Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos Playoff Loss Providing CHIP On Their Shoulders at Training Camp

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Denver Broncos ended a playoff drought that had lasted since Super Bowl 50, but they weren't just happy to be there. That's what Pat Sir Tan said. And we're going to break all that down and much more coming up 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. Broncos country.

Starting point is 00:00:29 Welcome into another episode of the show here at Lockdown Broncos. we are going to be talking about the team entering training camp with a collective chip on their shoulders after last year's playoff loss to the Buffalo Bills. We're going to tell you about some ongoing contract extension talks for key Denver Broncos players as well as what to expect in the first week of training camp. My name is Sarah Bredinger. So excited to be here with all of you today. Thanks so much for tuning in and making us your first listen of the day every single day. My high salute to all of you everyday listeners. of the show out there, especially if you've been rocking with us all off season long.

Starting point is 00:01:08 And today's episode of the show is brought to you by our friends over there at Fandual, where right now new customers can get $150 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins. It is exciting to have Denver Broncos football back in the air. Isn't it everybody? Just you see the players back at the podium. There's a different feeling when you know that football is here to stay, as opposed to OTAs in mini-camp when you know the guys are going to eventually be taking another little break there, but the Broncos are back. They are on the field.

Starting point is 00:01:41 They are doing workouts. They're doing all those sorts of things to get acclimated to their surroundings once again and to lock in for lengthy NFL season. We know that it's a grind. And Mike McGlinchy talked about that when he met with the media. He's like, you know, even it takes a little bit of luck to get as far as making it to the Super Bowl, which he's done in the past with the 49ers. And so you got guys in this locker room that know the grind and know what it takes. And the entire team last year got a chance to taste what it was like to get back to the playoffs.

Starting point is 00:02:13 And of course, for a number of players on the Denver Broncos roster, it was the first time they'd won really anything at the NFL level, specifically guys like Cortland Sutton, Garrett Bulls. You hear the younger players on the team talk often about how happy they are, that those guys got to experience that. It hasn't been as long of a wait for some guys, but certainly for a player like Pat Sartan, I think setting the tone being the first guy to meet the media

Starting point is 00:02:39 for the Denver Broncos roster as training camp gets underway. There's a clear message being sent there that Pat is taking on a new level and role of leadership on this team. And of course, he's been with the Denver Broncos through some of their darkest, darkest days, right? drafted in 2021 and then certainly one of the best players on the team ever since he's been picked. But you go back through the last handful of years for the Denver Broncos. And it's exciting where the team got to last year.

Starting point is 00:03:11 I mean, I think there's no question about it. You celebrate the victory that was getting to the playoffs in the first place, ending the playoff drought and really making it as far as they did with a roster that was obviously handcuffed by $90 million in deadcap or close to $90 million with the Russell Wilson contract, Justin Simmons, Jerry Judy, Randy Gregory, all of these other players who were no longer helping team still counting against the team essentially, right? And you adopt this young and hungry mentality and you make it farther than anybody really ever dreamed that you could winning 10 games and becoming one of the best teams in the league being perceived in a

Starting point is 00:03:52 completely different light, which I'm going to kind of close the show talking about that today, just the perception of this roster and how dramatically it has changed. But it's important for a young team like this, for the Denver Broncos, to not just be satisfied with making it back to the playoffs, to not just be satisfied with out kicking the coverage, so to speak, or exceeding expectations of detractors last year, or seeing all that bulletin board material that came through and saying, hey, how, how, How about us now? How do you like us now sort of thing, right?

Starting point is 00:04:26 You can't just rest on that. You have to keep that fire burning. And Pat Sertan talked about that, how that playoff appearance last year, it didn't just satiate the desire to get back to the playoffs for this team. All that it did was create a greater hunger. In fact, he said it put a new chip on their shoulders collectively. He said, we know in the playoffs last year,

Starting point is 00:04:51 we didn't get the result we wanted. And that just adds another chip on our shoulder. Sertan talked about the fact that this locker room is determined, has a ton of selfless leaders, that players are putting the team first. And really, I think you see that exemplified in a number of different ways, from guys with contract situations still showing up. And we'll talk about more of those contract extension talks

Starting point is 00:05:15 that are seemingly ongoing behind the scenes. But guys are showing up despite those contract talks. Guys are showing up in great shape. Obviously, players made progress at the offseason program. You see a roster that is pretty loaded with talent, and nobody is really, I guess, taking on that sort of diva mentality, right? Nobody is take, even the guy who has every right to, like Pat Sartan, he was asked about that at his media availability.

