Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - RUMOR: Denver Broncos INTERESTED In Trading Up In 2025 NFL Draft | Pros and Cons
Episode Date: April 22, 2025The Denver Broncos are rumored to have potential interest in trading up in the 2025 NFL Draft, but what are the pros and cons of doing so? Which NFL Draft prospect would warrant Sean Payton trading up... from the 20th overall spot? Plus, Bo Nix and his teammates reported to the team facility for Day 1 of the team's voluntary offseason program. 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!Amazon Fire TV Stick 4kDid you know your Fire TV is also an Xbox? Turn any TV into your gaming and entertainment hub with Fire TV Stick 4K devices — no console required. Head to Amazon.com/firetvlockedon to get started. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription and compatible controller required. GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNBA for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime. Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNFL at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year. FanDuelRight now, new customers can get TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS when your first FIVE DOLLAR BET WINS! Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA. 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.
Transcript
Discussion (0)
NFL draft week is here, and rumors suggest that Denver Broncos may be looking to trade up into the first round a little bit higher than the 20th overall pick.
We'll go into why that is a good idea.
We'll also look at the cons of that on today's episode, Locked on Broncos.
You are Locked on Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day.
What's happening in Broncos country?
Welcome into another episode, Lockdown Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos.
podcast part of the locked on podcast network where you know it is your team every day for all your broncos news content coverage analysis and more this is the place to be so thank you so much to everyone in broncos country all the everydayers out there
thanks for tuning in making us your first listen however you choose to do so and if you're not yet in every day or it's so easy to be coming all you have to do is hit that subscribe or that follow button wherever you get your podcast and you'll never miss out on what's going on with your favorite team here lockdown broncos as always i'm your host cody roer
credential Broncos reporter for Mile High Sports.
You can check on my written work over there at milehighsports.com.
And I'm Sarah Bedinger, the site expert at predominantly orange.com.
And together you get a jam-packed, awesome Broncos podcast every single day all year long.
And look, Broncos country, it's a big week this week.
The NFL draft is officially here.
And there's nothing slower than the buildup to the NFL draft when the week it's actually here.
You're going to hear a lot of rumors.
You see a lot of smoke screen.
But what's real?
We'll break that all down here.
Obviously, one of the bigger rumors will kick off on today.
episode of the show. The Broncos are rumored to be interested in trading up from the 20th spot.
Overall, what would that be and who would the ideal target be for them to do just that?
We'll dive into that. Plus, we'll look at the pros and cons of maybe trading up in this year's
NFL draft. The Broncos, in order to do so, may have to give up future capital. Maybe a
player, is that worth it? We'll look at that. And the Broncos reported on Monday for their
voluntary offseason program. What does that look like? What is the team participating in the next
two weeks? And then when will they transition into on-field work? We'll get
and all that on today's episode of show.
Sarah, let's kick things off, obviously, with as we know, the NFL draft,
the week of the rumors escalate.
We heard from Broncos general manager, George Peyton,
head coach Sean Payton last week.
And one thing that George said in terms about the inner workings of trade calls
last week when he met with us in a press conference,
he said, you know, the week before the draft you have calls,
but really it gets aggressive the week of the draft.
And rumors suggest here, according to Adam Schaefter,
that the Broncos have made calls.
They've been one of the teams that have been interested in making calls about moving
up in this year's draft. Is it smokescreen? Is it real?
That's what I'm wondering. Just like everybody else, right? Because there's the, you know,
the devil on one shoulder and the angel on the other shoulder, right? This time of year that's saying,
hey, trade up. You need to trade up. And you go get your guy. And then there's the angel on the
other side that's like, no, stay put, trade back, get more picks, you know, load up the war chest,
all these sorts of things. What's fascinating to me is that simultaneously trading up for the Denver
for Broncos in this particular draft would make a ton of sense and would make no sense at all.
It would make a ton of sense because look, you could go get maybe the best playmaker in this
class offensively with Ashton Genty, right?
If you can move up high enough to get Genty, he could be the missing piece to your roster.
So in that sense, I mean, trading up does kind of make a little bit of sense, right?
