Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - NO TRADE: Denver Broncos GM George Paton AFFIRMS Commitment to WR Room

Starting point is 00:00:00 Debra Broncos GM George Payton met with the media at the NFL owners meeting and he reaffirmed his commitment. The Broncos are not looking to trade any of their wide receivers. 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? I'm Cody Orick, joined as always by Sarah Bedinger. And on today's episode of the show, George Payton has yet to receive a contract extension. But could that come after the NFL draft? of that, we'll discuss why the Broncos are still looking at options at the running back position.

Starting point is 00:00:39 It's something that Peyton mentioned when he met with the media at the NFL owners meeting, but more importantly, we're going to kick things off by talking about something that Broncos country has debated about, will the Broncos make a trade of one of their wide receivers after they traded for Jalen Waddle? George Payton says, not so fast. Sarah, let's get into it here because I always get, I understand the logic and I understand the thinking of it, but it always frustrates me you make a trade for a big time player, right? And you add to a position where you have pretty good numbers that the first instinct for fans is to say, let's trade somebody now. I understand where it comes from. But I was glad to hear that George Payton was not thinking that way as it comes

Starting point is 00:01:22 to this wide receiver room that both he and Sean have mentioned that they like and they are sticking to their guns on that one. They are. And we had a really spirited and good discussion about this on our squad show late last week as well, Cody, about the idea that, I mean, it makes sense, right? You just added a premier wide receiver to a position group that was already pretty, I don't want to say loaded on paper, but you got a lot of young guys that you like, right? And so you added somebody that you love to a group of players that you really like. You go out and you make a blockbuster deal for Jalen Waddle. Now all of a sudden, everybody's thinking, okay, well, the odd man out must have to be out sooner rather than later, as opposed to the Broncos, just in,

Starting point is 00:02:03 enjoying some depth at the position. Keep in mind, people. This is a team that was utilizing Elijah Moore, Lil Jordan Humphrey off the Giants practice squad late last season. Michael Bandy came in late in the year in that Green Bay Packers game. So a lot of different depth pieces were needed at one point or another last year. Maybe the Broncos just figure, all right,

Starting point is 00:02:24 we not only need to upgrade the depth in this room, but we're going to upgrade the overall talent in this room and keep our depth. Go figure. I mean, it's not, it's not like it's illegal to have five wide receivers who can all play. I mean, you don't have to trade somebody just because you added somebody. And maybe, maybe the Devon-Vay-D deal from last year, although too good to pass up at the time, I can't help but wonder, Cody, is that sticking in the back of their minds as something they may have regretted

Starting point is 00:02:50 later in the season when they were having all those depth issues. It wouldn't surprise me if that was something that in hindsight, they're like, you know what, okay, yes, we got a fourth round pick out of it. But at times last year, especially down the stretch, I mean, the Broncos lost Troy Franklin and Pat Bryant in the same game against the Buffalo Bills. And throughout the other couple, you know, previous weeks, you know, you had Marvin Mims dealing with the concussion history. And Pat Bryan having the concussion against the Jaguars to the points like now you're relying on Cortland Sutton and Little Jordan Humphrey is your top two guys. That was not where the Broncos, I think, wanted themselves to be. And that's no shade towards Little Jordan or anything.

Starting point is 00:03:27 but I think it kind of magnifies exactly where the Broncos were at, that they had to finish a playoff game with Marvin, Court, and Little Jordan as their main guys in that game because of the injuries to Pat and the injuries to Troy. I mean, the fact that Denver was able to overcome that and find a way to win that game, and we saw Marvin Mims turn on his clutch gene here once again and help the Broncos win that game. I mean, I don't know if those injuries happen

Starting point is 00:03:53 if we would have seen Marvin play in that situation. make that play in that situation. So it doesn't hurt to have good depth. And the idea is that, okay, you have a lot of guys. That's great. It gives you flexibility. But I do think my general takeaway from hearing George talk about Jalen in terms of the trade was he's one of the most explosive players in the league.

