Everything the Denver Broncos have worked for is now in front of them. They have conquered the regular season and have the best possible position heading into the NFL postseason.
Denver, CO
Broncos Urged to Trade for Falcons 2nd-Round Safety
With the Denver Broncos roster being whittled down to 53 players as the regular season quickly approaches, this is still a roster with as many questions as answers. One area on the depth chart with a lot of uncertainty is the safety position.
After years of stability with Kareem Jackson and Justin Simmons as the starters, Denver now has a handful of relative unknowns set to protect the back end of the defense. Across the league, the safety position appears to have been greatly devalued, as evidenced by how long it took Simmons to sign with a new team, and for how little money-wise.
Outside of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers retaining Antoine Winfield Jr., there were more expensive safeties cut this offseason than signing new big contracts. The Broncos did “reload” at safety after moving on from Simmons by signing 26-year-old Brandon Jones to a three-year, $20 million contract. Still, overall Denver went young and inexperienced at the safety position.
Unfortunately, Jones missed almost the entirety of training camp and preseason with a hamstring issue. He did go through pre-game in the preseason finale, and we heard that he “feels great,” but after Jones, the assortment of P.J. Locke, JL Skinner, Devon Key, and Keidron Smith are more or less unproven.
Given the devaluation of the safety market and the Broncos’ obvious questions at the safety position, perhaps the front office might work the phones to look for an additional option. At least, that’s what Bleacher Report‘s Alex Kay thinks, as he urged the Broncos to pursue a trade with the Atlanta Falcons for starting safety and former second-round pick Richie Grant.
“The Broncos could make a run at Richie Grant to shore this weak point up. Grant, a second-round pick in 2021, has spent the last two seasons starting for the Atlanta Falcons but may soon be relegated to the bench following the emergence of DeMarcco Hellams. With Jessie Bates III also locked in as a surefire top safety for the Falcons, Grant could be expendable.
“Given Grant’s cheap, expiring contract—he’s only owed a shade over $3 million in base salary on the final year of his rookie deal—and age (26), this move works as both a budget one-year rental and potential tryout for a new deal this coming spring,” Kay wrote.
What happens next on the Broncos beat? Don’t miss out on any news and analysis! Take a second, sign up for our free newsletter, and get breaking Broncos news delivered to your inbox daily!
The Broncos are obviously a team in transition with financial constraints following the Russell Wilson release, but Kay argues the Broncos “should be on the lookout for serviceable talent at a cheap cost who can help this rebuilding squad contend again.” Specifically, the secondary, outside of superstar cornerback Patrick Surtain II, could use further fortification for the 2024 season.
Denver could address the cornerback opposite Surtain, especially now that Damarri Mathis is set to miss some time. However, cornerback is a more expensive position with fewer options. Riley Moss is auditioning now for a long-term spot, but Kay believes that “the most concerning is at the safety spot, where Brandon Jones and P.J. Locke are projected to start and little of note in terms of depth behind them.”
Would the Broncos look to make a move at safety? For the cost projected from Kay, acquiring Grant for a 2025 sixth-round selection, there is little risk in adding someone with so much starting experience to the back end of the defense, given the uncertainty of the position. There is also something poetic about Denver adding Grant, who lost his starting spot in Atlanta due to the Falcons signing Simmons.
Grant has been hit or miss during his time in Atlanta but has accumulated 2,338 defensive snaps during his three years in the league. Grant would likely compete with Locke for the starting spot opposite Jones. Grant would also provide insurance should Jones’ hamstring injury do what many hamstring injuries tend to do and linger.
The Broncos could be on the lookout for a number of positions to add to the roster before Week 1’s bout in Seattle. Linebacker, tight end, offensive line depth, and safety seem the most likely spots Denver may peruse outside of its initial roster. If Grant were available for such a cheap cost and the Broncos’ brass assessed the contract as acceptable, the trade would make some semblance of sense.
Follow Mile High Huddle on X and Facebook and subscribe on YouTube for daily Broncos live-stream podcasts!
Denver, CO
‘I can only imagine what it’s going to be like’: Broncos eager to play in front of home crowd as postseason football returns to Mile High City
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — By the time Bills quarterback Josh Allen steps to the line of scrimmage, that’s already too late.
The noise — the deafening roar of more than 76,000 fans at Empower Field at Mile High — must start earlier.
The yells, the stomps, the claps and the screams, as Head Coach Sean Payton emphasized Tuesday ahead of the Broncos’ first home playoff game in a decade, must start when Allen and the Buffalo Bills enter the huddle.
In the leadup to Denver’s playoff opener, Payton has touched on the importance of the noise coming earlier. He’s pointed to the difficulty of the quarterback communicating the play call in the huddle — and how the communication breakdowns could provide an advantage for Denver’s defense.
“There’s a stress that goes with that, too,” Payton said in mid-December. “That’s stressful. Creating that stress is a big advantage.”