But then, you know, the other side of the coin, it's like, well, this draft is deep at the
positions that you need the most running back, tight end, defensive line, wide receiver,
all these different positions, they could help your team tremendously get over the top in the
AFC. So, Cody, to me, I don't know how to read into this. I don't know exactly what to,
I know that one thing we do know is that George Payton said last week at the pre-draft
presser, right? He talked about how they've already made preliminary calls to just about
every team in the NFL. So they've talked to everybody. This is,
not news that the Broncos have called teams about trading up because George Payton told us
last week that he's already talked to everybody and they have scenarios. But what's interesting
about the timing of the rumor is that it comes this week, which is the week that George said,
hey, this is when things start to get serious. Yeah. And part of me is wondering, you know,
Adam Schefter obviously when he said that part of me is wondering if he was just referencing what
George said in the pre-draft presser about, you know, we've had calls initially here next week. You know,
when the draft does come, you know, that's when talks get stronger.
I do wonder if that's probably what he piggybacked off of because even last week,
Adam Schefter on NFL Live went out there.
This was after the pre-draft press conference.
And he talked about guys like Trayvion Henderson.
He talked about guys like Colston Loveland, Omari in Hampton a little bit.
You know, Sean's looking for that next joker.
Like that was the conversation.
So it wasn't like Adam Schaefter was saying anything that we didn't necessarily know.
But I did find it interesting like, okay, how valid is this?
You know, I think the names you want to keep an eye on when it comes to maybe the pulse on the Broncos from a national scale, I would say Tom Pelliser, we've noted that relationship that he and George Payton certainly have there.
I think Jordan Schultz has it in somewhere.
I'm very curious to figure out where that is, but Jordan Schultz seems to have a little bit of a finger on the pulse of the Broncos as well.
To me, ultimately, Sarah, I think we've got to look at it from a multitude of ways.
I think you make some great points.
Like in this year's draft, like the Broncos aren't in a position where it's like they have to be.
desperate. Like you need to trade up and get a guy just to get like, you know, the guy.
They said it and, you know, this is where we got to invest. Do we take value in what they're
saying where they believe at 20th overall, they can pick a player of the same quality who's going
to be available with the 10th overall pick? Or is that them trying to say, hey, maybe we want to
get to the 10th overall pick and then be able to pick a player there. If they do, let's say,
hypothetically trade up here, Sarah, who do you think they go after? I know you mentioned
Ashton Gentie, but obviously the Las Vegas Raiders at 6 overall or the team that everyone is pegging them to pick Ashton Genti.
I can't see Denver going from the 20th overall pick to pick number five and leapfrog in there.
That makes things very interesting, though if the Giants are interested in trading back, which has been a reported rumor,
that would be interesting.
But why would they want to drop all the way back when they can get a player like Travis Hunter at third overall or an Abdul Carter as a pass rusher?
So to me, like the Giants don't necessarily make a lot of sense for Denver to just say, hey, you know, we're going to know from 20.
We want to get all the way up to the third overall here at this point.
I don't see that happening.
I don't either.
I think that there's also been some steam gaining towards the Jaguars at 5 being interested in drafting Ashton Gentie.
And perhaps that would kind of take all these scenarios off the table because I don't know that I would see anybody outside of, you know, let's Gentie, Tyler Warren, Colston,
Loveland, those guys are all generally considered top 10 players in this particular class.
Maybe Mason Graham, Cody, I'm actually putting together a scenario right now where he falls to
11th overall to the 49ers because if the Jaguars don't take him at five and the Raiders don't
take him at six, you know, what could happen there? So there's, and I don't think he's necessarily
a blue chip guy worth trading up for, right? I mean, he's got the 32 inch arms, the question marks there.
So now that that's the biggest deal in the world, but it might be the difference between trading a future first or second round pick to go up and get a guy.
So that to me is where I start to wonder, okay, who is that right guy that you'd be willing to trade multiple picks for?
Because we know Javante Williams has led this team in touches the last two seasons.
That running back position is going to get a lot of work.
That doesn't necessarily mean you have to find the guy in round one because Sean Payton has found him just about.
everywhere. George Peyton has found him just about everywhere. And Sean even commended George for drafting
a guy who had a first round caliber in Dalvin Cook a handful of years ago when he was with the Vikings.
He called him out by name during their press conference as well. And so I think the Broncos really do
believe they can get that guy on day two. So now it's just going to be about, all right, let's put our
money where our mouth is. Then let's see if you really believe that or if you truly believe that
Gentie is head and shoulders above every other running back that you could have in this draft
that you say, we have to get him at any cost, at every cost, whatever it costs, we have to go up
and get him.
That's got to be the mentality of them saying, we believe we can contend in the AFC if we get
player X.
It has to be Genty, in my opinion.