Starting point is 00:04:12 You combine him with Cortland Sutton. It seems like those two guys are probably not going to come off the field much. But he did say, we are going to use these other guys. We are going to use Troy, Pat, and obviously little Jordan, even through Michael Bandy's name in there. I know they do that just for purposes. But it really is Troy, Pat and Marvin that they are going to use alongside Jalen and obviously court this upcoming season. And I think that is the best bet for this team. I think that gives them the best chance to make a deep push, but to succeed.

Starting point is 00:04:38 You are going to have to rely on your depth with the addition of Waddle. Those three guys as depth guys contributors, that is better than most other teams right now in the NFL. And if you like your young players, especially at a position like wide receiver when you've got a quarterback entering year three, you don't want to take a away from a position, like a playmaker position that you like the players when you've already kind of seen their development up to this point, right? I mean, the Broncos, this is the fourth year for Marvin Mims already in the NFL. This is about to be the third season for Troy Franklin. Pat Bryant is entering year two.

Starting point is 00:05:13 Obviously, they've stuck by Cortland Sutton for a number of years now. So you've invested so much in these guys. There's no reason to just say, you know what? We're done investing in any one of those, especially those four guys, right? I think now that you've added Jalen Waddle to the mix, you've got somebody that maybe you've admired from afar, and obviously he translates, his skill set can translate to any different NFL team around the league, but now you've got his explosiveness.

Starting point is 00:05:38 And that was what George Payton talked about is he kind of stopped himself shy of saying that it was an upgrade to the position. I think he's always trying to be diplomatic and respectful to everybody else there, but he didn't want to necessarily call it an upgrade. But when you add to the talent of a room like that, It just, it brings up, it's the tide that raises all boats in the harbor, as we've mentioned before, that analogy right there. So I love what their philosophy is right now. It's you've, you've been saying you love these young players or you like these young players.

Starting point is 00:06:08 So continue to see their development through. And frankly, I mean, with as much as wide receivers are getting paid on the open market right now, Cody, I don't know if you wouldn't rather have the compensatory pick. If one of these guys ends up leaving down the line, as opposed to. to just dumping them for whatever it might be. Which receiver right now is going to command a huge trade value? I don't know what that looks like, but ultimately,

Starting point is 00:06:33 I just think they're making the wise decision by sticking with their depth at the wide receiver position, especially in such a pivotal year for Bo Nix. Well, and I think when you think about it, it's not just about the 2026 season. It's looking in 2027, 2028, the window, the timeline, you know, what could be changing? What are the Broncos going to be running up against it other positions?

Starting point is 00:06:52 Bo Nix's rookie deal, firing eventually them giving him a contract extension. But we've talked about it plenty here on the show, is that Cortland Sutton really doesn't have any more guaranteed money on his deal. He's going to have a higher cap hit going into next season, drastically larger compared to what it is this year. Same with Jalen Waddle. And the idea is, okay, how do you make that work?

Starting point is 00:07:12 Well, in the event that one guy, you know, you decide to maybe like, we're not going to run it back, maybe the Broncos do believe in their in-house approach of developing players like Troy. They like Troy a lot. I know Sean certainly likes Troy a lot. Pat, they really love. Marvin, they really love. The idea just because you have the guys.

Starting point is 00:07:31 And now you added a new guy into the room like Jalen means, okay, now we can get rid of one of these guys. No, I think that level of thinking, I think, is a little dangerous. And it doesn't seem like something the Broncos would do certainly before the draft or during the draft. I don't even think at this point, too, they'd be in the same, if they're in the same situation with Velae, I don't think that they would pull the trigger when it comes to Marvin, Troy or Pat. I just don't see that playing out the way that it did last year. And it wouldn't make sense to at this point because everything that you mentioned, like let's say Cortland goes down with an injury or Jalen goes down with an injury, you're back at square one.

Starting point is 00:08:07 And if you get rid of, let's say, a Marvin or a Troy, then what do you have at the point? Then you are relying on little Jordan Humphrey. Then you are relying on Michael Bandy off the practice squad. To me, it just doesn't make much sense here. Why get rid of guys when you can still maximize their value? Let them continue to develop and grow inside of this. system where, hey, another year, that should be better.