Starting point is 00:05:44 He's like, it's no longer just Pat Sartan. It's defensive player of the year, Pat Sertan. And being the guy that he is, he's kind of like, I guess I had a bit of a busier offseason than normal, right? And while it's cool to have the hardware and the recognition of being defensive player of the year and it is meaningful to be recognized by your peers as being maybe the best player at your position in the league, I mean,

Starting point is 00:06:07 it's certainly one of those things that it hasn't distracted from the focus of the ultimate goal for this team. Everybody in the organization is completely and totally focused on getting back to being Super Bowl contenders. And you get the sense based on the way Pat was talking that there is a genuine belief in that locker room that this team is a lot closer than maybe a lot of folks on the outside seem to think even still, right? I mean, there's a certain sect of Broncos country and even the media that's riding

Starting point is 00:06:39 the bandwagon, right? They're riding the bandwagon and they're like, all right, I saw the proof of concept last year. I liked what we saw from Bo Nix. The defense really good. I see the vision with the offseason and the draft and all these sorts of things. You see the vision unfolding and some are buying it, but others are kind of still skeptical, still feeling like the Broncos are a tier below teams like Buffalo, who they got blown out by in the playoffs or even Kansas City in their own division.

Starting point is 00:07:06 Baltimore, certainly other teams in the AFC that are really climbing up the ranks. Even some, you know, wondering, are they going to be just this year's version of the Houston Texans or they kind of take a step. back after kind of opening all of our eyes last year. Hopefully that chip on the shoulder mentality that Pat Sartan is talking about is something that really carries over at the beginning of the regular season. Because with the position the Denver Broncos are in right now, they can't really afford to start slow, right? And maybe you can't really afford to be slow at any point during the season.

Starting point is 00:07:42 And certainly you want to have success just from the get go regardless. but Broncos have started really slow in the first two years under Sean Payton. Kind of notoriously start slow in September. You've got to hit the ground running this year. You've got to be ultimately focused. Your division is way too competitive. The conference is way too competitive. It's a loaded AFC this year.

Starting point is 00:08:07 You have to have that focus right away. And your players have to be on board with that vision. And we see that, of course, with a guy like Pat, certain, but because he's such a strong leader on this team and because the leadership of the team is really setting the example in this regard, you're seeing that bleed through the entire roster, which by the way, Denver Broncos, the highest roster retention rate in the NFL this year at 86%. And that really does matter, right? It really does matter for the team to have that continuity because that's rare in pro sports to have. I mean, when you have continuity,

Starting point is 00:08:46 you have chemistry. You have guys who have worked together. You have guys. Anybody that's worked together with somebody for a long time understands that you build a rapport with people the longer you work with them. And it does help your working relationship. If you're a musician, you play in a band or even if you work in an office with somebody that you, you know, you guys have to work well together in order for the company to succeed. it's very much an important and underrated factor for this Denver Broncos team to have that 86% roster retention rate because you're bringing back a lot of guys who developed well last year.

Starting point is 00:09:25 But on top of the 86% roster retention rate, now you're also adding some impact players on top of it. And we talked about how the microscope is very much going to be on those new players that you added here at the beginning of training camp. but it's not just new players who are going to be under the microscope. It's players who are vying for contract extensions. What's the status with Nick Benito, Cortland Sutton, Sutton, Zach Allen, and John Franklin Myers. We're talking about that next on today's episode, Locked on Broncos. Today's episode of Lockedon Broncos is brought to you by Ruggiat. Guys, you've probably heard of Viagra or Cialis.