Well, and they believe that their offensive line is fully intact at least at four of the five
positions there.
They love their offensive line.
We know it's one of the highest graded units.
by the team itself in that category.
So they believe they have the offensive line to get it done.
And now it's just about finding, I think, that right running back to be the fit.
If Denver were to somehow try to trade into the top 10, Sarah,
I imagine they'd have to obviously swap with the 20th overall pick.
But part of me thinks they'd have to also give up a first rounder next year,
which I don't know, is that something the Broncos is willing to take a gamble on.
It's an interesting question.
We'll see.
I mean, Broncos country, we're not going to have long to find out here in just 48 hours.
The NFL draft happens.
You're going to get coverage here locked on.
as the Denver Broncos make their selection 20th overall or whether these rumors are true and they decide to move up.
But make sure you let us know your thoughts on whether or not you want the Broncos to stay put at 20th overall.
Or if you like them to trade up, let us know your thoughts here on today's episode of the show here.
But Broncos country, we're going to dive into the pros and cons and why the Broncos should entertain trading up.
But we'll also tell you why maybe trading assets to move up.
Isn't the smart move for the Broncos in the window that they're in right now with Bo Nix?
You'll get that much more on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos.
Today's episode of Lockdown Broncos is brought to you by game time.
There's nothing like the atmosphere of an NBA playoff game.
Every bucket, every defensive stop, every moment just feels huge.
It's electric in the arena.
And with game time, you can be part of that without the stress of last minute ticket hunting.
And game time makes it fast and easy to get playoff tickets.
Even when the demand is sky high and prices on the app,
they will actually go down as tip off gets closer and their last minute deals can save you up to 60%.
I love the fact that they have last minute deals where you can get tickets cheaper,
the closer that it gets to tip off because look, as the Denver Nuggets go on the road against the Los Angeles Clippers,
if you're a Nuggets fan out there in Los Angeles, well, it gives you the perfect opportunity to go in and get tickets at a great price.
And also inside the app, they have a seat views feature, which allows you to see the action from where you're going to be from the tickets that you're going to buy.
it's the perfect opportunity to have complete peace of mind when buying tickets to the NBA playoffs.
So take the guesswork out of buying tickets with game time.
Download the game time app, create an account and use code locked on NFL for $20 off your first purchase.
Terms apply.
Again, create an account and redeem code.
L-O-C-E-D-O-N-N-FL-L-N-FL-L-L-Tonged off.
Download game time today.
Last-minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed.
Do the Denver Broncos want to have a small targeted,
draft class in 2025 or do they want to take advantage of the depth of this class?
Well, we have a case for both here, Broncos country, but trading down, it's probably the
way to go for the Denver Broncos.
We're going to tell you why on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos.
And thanks, once again, to all of you that make Lockdown Broncos, your first listen of the
day every single day.
If you haven't already become an everyday listener, hit subscribe wherever you listen as well
as on YouTube.
Let's talk about pros and cons of trading up or down in the NF.
NFL draft. And we'll start off with Cody, I think the pros and cons of trading down because we
kind of discussed in segment one like, hey, trading up, you're going after a guy, you're giving
up future capital, potentially even a future first round pick to get them. And we talk about how deep
this draft is at positions of need for the Denver Broncos. And so, of course, the one real con
of trading down in this kind of a draft is that, well, we got to sit there all night, Thursday night,
only for the Broncos to potentially not make a selection,
but the pros vastly seem to outweigh the cons when it comes to trading down.
Yeah, I mean, obviously, trading down allows you to acquire more draft capital,
which can be in return used to trade back up.
Like it's a, there's so many moving pieces, right?
So let's say Denver were to trade out of the 20th spot.
Let's say they trade it back, you know, five spots.
Okay, well, they swap there.
But maybe they acquire a back end round two pick.
Maybe they, you know, acquire an additional round three pick.
at that point. And then it's like, all right, we know here at 25, we can get a player that we have
highly graded on our board based on how things are going. We believe we're going to get a
quality player at 25. But we also have back in capital now in round number two. We get an
additional second or we get an additional third. That allows us to make quality depth additions
here to your roster. So it is kind of like just playing like the numbers game a little bit.
Well, I think a lot of people look at it like, well, if you're picking 25th or if you're picking
28th, you know, it's like if you have the luxury being a Super Bowl team and you're picking
32nd overall.
People are like, well, you're not going to get a great player at 30 second overall,
but you're going to get a good one.