Starting point is 00:08:26 Plus, these guys have a new wide receiver coach. I'm curious to see what he can squeeze out of them. Yeah, how much better can they be with Ronald Curry coaching of the wide receivers? And honestly, with Davis Webb calling the plays, right? I think that's a fair question to ask as well. How much different are they going to be utilized? Are we going to see, you know, a different way for, I mean, more Marvin Mims. Are we going to see a different way of Troy Franklin getting utilized?

Starting point is 00:08:50 Are we going to see more from Pat Bryant this year after kind of look late last season like the Broncos were really planning on that. You know, it has maybe nothing to do with anything, Cody, but I find interesting. I sent you a little message as we were recording here because I looked it up. I was curious. Devon Valet is actually older than Jalen Waddle. I mean, that's just maybe an interesting factoid for people to know, but the Broncos got younger at the wide receiver position, you know, moving on from Velae and bringing in Jalen Waddle. That's pretty crazy to me that. And I think that's one of the factors, too, that maybe contributed to that. And it speaks to this idea of, well, if the Broncos traded Devon Bailey, why wouldn't they trade Marvin Mims or

Starting point is 00:09:26 Troy Franklin or Pat Bryant or whatever? I think part of the reason is that you kind of got an offer you couldn't refuse for a guy who is. I mean, he was definitely older for a rookie coming in back in 2024 and, you know, at the end of his rookie contract, are you going to be pushing 30 years old or whatever it is? So I think that was a unique situation as opposed to like a philosophy that the team necessarily holds in terms of, hey, we brought in another receiver in Pat Bryant, so we got to trade somebody. It's going to be Vailay. And I don't think you can just copy and paste that to this situation because Valay's

Starting point is 00:10:00 situation was pretty unique. Yeah. And when Sean and George say right now that they really do like this wide receiver room, it is evident because I imagine when you were having these talks of acquiring Jalen Waddle, you could have easily attached a player to that deal to give Miami a player in return, right, instead of maybe capital. felt like giving a player would actually have been more detrimental than giving up some of the capital that they did. I like the fact that the Broncos have a diverse skill set spread out amongst this

Starting point is 00:10:28 wide receiver room. It is very deep right now with the guys that they currently have. And I think that's something that you need, especially if you're trying to win a Super Bowl right now, it's good to have that type of depth here. Broncos country, let's know your thoughts here on what George Payton said about the wide receiver position and them committing to not trading any of their guys here. But coming up next, we're going to talk about the Broncos running back position. George Payton was excited that they brought back J.K. Dobbins, but he didn't rule out that the team could still add a back either in the NFL draft or after the draft. Today's show was brought to you by our friends over there at Robin Hood. What have sports who are traded like markets? Now you can put

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Starting point is 00:12:06 especially after bringing back J.K. Dobbins, although Broncos country, there's no door closed when it comes to bringing in more competition at that position. We'll tell you all about it on today's episode. Locked on Broncos. And hey, for all you every dayers out there, Cody and I just want to say, we appreciate you so much. Every single one of you that makes us part of your day, it means the world to us.

Starting point is 00:12:25 If you want to support the show in a different way, check out the everyday or all access club. Link in the show notes, locked on Broncos. That supercast.com. We appreciate you considering that it's huge for us. And Cody, I think all of Broncos country is eager to find out

Starting point is 00:12:41 what's going to happen at the running back position the rest of this offseason because there was, you know, conversations about Breece Hall before he gets franchise tagged. And then Travis A. Chan before he goes to New Orleans and, you know, any free agent running back or any trade eligible running back that could be discussed. We talked about it. Ultimately, the Broncos running it back. J.K. Dobbins, Jaliel McLaughlin, Tyler Badegh, all brought back on new contracts this offseason and RJ Harvey Harvey expected to take a leap. George Peyton, he likes what the team has. I mean,

Starting point is 00:13:13 like I said, stop me if you've heard that before. He likes it. what the team has. They made a substantial investment in Dobbins, and he backed up why he believes this running back group is kind of set at this point in time. Yeah. And when it comes to Dobbins, I mean, he really talked about when he came into the building right away, they felt the impact of what he brings just as a leader, as a person, as a player. They like that. And George himself even went out of his way to say, you know, what happened to JK was one of those freak injuries. His body didn't break down. It was just one of those freak things, a hip drop tackle. He even doubled down on saying that and kind of going out there to, you know, bat for JK here.

