Mile High Report
Optimism and excitement surround the Denver Broncos, but Head Coach Sean Payton knows the team is still a work in progress and have a lot to prove in 2025.
Good morning, Broncos Country.
After a long offseason, the Denver Broncos had their first official day of training camp on Wednesday.
As the Broncos begin the third season under the leadership of Head Coach Sean Payton, the franchise is in the best shape it has been in ages. The foundations of sustained success start in the trenches. In that respect, Denver has it better than most in the National Football League. Every starter and key backup along the offensive and defensive lines are set to come back. That should benefit them greatly this coming season.
And the quarterback position? Clarity. No competition. No drama. Second-years signal caller Bo Nix is their guy. To avoid the dreaded sophomore slump, their skill positions on offense received an infusion of talent via free agency and the 2025 NFL Draft. Additionally, a top-notch secondary was made even better with the additions of Talanoa Hufanga and Jahdae Barron.
On the outside looking in, there are very few major concerns on paper for the Broncos. Health and veterans recovering from injury is probably the primary, but all players with the exception of A.T. Perry were participants yesterday. This year’s Broncos team has a lot going for them. But even with the aforementioned, Payton acknowledged the team is still a work in progress.
“You’re playing on a national stage more and there might be more unique travel, but all that’s what we’re wanting. We’re not a finished product by any means. There are a lot of parallels to that building across the way here. We’re still a work in progress. It’s not the national expectations,” stated Paton.
After the short-lived Nathaniel Hackett experience in the Mile High City, the Broncos found themselves in a major predicament. They needed a proven leader to help right a ship that had been floating on the abyss for years. Upon being traded for and hired as the team’s next head coach, Paton discussed the importance of forging a winning culture and identity—something very few players on the roster over the past decade had ever experienced in the NFL.
In just two years, Paton led the Broncos to the playoffs—an impressive feat with a roster hamstrung due to the salary cap ramifications of the failed Russell Wilson endeavor. Alongside General Manager George Paton, the two have masterfully navigated free agency and the NFL Draft to find contributors that have made an impact for them right away. Both are key reasons why the Broncos enter their ‘25 campaign with a profound sense of optimism, but from Payton’s perspective—this is where he expected they’d be by year three.
“There was a belief a year ago by many of us internally that we had a team that could compete certainly for an opportunity in the division and for an opportunity to get into the playoffs. Those...