You have to weigh the balance of that.
So what is more valuable here to the Broncos in terms of where they're at?
Now, think of it this way.
Travion Henderson.
Let's say Denver traded back five spots to 25th overall.
Travion Henderson could still be there, right?
Or it gives you additional capital in the second and say,
okay, we're going to swap with another team to move up to the early portion
around number two to get Henderson.
So he's not taken before, you know, the Broncos have a chance to get
him. I think trading back gives you more flexibility, though I will say Sean Payton is not the type to really trade back throughout his career. He's more so of a trade up guy. George likes to trade back and acquire more capital. This is their third year together. And we've seen a little bit of balance. We've seen some give and give and take here. I think really the first year that we had George and Sean together, obviously the 2023 NFL draft, you saw them trade up into round number two to get Marvin Mims. And then you saw them obviously select Drew Sanders with their round third.
three pick, trade back into round three to get a Riley Moss.
So we've seen them be aggressive.
We've seen them acquire more picks as well by trading back or swapping with the team.
But it hasn't necessarily been the first round value.
That's where this is all new.
This is the second time in a row really outside of last year.
Look, you had Bow Nicks.
That was a huge need.
But now you enter a year where the Broncos doesn't necessarily have to go out there and
say, hey, we must go get this guy or bust.
They're not in that position this year.
Whereas the running back position, they've detailed.
They have a lot of really good runners in this draft that they like.
D line, there's a lot of really good depth.
So for me, just hearing what George and Sean said about how they view running back in D line,
I don't see them necessarily trading up, to be honest with you.
I know we talked about that in the first segment.
I don't see them trading up.
I see them staying put or trading back because, hey, you trade back, acquire more capital.
Let's say you get your running back in round one or you get a detackle in round one.
Well, now you can go out there and get a running back in round two.
And then you can just load up with other assets there to build overall depth because
this draft is really outside of maybe running back.
you're not drafting a starter here in round one.
Yeah, and I think what's fascinating is like we've talked about,
Sean Payton has said, or George Payton has said that you might not get a very different player
at number 20 that you could get at 10 in this year's draft.
And there's not a lot of differentiation in the grades on these guys,
at least from what they're saying publicly.
And so maybe you feel like if you move out of round one,
let's say a team like the Giants or the Cleveland Browns is really desperate for a quarterback
that's there at 20 overall.
And they say, hey, here's pick number 33 and pick number 60, whatever it is.
And then you can add a number of picks in the top 100.
I feel like you're upgrading from potentially getting three starters in this draft
to getting four to five potential starters out of just the day two picks in this draft.
And that might not be something that this team wants to scoff at after missing out on,
you know, the first two rounds almost entirely of the 2022 and 2020.
drafts if they hadn't snuck in with Nick Bonito and Marvin Mims, obviously.
But this team doesn't have a ton of recent top 50 picks on the roster, which is big in
terms of roster building and development and really having a contender for the long haul.
That's the big deal with Denver right now is this team is not rebuilding.
This team is not reloading.
This team is not resetting.
This team is they've moved into the house, right?
They're trying to find, hey, what can you?
What size of TV do we want in the living room?
What kind of couch do we want to get?
What kind of fridge do it?
Like we're, we've got the house.
We've got the foundation.
We've got the key components.
Now we need to start thinking big, dream and big.
Do we want to get a wood kitchen table?
You know, what kind of wood do we want to get?
What kind of color do we want it to be?
They're moving in.
They've got all the big stuff.
They now need to get the furnishings.
They need to feel like, hey, now this house, it's become our home.
That's what this draft has to be for the Denver Broncos.
and they don't need to trade up in order to make that happen.
I relate to what you say so much right now in my own life because, you know,
my fiance and I were getting ready for our wedding and there's things that we go through like needs and wants.
And it's like, oh, I want this.
Like, you know, you fill your registry and it's like, what do we need?
Like, what is it that we're going to need?
She goes, I want need this, need this, need this.
But I want this.
You know, for example, you know, we got a really nice coffee pot.
I didn't need it.
I wanted it.
Whereas she wanted the immersion blender said, oh, that's actually something that we need.
We need a kitchen aid.
So for the Broncos, I think, Sarah, you know that perfectly.
The foundation is there.
The overall roster, like your starters on offense and defense, almost every position is accounted
for in terms of your starters, who's going to play high, high impact minutes,
who's going to be your key rotational guys.