Starting point is 00:13:49 But even with all that said and how much they like J.K. And R.J. And they like the room. There's going to be competition there. It very much like he even didn't, he didn't rule out, hey, in the draft this year, we could take a back. But what was interesting to me was he mentioned post draft. They could take a look at a back.

Starting point is 00:14:07 And it was almost kind of along the same lines of how they got J.K. Dobbins last year, mandatory minicamp. He signed on the first day, I believe, or the second day of mandatory mini camp. and then was there for the final day, conditioning, and before the Broncos went into their offseason, it would not shock me if the Broncos do look at a veteran option here late down the stretch. Because here's what's the worst that can happen, Sarah? You add one of these guys like a Nick Chubb or, let's say,

Starting point is 00:14:31 if he's not off the market by now, Najee Harris. You add one of those guys late. It raises the level of competition at the room. You already have guys like Deuce Vaughn and Cody Schrader that signed futures deals to go alongside JK, RJ, Tyler Bade, Angela, I mean, it's crazy how many guys they have in that room right now. Adding another guy certainly isn't going to hurt if it raises the standard of that room. And more importantly, for a guy who is not yet signed that late, it gives a team like the Broncos more leverage because of the fact that, hey, you're not signed here.

Starting point is 00:15:03 We're giving you an opportunity you hear maybe on a tryout. We're going to see what it is. It doesn't hurt Denver to look after the draft either. It doesn't. And even on the trade market as well, because we know that when teams go, you know, different directions during the NFL draft can sort of change maybe some of their plans as well. Maybe teams are holding on to certain guys right now because they're kind of waiting to see just like the Broncos are in their context. How is the draft going to impact how we view our current roster?

Starting point is 00:15:31 Right. I mean, if some team gets a value, they can't pass up at the running back position, even though they're already deep at that spot, maybe they end up trading somebody who's still on a rookie deal. I mean, specifically, I think of somebody like, you know, Trey Benson, with Arizona because they brought back James Connor, I believe, and they also brought in Tyler Algiers. So what's to come of Trey Benson? Right? I mean, I think that's a fair question to ask.

Starting point is 00:15:55 And then if they can draft somebody else, do they try to offload him for, I mean, I'm just throwing a name out there. There's probably plenty of others, but you get the idea that after the draft or even during the draft, some of these players like the Broncos have acquired in the past, right? Adam Troutman during the draft, John Franklin Myers during the draft. I don't think that those are situations that should be written off even at the running back position at this point because I think the Broncos are going to be looking for something pretty specific when it comes to a bigger body back or somebody who can return kicks.

Starting point is 00:16:27 I think that those are going to be two qualities they covet. And so it might not be the conventional way of adding players. Well, and the thing that stands out to me about how Denver even approached last year was the fact that they were adding running backs to a practice squad kind of left and right. they were releasing different guys. Ultimately, they settled on Cody Schrader, who kind of played this practice squad roulette, you know, being signed, released just for roster space purposes, being promoted to the active roster. They like that room. Duce Vaughn stayed on the practice squad for a large portion of the season. But it all goes back to what you just mentioned a little bit earlier about Denver having that interest in Breece Hall, obviously, you want them to if he's going

Starting point is 00:17:07 to, if he was going to be available, right? Or going out there and saying, hey, we're interested in Travis A. Chan. Maybe they had interest in Kenneth Walker. So what is it that the Broncos, what is the thought process behind that? You know, I don't think it's, hey, we lost those guys so we settled on JK. I think they always wanted to bring J.K. I think J.K. obviously wanted to bring, wanted to be brought back into the mix. But what is the purpose? What is the vision of this running back room?

Starting point is 00:17:31 And factoring in the Davis web now the play caller, what is going to be different with how Davis utilized the run game versus how Sean did or didn't last season? These are questions we don't have the answer to just yet. But I think you and I both agree. And we've talked about it, especially in yesterday's episode of the shows, we debated at what Denver should do at 62. The Broncos need insurance at this position regardless, and they have to upgrade that. What that looks like right now remains to be determined. Yeah, and it could come from a variety of different sources, right?

