When Sean Payton led a Broncos contingent to Oregon in the middle of March, so much of the franchise’s offseason remained unsettled.
A few days into free agency, most of Denver’s biggest moves had been outbound.
Russell Wilson released. Justin Simmons, too. Jerry Jeudy traded. Josey Jewell clearly headed elsewhere.
The Broncos had made some additions, too, but more modest in nature. And nothing at quarterback.
On the back side of the NFL combine, the Broncos were headlong into evaluating the draft’s quarterback class but were just starting to really get to know the candidates.
In fact, the trip to Eugene and the University of Oregon to work out Bo Nix was Denver’s first private quarterback meeting of the spring.
By the time Payton and company left town, Denver’s critical quarterback decision and the offseason more broadly began to take shape. The course started to chart forward. A direction developed.
“That was kind of the start,” general manager George Paton said Thursday night after the Broncos had made Nix the No. 12 pick overall in the draft. “And then you get through more tape, and more tape and he was just an ideal fit for what we want here.”
Not only did Payton come away thoroughly impressed and with an inkling that perhaps they’d found their guy, but Denver also liked receiver Troy Franklin.
Around the same time, trade talks with the New York Jets started regarding quarterback Zach Wilson. Soon after, the teams added defensive lineman John Franklin-Myers to the conversations, too.
Now the draft is in the rearview mirror and all four of those players are Broncos. The 2024 roster is most likely not in complete, training-camp-ready form, but it is much closer as the calendar turns to May.
“You slowly build your roster in the offseason,” Payton said after a week in which Denver acquired two players via trade and drafted seven more. “You get them here in the offseason program and, each time we talk about a player we talk about a vision.”
This was always going to be an offseason of transition. Away from Russell Wilson. Toward the future. Further into Payton’s image. If it all goes to plan for Payton and Paton, these past six weeks will serve as a key chapter in the story.
At the conclusion of his first season in charge, Payton couldn’t even bring himself to say the foundation of his tenure had been put in place.
“We’re still putting the frickin’ pilings in based on what I saw,” he said in January.
The past three days, like the offseason so far, have proceeded in that manner. More layout and framing and wiring than final touches and decor. The past three days, like the offseason so far, have featured measured approach spiced by a dash of opportunism.
Take, for example, the trade up for Franklin. Denver thought he may get drafted in the second round, but at the end of Friday night he remained available. Payton and Paton knew they had flexibility with six picks when they left the building around midnight.
“Sean likes to sleep in a little bit, so I knew when I got a text at 6 a.m. saying ‘I really want this player,’ I said, well, we’ve got to figure this one out,” Paton said. “It was universal. There was consensus.”
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Otherwise, the Broncos made their picks. They ignored any temptation to part with future draft capital to make a big splash. They improved in the present while trying to keep an eye toward the future.
“I think we had a good three days,” Paton said. “We improved our football team. Seven draft picks and we made the trade. I thought our process was outstanding.”
They’ve added one piece that will be of foundational importance to the future in Nix. They’ve added a handful that could be that, too, in Franklin and edge Jonah Elliss this weekend and safety Brandon Jones early in free agency. They’ve added some stop-gaps and they’ve got a big group of players who will be asked to prove they belong in the in the long-term picture.
This draft class is essentially Nix and then the rest. That’s just the nature of drafting a quarterback in the first round. After him, the other six arrive in Denver with players they clearly put on notice.
Courtland Sutton, who is not taking part in voluntary workouts, now is joined by Franklin, a 6-foot-3 rookie who ran 4.4 seconds in the 40-yard dash and caught 81 passes from the new quarterback in 2023 alone.
“We see him as an outside ‘Z,’ really good speed and he’s a guy that we were really impressed with at the line of scrimmage,” said Payton. “He’s a really unique player with a high grade.”
Javonte Williams and Samaje Perine are each entering the final years of their contracts and now look up and see Audric Estime, the young, productive and powerful running back from Notre Dame in their position group.
Utah defensive end Jonah Elliss (83) celebrates a fumble recovery against Arizona during the first half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Nov. 5, 2022, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
The Broncos think highly of Jonathon Cooper and Baron Browning, but they, too, are entering the final years of their rookie contracts and Elliss has a similar combination of less-than-ideal size but a motor he described as “elite.”
This is what a rebuild looks like in a league where parity is so strong that no team should ever be too far from contention.
Denver will burn off at least $67 million in dead cap hits in 2024. They’ll attempt to build around a young quarterback. They’ll trek further the process of determining who will be around when the team gets back to regular postseason contention.
They’ll get the truest look yet at what the Sean Payton Broncos look like. It will not be a finished product, but after selecting Nix and adding this draft class, Year 2 shapes up to equal parts foundational and critical to the rest of the building project.
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