It's about adding quality players and depth that are going to help you, not just this year,
but maybe two years, three years down the road, but you want to have high quality players
that fit the mold of your team DNA.
I think that's exactly what Sean Payton and George Payton are going to do in this year's
draft. Look, there's no, there's no simple answer to it by saying, hey,
Denver's going to go aggressively get this one guy and it's going to change their
landscape, right? The odds of one player doing that, it's very low, but there's always a
possibility, right? All it takes is the right player, going to the right situation, which Denver,
I think for some players is an ideal fit for a lot of these draft prospects that are coming
in here that obviously have their names called on night number one here.
but I really think the meat and bones of this is going to be in rounds two, three, four,
and then obviously they have multiple picks in round number six here.
Will they acquire somehow a fifth round pick?
Will they make a draft a trade?
Like this roster is in a position where it could be tweaked a little bit,
but you don't have to make widespread changes.
Denver's got the foundational pieces,
the bricks that are going to keep the foundation sturdy.
They've got those in place.
And with the quarterback like Bowdo Knicks, now it's about can we make him better?
Not necessarily just him.
Obviously, there's an evolution of his own performance where he has to be as a player at that position.
But it's can we get the pieces around Bo Nix that are going to allow him to thrive?
Can we get the defensive players, the right defensive guys that are going to get him more opportunities to possess the football, you know, to get off the field?
That's one thing the Broncos want to do a little bit more of this season.
And it's multifacet.
It's not just, hey, let's get Bo Nix as many weapons as possible because guess what?
You only have 11 guys on the field at one time.
So as much as cool as that would be to be able to get, you know, all these guys.
build it the right way.
And I think that Sean and George,
they're aligned on what that right way is.
I think Thursday,
we're going to find out exactly.
We're going to get clarity,
cemented concrete evidence about what that may be.
Yeah, I do too, Cody.
I really believe that this is the draft that's going to be pivotal in Bo Nix's
development,
whether you talk about the weapons around him or they talk about the future of that
defense that's going to be supporting him,
right?
Because just like you talk about furnishing a home with,
you know, TV and table.
and couch and all these things.
Like when we moved into my house, like we were like, well, we got to get a fence.
We got to get a security system.
And those are things that you don't really like spending money on that stuff.
You don't really like the idea of that.
It's much more fun to say, hey, what size of TV do we want?
How comfortable of a couch can we find?
Those things are way more fun.
But you're glad you have the fence.
You're glad you have the security system.
Those types of things are multi-year investments, just like a D-Linman would be in round
one for the Denver Broncos.
And so it's very open-ended.
I think what would please all parties here,
and that's not what the Broncos are going to do.
They don't necessarily care about,
hey, I want to make every fan out there happy.
But what would please everyone is to trade down and get four to five picks in the top 100
or have five to six picks in the first four rounds.
That would really, I think, set this draft off for the Broncos in 2025.
Well, Broncos country, let us know your thoughts on whether or not the team will invest in
trading down acquiring more capital if you were the GM, what would your area of emphasis be?
Make sure you less know here in today's episode, Lockdown Broncos.
We're not done yet.
Broncos country still got a lot to break down.
Well, Broncos football is getting closer.
Look, we've got the draft this week, but players reported on Monday for the start of the team's
voluntary offseason program.
We'll tell you who showed up and what the voluntary offseason program in phase one means
for the franchise here in today's episode, Lockdown Broncos.
Today's Lockdown Broncos is brought to you by Amazon Fire TV.
Did you know that your fire TV is also an Xbox?
I mean, you could turn any TV into your gaming and entertainment hub with Fire TV stick 4K devices.
No console required.
Just grab your paired controller, subscribe or sign into Xbox GamePass Ultimate with EA play included, and you're ready to play.
You can dive into hundreds of premium titles from the favorite EA Sports College Football 25 or Call of Duty block op six and avowed as you easily,
You stream your favorite shows.
Now your games, it's made simple.
It's all on your fire TV.
And there's endless entertainment with 4K streaming.
You can watch more than 1.5 million movies and TV episodes from your favorite subscribed services like Netflix, Prime Video, Disney Plus, Max, and more.
And you watch, obviously, your favorite shows and the best quality of 4K.
Well, now it's time to take your gaming experience to the next level.
I personally, I love playing the new EA sports college football game.
I've been playing that going through my own team builder with the team that I played for and getting deeper into it.
But it's better when it's 4K experience on whatever device that you have.