Starting point is 00:18:01 That's why I think it's important to not get married to any one specific idea or any one specific prospect. We'll see what the team ends up doing because, look, Tyler Badee, Julele McLaughlin, they've gotten a lot of opportunities over the past handful of years. And I get it that they are experienced under Sean Payton. They are trusted, obviously, by the organization. They're well liked by the organization, very obviously at this point. So I think anybody who comes in is going to have to be an appreciable upgrade over those two guys. And some fans out there might be saying, well, that's a low bar to clear. But in the eyes of the team, it's perceived very differently. I mean, the way that we talk about this situation may not be exactly how the team talks about it behind closed doors

Starting point is 00:18:46 because people might say, well, George Payton is just, it's just GM speak to have him say he likes Julie McLaughlin and Tyler Biday. Money speaks. Money talks pretty loudly. And when they're bringing guys like that back, even on one year deals, that is a significant thing to think about. They're not just bringing those guys back arbitrarily. They could let those guys go. They could say, you know what, just like they did last year with Lil Jordan Humphrey, say, hey, go pursue your opportunities elsewhere. We're going a different direction. They are going to challenge whoever comes in, whether it's a veteran, a trade acquisition,

Starting point is 00:19:21 a rookie, that player or those players are going to have to beat out guys who have been with the team for at minimum three years. And that's going to be tough. So I think I kind of like that aspect of it too, though, Cody. I like the fact that whoever they end up bringing in for competition, that's going to be, you're going to have to impress. You're going to have to study your playbook. You're going to have to be good in past protection.

Starting point is 00:19:43 You're going to have to play special teams. I think those are all important factors that that's why you upgrade the back end of your roster as early as you can with guys who are experienced like that. It's going to help this young player come in or whoever comes in be as good as they possibly can right away. And at this point, I do almost expect them to bring in a back before training camp begins. So who that is, we'll just have to wait and see here, Broncos Country. So let's know your thoughts on Georgia's comments on the running back position,

Starting point is 00:20:10 how you think the team should also approach this position as well, considering the history of what that room looked like last season. Make sure you let's know here on today's episode of the show here. But Broncos country coming up next, George Payton enters the final year of his deal as GM for the team. He has yet to dive deeper into some contract talks. But could that come post-NFL draft? We'll talk about that more here on today's episode of the show.

Starting point is 00:20:36 George Payton's time for the Denver Broncos. seen a variety of ups and downs here, but primarily it has been very good since he has come on as the Broncos gene. When you talk about adding cornerstone pieces to the franchise via free agency, the NFL draft, George has done a terrific job, and he and Sean Payton are very much in alignment on how they want to build the Broncos going forward. But he is entering the final year of his deal with the team. And as of the NFL owner's meetings, talks necessarily haven't progressed, Sean Payton at the combine, bang the table, pounded it, said, George needs to get an extension. I want that done sooner rather than later.

Starting point is 00:21:09 George doesn't seem too concerned about a deal getting done right now. All signs may be point to the fact that maybe the Broncos are waiting for after the NFL draft to give George an extension because after the draft, really it's offseason program lifting weights. There's not a lot of stuff going on at that point. That seems like the perfect time frame for George to get a deal done. Yeah, it really does, especially because he does still have a year left on the contract. Like, it's not like there's an urgency or a deadline here before the draft.

Starting point is 00:21:37 to get it done. So you want to do it right. You want to make sure that you're able to devote your full attention to that. And obviously right now they're focused on building this roster into a Super Bowl contender. And I don't think a GM who's on his way out, Cody is probably going to trade a first round pick, make a blockbuster deal. And then say, all right, smell you later. I'm going to wherever I can get a deal next off season. I think Mike Cliss, our good friend over there at 9 News, he pointed it out this way.

Starting point is 00:22:04 this is kind of the catalyst for us talking about it. His words are extension talks have not yet reached an accelerated point or even a starting point, really. So I think my assumption was maybe like the Broncos and George Payton probably had at least been talking or had maybe even like framework of a deal or like, I don't know, that was just my perception. Obviously it was my assumption because I didn't, I don't know that it had not really started at all.