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Starting point is 00:11:33 And general manager George Payton told us earlier this offseason that contract negotiations would start back up after the NFL draft, which at this point, it's been almost three months since the NFL draft happened. And so you can't help but wonder, when is some news going to be dropping about a Denver Broncos player getting a contract extension? Well, it seems like talks are not only ongoing, but potentially even going well as the Broncos are expected to have 100% attendance at training camp after having perfect attendance as well at mandatory mini camp. And that is a big factor because if things were not going well behind the scenes, you get the impression. You get the impression that at least a player would maybe make a statement by not showing up to mandatory

Starting point is 00:12:18 mini camp, but all of Nick Benito, Cortland Sutton, Zach Allen, John Franklin Myers, and anybody else that's in a contract year for the Denver Broncos, quite frankly, was on the field for mandatory mini camp. And so your expectation, I guess, at this point, is really that those guys will all be out there for training camp. And nine news insider, our good friend Mike Cliss, he even said that he spotted Cortland Sutton reporting for camp and his post on Twitter, or X said it appears contract extension talks are ongoing, which read into that what you will at this point. I think Cortland Sutton being the big time leader that he is of this Denver Broncos team,

Starting point is 00:12:58 we understand that he made his statement kind of last year, right? And you can't help but wonder how long contract extension talks have sort of been going on since they were already at the table with his agent last offseason trying to work out a deal to get him a little bit more guaranteed money. And Cortland was able to reach some incentives last year as well, which is really exciting for him. So certainly you look at the situation with a guy like Sutton and you don't lose sleep over it at this point, even though he is the most proven receiver on the Broncos

Starting point is 00:13:29 roster and a crucial piece. I mean, you think about Cortland, I think the debate always rages on over whether or not Cortland is a true wide receiver one in today's NFL or what he is in terms of the perception of the fans or fan analysts, analysts, you know, et cetera. And as that debate rages on, I think it's in arguable that his impact on this roster is so substantial that it would take another injury from him to really feel it, right? Because at this point, it's not even the devil you know versus the devil you don't. you have one proven guy at wide receiver on your entire roster.

Starting point is 00:14:11 I mean, Marvin Mims, Devon Valle, Troy Franklin, Pat Bryant, the rookie, even Trent Sherfield, like those guys are not very proven at the NFL level. And because of that, you have a lot of uncertainty, a lot of excitement on top of it, but a lot of uncertainty at the wide receiver position that Cortland Sutton is kind of helping you sleep at night, knowing that we have a guy who raises the perverbal floor of that room. And he is somebody that has produced at a high level and pretty consistently. I mean, the debate about whether or not he produces at a wide receiver one level consistently, that's a fair topic to discuss. But in terms of the impact that Cortland is going to make on this

Starting point is 00:14:54 Denver Broncos team, to think about him holding out, to think about him missing any time, at least as of right now, that would be detrimental to this Denver Broncos offense, wouldn't it? because he does have that proven ability. He is a guy who can make amazing contested catches and bail your quarterback out on certain throws and go out, go up and make a play, right? It's not 50-50 when the ball is in the air going towards Cortland Sutton. It's 60-40 in his favor. He's proven that time and time again.

Starting point is 00:15:25 And so to have a guy like him showing up for training camp, I think speaks volumes to the way things are going behind the scenes. And Nick Benito spoke at a. a charity event that he did with some youth in the Denver area. And he was talking about the contract extension situation. He was asked a question by Chris Thomason. And he answered it by saying that his talks are ongoing as well, essentially said that those talks are happening right now,

Starting point is 00:15:51 but that he has no expectation really of when those talks could be done or consummate in a contract. You know, he kind of pointed out what I think we all know, but oftentimes fail to acknowledge, which is that ongoing contract extension. talks, they can materialize in a day or a week or a couple of months from now. I mean, when you say that contract talks are ongoing, unless there's a firm deadline, there's really no reason to believe that something's going to get done now. And so we don't know internally

Starting point is 00:16:22 what is the Denver Broncos deadline for some of these deals. Like, when are they going to draw that proverbial line in the sand? Because as far as we know, they don't really have one, right? Because we saw a deals get done last year at various times. We saw a deal get done during the season with Garrett Bowles. We saw deals get done in the offseason, like with Quinn Miners, things like that. And so you have all these contracts that they get done at it. It's not random times, but you get the sense that there may be internal deadlines for when they want to have these deals done. And obviously, we're not going to know about that because nothing leaks from that Denver Broncos front office. And so with a guy like Nick Benito saying that deal, that talk

Starting point is 00:17:04 are ongoing for his deal coming up, which I do believe the Broncos want to make him a core part of their their foundation. Like a lot of times it's a similar debate with Cortland Sutton, right, as with Nick Bonito, where folks are saying, well, is he really a true top tier edge in this league? I'd like to see him, you know, produce for another full season. I think that's fair. But at the same time, a lot of times contracts in the NFL, you're paying for not just what you've gotten, but what you believe you're going to get.