Payton pointed to Empower Field at Mile High as one of just a handful of stadiums in the league with a potential to be truly deafening, and he called for that level of noise again when Denver hosts the Bills. The request, too, is simple enough. In 10-second bursts, when the Bills are in the huddle and as they line up to snap the ball, the noise should boom through the stadium. And then again. And then again. And again, for each of the Bills’ offensive snaps.
As Denver looks to book a trip to the AFC Championship Game, Payton knows that would be “a huge advantage” for the Broncos.
Wide receiver Courtland Sutton, who is poised to play in his first career home playoff game, said he is eager to see how Broncos Country shows up for a long-awaited postseason matchup.
“I’ve been saying since I got here that we needed to get a home playoff game back in the city,” Sutton said. “The way that the fans have been showing up, Broncos Country has been bumping.
“… I can only imagine what it’s going to be like, first [postseason] home game since 2015. It’s well overdue, and I’m excited to see Broncos Country show up and show out.”
Cornerback Pat Surtain II said he’s also ready for a raucous environment that could help push the Broncos to a win.
“I know the atmosphere is going to be crazy,” Surtain said. “The stadium is going to be rocking at [Empower Field at] Mile High, and I’m looking forward to it. … I can already feel the magnitude of it and how electric that stadium is going to be. It’s going to be exciting.”
Playing a postseason game at home, of course, is not enough on its own to guarantee a win. During Wild Card Weekend, four of the six road teams earned victories.
“We have to be ready to play our best game,” Payton said.
In key moments, though, the Empower Field at Mile High crowd could help swing the game in Denver’s favor, whether via a miscommunication in the huddle or a pre-snap penalty. And in a battle that could come down to the very end, that could help the Broncos improve upon their 17-5 home postseason record.
“I expect it to be extremely loud,” quarterback Bo Nix said. “I expect it to be a great environment.
“… Something tells me it’ll be kicked up a notch, just because it’s got ‘playoffs’ on it.”
Now that we’ve got some separation from the regular season and a week without Broncos football being played, I’m ruminating on what the Broncos are going to do on the field in the playoffs.
One of the big things I love about cheering for this team today is just how dynamic and cunning the coaching staff is on both sides of the ball. Sean Payton is the real deal, both as a head coach first and foremost and as an offensive coordinator. He’s constantly shifting the team’s game plan to match opponents, keep them off balance, and take advantage of weaknesses that show up on film.
As a guy who loves to play armchair coach during the season a bit, I’m going to share some ideas I have that seem like somewhat obvious tweaks to this offense we are likely to see in the postseason.
Go with the hot hand at running back
One issue I see on offense is the disparity at times in who is getting carries at running back when you look at the production on the field. Most of the last few games have seen Jaleel McLaughlin produce more consistently than RJ Harvey in raw run play production. I think one obvious thing we may see Sean Payton do is to let McLaughlin have more carries if he stays hot.
That’s not to say that I’m down on Harvey. I just think when a guy is producing, you should adjust to give that guy more carries at the running back position. RJ Harvey is a talented back who produces both on the ground and through the air (especially in the red zone).
The only aside I can see about this idea is that it is possible that McLaughlin and Harvey aren’t interchangeable from a play-call perspective. It is possible
Punish man / off coverage looks with quarterback scrambles
Bo Nix is a scrambling weapon with the ball. In the playoffs, if the defense wants to sink coverage or play man Nix will need to be quicker to take the ground yards. For much of the regular season, we’ve seen Nix stay very disciplined with wanting to throw the ball down the field on scrambles. There’s a fine line to walk with this, as sometimes you need to just punish defenses for ignoring your athletic capability.
Nix ran 83 times in 2025 and averaged 4.3 yards per carry. He easily could have had 100 carries with a more aggressive approach. Keeping Nix healthy means it is a much better idea for him not to take the risk in the regular season. He’s pretty good at taking angles out of bounds or sliding and knowing when to do that to avoid big hits, though.
The Broncos’ offense doesn’t really scare anyone, but adding this wrinkle in the postseason should help open things up quite a bit.
Get Mims and Franklin some deep shots
Easily the most frustrating thing about the Broncos’ offense this season has been their inability to connect on their deep shots. Nix hasn’t dialed in his accuracy deep down the field yet, which is a shame. The Broncos end up in a lot of man coverage situations and rarely are able to capitalize.
In the postseason, it is time to change that. We have both Marvin Mims and Troy Franklin, who are superb deep pass targets with killer speed. If the Broncos can get their run game production geared up, they absolutely will have opportunities to hit these deep plays.
Bonus No Bull thoughts on Sean Payton
Don’t get lulled to sleep by the last few games of the season. Everyone who knows football sees the same thing I have in my game reviews: Payton kept things vanilla on purpose.