Starting point is 00:22:33 that is a little surprising to me. I'm not reading into it. I'm still surprised by it, but I think definitely after the draft, it should be something that you can get knocked out pretty easily. If you share vision, you love the ownership, you've obviously made huge moves to upgrade this roster.

Starting point is 00:22:50 You've got a quarterback. If you love your situation, and George Payton has proven this in his history, why would you just not stay? Yeah, and look, I imagine George's agent is secretly working behind the scenes there. But, you know, when you look at how things have gone here for the Broncos in terms of a timeline between the combine when George and obviously Sean spoke, there really wasn't a lot of time,

Starting point is 00:23:14 I feel like for them to just sit down and iron out maybe what an extension looks like, you know, because it's the combine. George is very hands-on boots on the ground, evaluating prospects that are testing at the combine, doing interviews. And then after that, you go from the combine to having your NFL free agency meetings with your staff, identifying needs. Obviously, behind the scenes, We're working out details for a trade for Jalen Waddle. That took a little bit of time to formulate right there. And then now you jump straight into NFL draft prep because it's less than a month away right now. You know you're not picking a 62.

Starting point is 00:23:45 You're trying to figure out what the best approach is during these meetings. Now, after, and one thing that Georgia even highlighted is after this at the NFL owners meetings, they're going back and they're jumping straight into full on draft meetings. And we know how extensive that is on the day to day with the pro personnel department, the scouts, the college scouts, it has a collective uniform thing where they're sitting there and they're watching hours and hours, sometimes 14 hours a day they're at the team facility going through this whole process. I mean, that's how they discovered their pet cat and R.J. Harvey in round two. So this is really not the ideal time to bring up an extension. I'm sure there are

Starting point is 00:24:22 things that are going to be outlined for it, you know, in terms of George's agent working on things. George probably has a very, I mean, they talk every day to Greg Penner. But if Sean is on board, with it, George wants to say, this is going to get done. It's not a matter of if it's a matter of when, in my opinion. Yeah, I completely agree with you. It just the, the moves the team is making the, the fact that they're finally starting to see the vision come to fruition, all the in-house signings, like those are not just Sean Payton guys.

Starting point is 00:24:51 Those are also George Payton guys. Like, George wanted to draft, develop, and get guys to second contracts. And he's able to now see that vision come to fruition as well as see the team that he's assembled really compete for a Super Bowl. I just if it was me, Cody, there's no way I would be trying to like find the first exit off the, off the highway. So especially with the ownership group,

Starting point is 00:25:14 especially with, you know, just the facility, brand new facility, like he deserves to enjoy the spoils of his hard work. And frankly, kind of the rebound after the Russell Wilson trade and that debacle and getting out of the dead cap hit and Nathaniel Hackett. I mean,

Starting point is 00:25:29 those all feel like such a distant memory at the, point and George Peyton has done a great job of kind of fixing the mistakes that were made. And I actually honestly really applaud him for that. I know a lot of folks don't like what he has done overall. And I disagree. I think he's done a great job. So I'm excited to see that eventually be one of our episodes that we get to do when we talk about George Payton getting a contract extension and what that means for the team.

Starting point is 00:25:55 But ultimately, I think a couple of other notes that he made, Cody, that I thought were interesting. So he was asked about whether or not, you know, having a first round pick and not having a first round pick at this point affects the draft strategy. And George, you know, he was like, that doesn't mean we can't still trade up at some point, right? So I like this George. I mean, it's this kind of the George that people put the sunglasses on. I like it. Uh, I think that he's definitely, I could sense just listening to some of the clips that were shared out there by folks that were, you know, around him in the media scrum. He's got some like. I don't know. He's got a little bit of extra swagger or something.

Starting point is 00:26:33 I don't know if you picked up on the same thing. But I feel like George is feeling good about himself right now and justifiably so. No, I mean, I've been around George quite a bit. And I mean, he's always laid back, even killed. But yeah, I mean, there's just like, hey, we like where we're at. We like the moves that we've made. We like the roster. And he even went as deep as saying, we haven't really done any studies into like the retention of our roster.