Starting point is 00:17:34 and you want to get out ahead of these things. You don't want to be caught in a position next offseason where you're paying Nick Bonito 30 plus million a year when you could have paid him similar to what George Carl Aftus just got with the Kansas City Chiefs at about $23 million a year. And all of a sudden now you're out an additional $7 million per year that can be used on more players, more assets to your roster. So to me, those internal deadlines are important, but we don't know about them. so we have no idea what the timeline is going to be for any of these contracts.

Starting point is 00:18:06 The same is true for guys like Zach Allen and John Franklin Myers. Although unlike with Cortland Sutton and Nick Benito, we don't actually know if contract extension talks are ongoing with Allen and his camp and John Franklin Myers and his camp. You hope that that's the case because at least in the case of Zach Allen might have been the best defensive lineman in the NFL last year. And John Franklin Myers was such an impactful. player on that Denver Broncos defense that you'd love to see them be able to keep this band

Starting point is 00:18:37 together as long as they possibly can. And of course, the question always becomes, well, who are you sacrificing then if you sign these guys, if you sign every single one of them, if you bring them all back, who's going to get the axe? I think as of right now, there are a number of players that you would look at on this Denver Broncos roster that would probably be allowed to walk in free agency. Guys like J-Quan-McMillan would probably be allowed to walk in free agency. You might get to a point where the contract doesn't make sense anymore for somebody like Ben Powers or Luke Wattenberg, right?

Starting point is 00:19:09 Luke Wattenberg, a free agent after this year. Do you bring him back or do you let another young guy take his spot next year? So yeah, there are tough decisions that you have to make. But the Broncos with a rookie contract and Bo Nicks at quarterback, they have such flexibility over the next, you know, pretty lengthy window of time that it's really nothing that they have to worry about, right? And because you can kick the can down the road with void years and other things like that, it's certainly something that, you know, Broncos country, I don't think there's any reason to lose sleep over this team dismantling its core anytime soon. And what can we expect

Starting point is 00:19:45 beyond contract year players jumping on the field for the start of training camp? Well, the Broncos, they're going to have some acclimation practices. And I also want to touch on this perception of the Denver Broncos roster and how dramatically it has shifted in less. than a year's time. We're going to talk about that coming up next on today's episode, Locked on Broncos. This show is brought to you by BetterHelp. Workplace stress, well, it's at an all-time high. Sixty-one percent of the global workforce is reporting higher than normal stress levels. And this summer, it's the perfect time to take small steps to focus on your wellness and manage all those challenges that come with your workday. Of course, most of us

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Starting point is 00:21:06 Our listeners get 10% off their first month at BetterHelp.com slash lockdown. That's BetterHelp, H-E-L-P dot com slash locked on. Today's show is also brought to you by Fanduel. And summer sports, they're in full swing, whether you're all about baseball under the lights, golf on the green, or high-stakes soccer action. FanDuel is the best way to make every game even more exciting. And you're already following the,

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Starting point is 00:22:15 availability sessions before officially getting back to regular styles of practice in front of the fans on Friday. Broncos Country once again, thanks so much for tuning in today. If you haven't already done so, hit subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts as well as on YouTube and join us on TikTok as well. If you haven't already done so, we're going to be posting content over there in short form for your algorithm page as well.

Starting point is 00:22:41 And look, what can we expect for the Denver Broncos as they get started with training camp? Well, like I said, acclamation practices on Wednesday and Thursday. What does that mean? Well, it's kind of just an on-ramp sort of situation for the team.

Starting point is 00:22:56 You don't want to hit the ground running in a literal sense, right? obviously you want to make sure that your players who you expect to be in good shape are getting back into football activities as at a reasonable pace, right? You don't want them coming out there and getting injured because they went too hard on day one. You want to have some nice walkthrough practices and that's exactly what the Denver Broncos are going to do. It's going to be those acclamation types of practices before they get back at it on Friday for some actual football stuff, which you know what? That's exciting Broncos country. As great as it is going to be to see the entire team out there on the field for training camp,

Starting point is 00:23:36 it's going to be even better to see these guys out there when they throw the pads back on, when they get out there doing some hitting. We get to finally get an evaluation on the offensive and defensive lines, pass rushers, some things like that to where we can see. All right, who's going to be stepping up and becoming this year's training camp storylines? That's going to be very, very exciting to see. So on Wednesday, we will hear from head coach Sean Payton. And I'm sure he's going to give us a state of the team as he's had a chance to kind of digest the entire offseason that was.