And that's where the Amazon 4K TV stick can come in handy here.
So head to Amazon.com slash fire TV locked on to get started.
Xbox GamePass ultimate subscription and compatible controller required available on select devices,
including Fire TV stick 4K second generation, fire TV stick 4K max first.
second generation and fire TV cube third generation.
The fourth quarter action of today's episode, Lockdown Broncos is here.
You know what else is here?
The team's voluntary offseason program.
Broncos Country, thank you once again for tuning in, making us your first listen,
however you choose to do so.
Thanks to all the everyday is out there in Broncos Country.
We appreciate you so much.
You make the show exactly what it is.
And look, if you have friends who don't know about this show,
share this episode with them, get them on board of the lockdown Broncos train,
the best Broncos podcast out there.
in the entire podcast sphere that.
We appreciate you so much.
Sarah, look, some good news for Broncos fans
as we're getting one step closer to the Broncos
being back on the field.
Players are back at the team facility.
Monday was the start of the team's voluntary off-season program.
We knew Cortland Sutton was there.
We knew Bo Nix was there,
a handful of other teammates like Frank Crum, Nick Garjulo.
But this is the voluntary portion, right?
So it's not necessarily mandated,
but I know internally coaches,
they want the players there.
And that was the appeal.
Sean Payton told us at the end of the year.
Like, you know, hey, we have players still at the facility.
Like, this is an appeal to us.
Training here, there's a benefit.
There's tangibleness.
Like, there's good results to stay in healthy.
And if you do it here, you're more than likely going to stay and healthy.
And obviously, it's just, you know, it's another opportunity to make an impression.
Now, the voluntary off-season program, phase one, say, it's the boring part.
It's the part that Broncos country doesn't want to hear about because they want to know when everyone's going to get on the field.
What are we going to see some on-field stuff?
That's not going to happen to after the, you know, two weeks after the phase one program begins.
you jump into phase two.
You know, right now the Broncos, they can only show up for offseason conditioning,
strength and conditioning, and obviously meetings.
They can participate in meetings at the team facility, but also physical rehabilitation,
which are all the players who've been injured who were on IR last year who had surgery,
they've been at the team facility already getting treatment.
So that's going to continue.
But after two weeks, you move on into phase two where you can do some on-field stuff
where you can practice the perfect play.
But you cannot, it's not offense versus defense.
It's individual drills.
and it's install stuff.
It's not quite where you want it to be,
but you have to be smart with how you get these players along here.
But the football stuff is coming.
Yeah, and attendance is going to be the focus of the storylines from this, Cody,
because like you said, everything's voluntary.
It's not mandatory yet at this point,
but I still think attendance is going to be worth monitoring,
especially with as many interesting contract situations
as are currently going on with the Denver Broncos.
and we know Cortland Sutton is planning on being at the voluntary stuff.
I think he seems to be pleased with how negotiations are going,
even though it sounds like deals won't be done until after the drafts with any of these
potential guys.
I'm fascinated to see does Zach Allen show up.
Does John Franklin Myers show up?
Is there any other surprise players that we could potentially see holding out here of
the voluntary stuff?
And of course, you say holding out with a bit of an asterisk because it's not
technically holding out unless it's mandatory.
But anybody that's not there for voluntary stuff, I still think is going to be very
worthwhile information to know because we know that we're going to probably get to the bottom
of why certain guys aren't showing up if that is the case.
Yeah.
And so going back in a phase two, a little bit about this, you can have plays with offensive
players lining up across from offensive players and defensive players lining up
across from other defensive players.
But there will be no live contact or no team offense versus team defense.
versus team defense drills or anything like that.
Those are not permitted.
Phase three consists of the next four weeks of the program after, you know,
phase two is three weeks.
And then after that three weeks, then you have the next four weeks of the program.
Teams may conduct a total of 10 days of OTAs.
No live contact is permitted, but seven on seven, nine on seven,
11 on 11 drills are permitted.
And these OTAs will take place for the Broncos on May 27th and 28th.
And then June 3rd and 5th before, or June 3rd through 5th,
So third, fourth, fifth, before they hold mandatory minicamp, June 10th, June 11th, and June 12th.
But it doesn't say in here, though, Sarah, and this is what I'm curious about because obviously the NFL draft is this week.
We don't have anything about a rookie minicamp yet.
I don't understand.
We don't know when the dates are to that, but that is also something that usually takes place before your OTAs actually happens.
