that in that same exact clip in terms of what we just last played here, he goes out and he mentions inside linebacker, which you and I have highlighted as a big need here. And I think Broncos country would agree. He also brought up safety, which is very interesting.
Starting point is 00:28:18 Yeah, we talked about that in a recent episode when we went on the defensive backs kind of review and preview for the off season. Like, I mean, it's no secret that PJ Locke, I think, was on a kind of a trial run this past year, signed a two-year deal, deserved a starting gig after what we saw in 2023, but he did allow a passer rating in his coverage of 125.8. And that's something that you have to look at closely if you're the Denver Broncos, like, was that an issue over the course of the entire season? Was it a couple of bad games? I think it's fascinating, considering we know Brandon Jones was really good. And there's no question about that. And he was
Starting point is 00:28:55 mostly available. But safety, I think that'll be, that's one of those positions. It's so deep in free agency that, I mean, there's maybe just a situation to where you're like, we can't not sign somebody from that group. Well, it all goes back. Even Greg Penner said that, hey, like, we're in a position. We could be aggressive if we wanted to. We don't have to be. Part of me thinks that the Broncos are going to be aggressive here in free agency this year, Sarah. I just have, I have this creeping feeling kind of going over me right now that it could be very busy. Like Denver could make three or four quality moves. And that could include maybe a trade for Cooper Cup, but maybe going out there and getting.
Starting point is 00:29:29 a safety, a linebacker. We'll see if they do running back or tight end in free agency. And even if they added a tight end and free agency, it wouldn't surprise me if they still focused on adding one in the NFL draft, right? Because that position room as a whole still has a lot of room to grow. And hopefully, yes, Lucas Crowe can continue to develop. You still have Adam Troutman who's on the roster. There's Nate Adkins who may just switch to that fullback hybrid role if Denver doesn't bring back Michael Burton. So there's, there's a lot of roster flexibility right now and some maneuvering and some things that you can add positions, you can add veterans, you can add rookies.
Starting point is 00:29:59 and you can level the playing field, right? You can have competition. It's going to amplify and make you better. Think that there's going to be some interesting things coming up here for the Broncos. And look, Broncos country, the number one place you want to be here every single day. When you don't want fluff, you want objective, real Broncos talk, you get that here at Lockdown Broncos every single day, literally all year long. Because for the true fan, there's never in off season.
Starting point is 00:30:22 There's a lot of fun things coming up right now. NFL free agency is in just about a month away. will have you covered with that. Anytime something happens, you'll get breaking news on that. Then it's the NFL scout and combine. Then it's the NFL draft. Then it's OTAs. Then it's a little bit of a break.
Starting point is 00:30:36 And then it's training camp. And then the season is going to be here once again. Really, it is year round here. Lockedon Broncos with us. I said, Broncos country. Don't forget to check out Sarah's written work over there, predominantly orange.com. You can check out mine,
Starting point is 00:30:47 mile high sports.com. Also get me on the TikTok on social media at Cody Work. NFL posts a lot of clips, a lot of Broncos reaction stuff over there. And check out Sarah's YouTube channel as well that he's got. You can see a little bit of day in the life of Sarah Bettinger. Awesome stuff to overlook Broncos country. We appreciate you. You make the show exactly what it is.
Starting point is 00:31:04 For all you, every dares out there the next time you're going to see us, the Super Bowl will conclude. And what can the Broncos learn from the two teams, the Chiefs and the Eagles? What can they take away from whoever wins that game that they can apply to maybe put themselves on a path to getting to the Super Bowl? We'll react to that much more. On Mondays, brand new episode, Locked on Broncos.

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