Starting point is 00:24:08 Hopefully we'll hear what he's excited about. And it's always fun to hear from Sean Payton after he's had some time away to kind of reflect on things. And I'm sure he'll have some insightful things to say as well. But it's clear based on what we've seen and heard that players are extremely focused on the task at hand. And to Pat Sertan's point that we were talking about earlier on in the show where he talked about how players are coming, they're showing up, they're determined. You've got a lot of selfless leaders on the team that are putting the team first. To his point, I mean, you're having these guys in contract situations showing up with unresolved, I guess, issues if you want to call it that. And it's very much unlike other situations around the league where Jerry Jones is calling out his best player on defense, Micah Parsons, the Cincinnati Bengals are, you know, they're calling.

Starting point is 00:24:57 out their first round draft pick, Shamar Stewart and Trey Hendrickson is posting about traveling to Florida as training camp gets underway. So it's very nice for the Denver Broncos to have these things going on behind the scenes without them becoming public issues to everybody. And so Broncos country, I think you can expect not necessarily fireworks this week, but certainly some really exciting developments as the team gets underway and back out there for practices. but as they get back underway, you start to hear a lot about, you know, these media talking heads and they're talking about the rosters, they're putting out roster rankings, they're talking about position group rankings, all these sorts of things.

Starting point is 00:25:38 I get it. The content mill, it churns every single offseason. You've got to have stuff to talk about. But it's really fascinating to think about the Broncos as being the potentially top 10 roster in the NFL, which we've seen roster rankings coming out from ESPN. we recently released the NFL top 100 from the Lockdown Network, which two Broncos players made that list. But ESPN released a roster rankings, and they do this every single year. And it's based on their metrics and their analytics, things like that. The Denver Broncos, shockingly came in as

Starting point is 00:26:13 the sixth best roster in the entire NFL, which is unbelievable when you consider that just last year, they were considered the 31st roster in the NFL. And like I said, you want to tie. this all together. You talk about a team that was last year considered the second worst roster in the NFL, bringing back 86% of the crew that was, you know? And that's just fascinating how coaching makes such a difference. Player development makes such a difference. And the Denver Broncos are tremendous in this aspect.

Starting point is 00:26:47 They are doing such a great job of player development, putting guys in positions to succeed, and they're reaping the benefits of that, right? And it's not just on paper. Yeah, you look like you have a great roster on paper. That's awesome. But you know what? This team is actually getting ready to do something special. And they're doing it with guys who were overlooked, who were written off,

Starting point is 00:27:08 guys who were not considered to be the best prospects, guys like Bow Nix, who was considered to be somebody that was not worth spending first round draft capital on because of his limited ceiling. Now you've got this group of guys getting out there on the field, working with a common goal towards potentially competing for an AFC title. And yes, I do believe the Broncos are in that conversation, especially if they're a top six roster in the NFL, you better be in that conversation. So it's going to be interesting to see how they live up to those expectations going from being a team that was borderline completely written off,

Starting point is 00:27:43 expected to pick in the top three of the draft, and now going into a situation where you might be one of the best teams in the AFC. overall, which is a loaded, loaded conference. I do believe the Broncos can compete in the AFC West. I do believe that they can compete with the best teams in the AFC. They've obviously got to be better in a number of areas. But I mean, the sky's the limit, so to speak, right? And that's a situation where you're looking for the team to get better at those little things. How much better are they at running the ball?

Starting point is 00:28:14 How much more efficient and effective is the offensive operation overall? How does the addition of Drey Greenlaw and the return of Alex Singleton at linebacker, change the dynamic of your defensive front seven. Talanoa Hufanga and the presence that he brings on the back end. These guys all factor into this team, taking that jump from being a surprise team that made the playoffs last year to a truly contending team in the AFC. In Broncos country, we're going to have you covered every step of the way. We'll be reacting to Sean Payton and what he says at the podium at Wednesday's practice,

Starting point is 00:28:49 Denver Broncos training camp 2025. We appreciate you all so much for tuning in today. Hope you have a good one. We'll catch you on the next one.

Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos Playoff Loss Providing CHIP On Their Shoulders at Training Camp

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