Yeah, and so there will be likely something right within the first couple of weeks after the draft.
That's kind of when we usually see not only rookies getting onto the field for the first.
time, but lots of tryout players come in at that time of year as well. And you kind of get a chance
to, you know, see if you can unearth some diamonds in the rough, find some guys that could
potentially contribute to your roster in a way. And I think that's always a fascinating time of
year. And it's just great to have these guys throwing on the helmets, you know, doing all that
sorts of stuff. It's, it's fun to see the players attend. And, you know, it's like your favorite TV
show. You see all your favorite characters together and you want to see the team bonding together.
You want to see the team getting together for lifting.
You want to see, you know, the progress that guys are making physically,
players who were injured last year.
What do they look like?
You know, how are they attacking the offseason program?
That's always fascinating to see guys that I'm really interested in, Cody.
I'm interested to see where Jonah Ellis is at.
I'm really interested to see where Drew Sanders is at.
And a number of other guys offensively, like, what, is Troy Franklin going to be putting on any weight?
You know, I don't know.
I don't know what these guys are going to do, but just always fascinated to see how do guys look at this time of year?
Because this is the time of year when they can go on vacation.
They can go to Nuggets games, all those sorts of things.
How do they look when they report for the first time?
Yeah, and look, I know Sean is very big on players.
Like each player has a weight goal essentially that Sean wants them at, like a range there.
And so guys coming in, you obviously want to come in in shape and you obviously want to be where your weight goals are specifically at there.
I remember seeing an old NFL rulebook out there,
like team issued hand guides,
and this isn't just for the Broncos,
this is for other teams too,
but teams back in the day,
I can't remember which player was it retired.
I think it was JJ Watts shared it.
But basically,
if you show up overweight,
you get charged a certain,
like you're fined a certain monetary amount,
like $5,000 per week until you're not at your like thing.
Like, that's crazy to me that's,
that's in process.
But I know that the Broncos,
obviously,
they're dietitians,
they're nutritionists,
they've got players connected to everything that they need for their own programs.
Obviously, with players now reporting for strength and conditioning, that comes in.
That's part of that package deal there.
They're going to get their meal plans.
They're going to have access to the cafeteria to be exactly where they're at.
But I'm with you.
I'm very curious to see, you know, where a guy like Drew Sanders is at because obviously
to play edge, he had to bulk up a little bit.
Dude was really big.
He was a brick house last year.
So did he have to lose five, 10 pounds in order to be able to play at that linebacker position
where he's going to compete with Justin Sternard,
and obviously Alex Singleton for that starting job next to Drey Greenlaw.
I'm curious to see what weight they're going to have him at.
Troy Franklin,
I imagine they're probably going to keep him around the same exact weight that they had him last year.
Maybe try to bulk up a little bit,
but really I think they envision him to play that speed Z role,
you know,
kind of similar where they're going to have Marvin Mims a little bit.
Obviously, two different sizes when you look at 5-11 versus 6 foot 2.
But I factor in that, you know,
that's probably what's going to happen here for the Bronco.
and yeah, will Jonah Ellis be ready for the team's voluntary offseason program?
I mean, that's a big question.
Obviously, after having the shoulder surgery, after suffering that injury and the Broncos
loss against the Buffalo Bills and the playoffs, you know, where's he at?
Does that change their stat, you know, maybe their potential plans?
But also keep in mind, last year, Sarah, around this time during these workouts,
that's when Drew Sanders suffered that Achilles injury.
So knock on wood, hopefully the Broncos player suffers any kind of freak thing
and that they can get ready to go into OTAs and mini-camp, fully healthy.
ready to rock and roll with a rookie class.
And obviously, their 90-man roster set here.
But Broncos country, you know one thing.
Sarah Bedinger, myself, we're going to keep you updated every single day,
every step of the way leading up to OTAs, leading up to minicamp, training camp.
This is the place to be for fresh objective, Broncos news content coverage and more.
Make sure you make lockdown Broncos part of your routine.
And if you're a brand new viewer and you love to exactly what you got on today's show,
be coming every day or by hitting that subscribe or that follow button here.
But Broncos country with that said, tomorrow's episode of this.
the show as we get close to the NFL draft,
we'll be 24 hours away.
The question is, where are the Broncos going?
There's so many different things that Broncos Country has sent in.
So we're going to answer your mailbag questions on tomorrow's episode of the show.
Broncos Country.
We'll see you then.