Starting point is 00:26:55 But that retention is around 95% from players who played Snap. last year for Denver. Now you add in a new guy like Jalen Waddle to the mix. Tyson Anderson doesn't really factor in that equation because he hasn't played much defensively in his NFL career. But, I mean, that that's huge for Denver to bring that same exact group back that knows the standard, knows the rules, knows the expectation of what Sean Payton expects. And the guys that you don't have back part of that 95 percent, it is Drey Greenlaw,

Starting point is 00:27:22 JFM, PJ Locke. So when you look at it in the grand scheme of things, I don't know if this has ever been done before. I don't know. And granted, this is not the 53 men roster. It's not set. But I don't know if a team has ever ran it back the way that Denver has ran it back while still adding a key addition like a Jalen Wattle. And they could still obviously add. We know, we know George could add a running back. He talked about that. But I still wonder if they could add a player like a Cam Jordan or a Callais Campbell. Nothing's off the table for Denver at this point. I'm so curious to see, though, how their draft strategy kind of pans out, considering where they're at

Starting point is 00:27:57 at 62 and you and I've talked about it. I firmly believe the trade-up conversation is packaging both of those fourth round picks to move up into some more premium territory into round three. So having that round two, round three, and then round five at three-sevenths, I think that Debra could certainly do that. But then again, Denver as a late, especially last year, they loved the idea of trading back. Yeah, they did.

Starting point is 00:28:20 And they did it multiple times. And everybody's screaming for all these guys that they loved at the top of their own personal boards. I get it. I understand when, because I've dove deep into the NFL draft for years, Cody, you know this. And you fall in love with certain guys. And they, you know, that's become a thing is like the hashtag my guys when it comes to the NFL

Starting point is 00:28:41 draft. So when a team goes a different direction from the consensus or when they don't go after hashtag my guys, well, the team has their own version of hashtag my guys. And they're for all different reasons, right? Like they called RJ Harvey their pet cat. And I think that part of that is, is like, okay, yes, I have a pet cat. I love my pet cat. I take care of my pet cat.

Starting point is 00:29:04 You may not even know coming into my house that I have a pet cat, right? So it's one of those things. Like they keep their interest level subtle and they go after the team captain types. They, they, I think they interviewed the Baylor wide receiver recently. I can't remember if he came to Denver, but he's an interesting guy who like had no offers, I think, coming out of high school. So you look at guys like that and you're like, George Payton has mentioned this before. With the NIL and the transfer rules, you really find guys who love the game of football when you get to do these interview processes. And you see a guy like that who had no offers, like he worked his way up.

Starting point is 00:29:42 And the Broncos like those types of guys. So it's just they have a different type than maybe the consensus. And that does rub people wrong at times. But I personally think it's contributed to exactly where this team is at right now because they are, not just one of the most talented teams in the NFL, but one of the tightest teams. And it's because of the types of people they bring in. And that has fueled the turnaround that they have had since 2023,

Starting point is 00:30:07 since after they had to release Justin Simmons and Russell Wilson and Kerr the dead cap, how they managed that still won 10 games, then won, obviously, the next year, 14 games, 15 if you include the postseason win against the Buffalo Bills. Denver is heading in the right direction. They're in a very good spot right now, and they're a lot further ahead than I think most people thought. last year they surprised a lot of folks. And now the expectations are higher.

Starting point is 00:30:29 But I think this team is very well equipped to deal with those expectations. And George Payton and Sean Payton have played a major role in that here for the Broncos. Broncos Country, let's know your thoughts here on today's episode of the show on if you think George should get an extension. We both agree. Sarah and I do. He should. It should happen here soon. Hopefully after the NFL draft here.

Starting point is 00:30:48 If you want to find a way to support the show, the best way to do that, join the everydayer club. It's in the show notes down below. We're locked on broncos. that supercast.com. Check it out. The all-access version gives you access to all 22 film breakdowns, exclusive one-on-one texting with Sarah and myself, and you get exclusive discount on locked on merch plus so much more. We appreciate you so much for making us your first listen. All you every day is out there. Sarah and myself, we'll be back tomorrow for a brand new episode, Locked on Broncos.

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