Good morning, Broncos Country!
Sean Payton made the media rounds while at the NFL Combine this past week, checking in with Rich Eisen and Pat McAfee, among others.
And amid the funny stories from past teams, he offered a few insights into his mindset this offseason — primarily that nothing is guaranteed and this Broncos team, as successful as it was in 2025, is starting over.
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“It’s like freaking Chutes & Ladders. The table gets flipped up, dice get put away, you open back up and start at zero,“ Payton told McAfee. “You start the journey again.”
“We are a young team, one of the younger teams in the NFL, and a lot of guys played earlier than expected. And that significant time is going to help.”
– SEAN PAYTON
But this time the Broncos are starting without a huge cap hit, giving Payton and his GM some breathing room as free agency is just around the corner.
And Denver certainly has some gaps to fill.
“We are a young team, one of the younger teams in the NFL, and a lot of guys played earlier than expected,” Payton noted. “And that significant time is going to help.”
Still, that doesn’t mean Payton isn’t looking intently at a few key positions. He pointed out that once you take away your own free agents — which this season includes running back RK Dobbins, and inside linebackers Justin Strnad and Alex Singleton — a roster can look a little thin.
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“I think when you remove your own free agents, often you go, ‘holy cow, we are thin here.’” Payton told McAfee.
Payton categorizes roster holes according to “musts,” “needs,” and “wants.” He likes filling the musts through free agency as much as possible so he can head into the draft free to get the best player available in the first rounds, and aim for players that fit the team’s vision as well as needs in the middle rounds.
With both Strnad and Singleton entering free agency, inside linebacker is definitely a position Payton has his eye on. And George Paton seems poised to try and keep them.
“We see those guys as Broncos,” the GM said in the Combine presser. “If we let those guys leave, what are we doing? Those are good dudes, and that doesn’t mean we can get them. Everyone is watching tape. You look at both. When you are getting your plan for free agency, you look at the draft — ‘Where it’s strong there? OK, maybe it’s strong at receiver.’ It is a balance and you do develop your plan, so it is a good question. With some players, you just want to get back regardless of the strength.”
As the Broncos’ brass spend the next few months locked in on finding new players and piecing together a stronger roster, Payton wants his current players to get away from football as much as they can before getting back to the grind — and starting over.
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“You want a gap. They need that, and we need that,” Payton said, referring to time away from the building, away from training, away from football altogether. Even when guys are back to lifting and working out at the facility, Payton wants conversations to be about their families, how much weight they’re lifting now or vacations. “When they join us again, I don’t want anyone talking about football.”