It is a hard thing to watch a team go run, run, pass ad nauseum (am I right, Broncos fans who “enjoyed” the Dan Reeves era with John Elway?). That was strategic, not senile.
Sean Payton is one of the brightest offensive minds in the game (with all due respect to Kyle Shanahan, Andy Reid, and Sean McVay). He knows exactly where this team is at and what is at stake in the postseason. The Bills are going to have to go back to some old tape to try to sort out what our offense is about.
No matter what they prepare for, I expect a good dose of plays that they won’t know are coming. The world at large may think that the Bills are Goliath. That’s just fine. Payton knows exactly how dangerous a team can be when everyone thinks your team is a bunch of young Davids.
More than 400 consumers have filed complaints with the Division of Oil and Public Safety after a contaminated fuel mix was distributed to several gas stations across the Denver metro area last week.
Consumers quickly turned to social media and OPS for answers after learning that diesel fuel was mixed with regular unleaded gasoline and distributed to gas stations operated by Costco, Murphy Express and King Soopers. At least 13 King Soopers gas stations were affected.
State officials said the contaminated fuel originated from the HF Sinclair terminal in Henderson, and was then sent out to “numerous” gas stations. The fuel was distributed to the gas stations between 2 p.m. Wednesday and 6 a.m. Thursday.
“OPS continues to log and process these complaints,” the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment wrote in an email to The Post on Monday evening.
“Inspections and fuel sample testing remain ongoing with a focus on smaller locations that may not have as robust of a claims filing process. All retailers are being encouraged to honor customer claims.”
OPS said it has also requested that Sinclair produce a list of retailers that received the contaminated fuel from the HF Sinclair terminal in Henderson.
Sinclair has not yet produced such a list, but OPS said it is hopeful Sinclair will release a list in the coming days.
Consumers who have been impacted are encouraged to contact their point of sale to start a reimbursement process. Individual gas stations will work with each customer through their specific claims process.
Those affected are encouraged to keep all receipts and repair records.
To file a complaint, call 303-866-4967 or fill out a consumer complaint form and email it to cdle_oil_inspection@state.co.us.
King Soopers customers who believe they received the contaminated fuel should contact their local store for assistance.
“OPS continues to investigate the cause of the incident and is considering appropriate enforcement mechanisms available in current OPS rules and regulations,” CDLE further said in its statement.
“OPS remains committed to protecting consumers and is exploring all options to ensure Sinclair also upholds its commitment to help affected customers.”
This is a developing story and may be updated.
Sign up to get crime news sent straight to your inbox each day.
Washington32 seconds ago
Vance to meet Danish and Greenlandic officials in Washington on Wednesday
Wisconsin7 minutes ago
How John Blackwell’s game-winner happened, other takeaways from Wisconsin’s win
West Virginia13 minutes ago
Milos Uzan’s 17 points leads No. 7 Houston in 77-48 win over West Virginia
Wyoming19 minutes ago
Wyoming to Host First-Place San Diego State – SweetwaterNOW
Crypto24 minutes ago
Strategist Warns Crypto Oversupply Could Force $10K Bitcoin Reset
Florida1 year ago
Florida High School Football Rankings: Top 25 teams – Oct. 21
Connecticut2 years ago
Cleary's 21 help Le Moyne down Central Connecticut State 69-64 in OT
Oregon2 years ago
How old is Bo Nix? What to know about Oregon quarterback ahead of 2024 NFL Draft
Virginia1 year ago
99th annual Pony Swim held in Virginia
Education2 years ago
Video: ‘It Didn’t Have to Happen This Way:’ U.Va. Faculty Call for Review of Police Response to Protests
News1 hour ago
Video: Clashes With Federal Agents in Minneapolis Escalate
Politics2 hours ago
Venezuela releases multiple American citizens from prison following military operation
World3 hours ago
The Take: Iran, Trump, and the deadliest crackdown on protests yet
News4 hours ago
Lindsey Halligan argues she should still be U.S. attorney, accuses judge of abuse of power
Politics14 hours ago
Playing catchup to Republicans, Democrats launch ‘largest-ever’ partisan national voter registration campaign
-
Montana3 days agoService door of Crans-Montana bar where 40 died in fire was locked from inside, owner says
-
Technology1 week agoPower bank feature creep is out of control
-
Delaware5 days agoMERR responds to dead humpback whale washed up near Bethany Beach
-
Dallas, TX5 days agoAnti-ICE protest outside Dallas City Hall follows deadly shooting in Minneapolis
-
Dallas, TX1 week agoDefensive coordinator candidates who could improve Cowboys’ brutal secondary in 2026
-
Virginia4 days agoVirginia Tech gains commitment from ACC transfer QB
-
Iowa1 week agoPat McAfee praises Audi Crooks, plays hype song for Iowa State star
-
Education1 week agoVideo: This Organizer Reclaims Counter Space