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 Announce Initial 53-Man Roster With Several Surprises
The Denver Broncos just made it through the toughest day on the NFL calendar, whittling the 90-man roster down to the final 53 players. Coaches and GMs dread this day, as do the 40-plus players who find themselves on the roster bubble.
With the final roster cuts announced, the Broncos unveiled their initial 53-man roster. It’s worth noting that the Broncos had three undrafted rookies make the final roster out of camp, marking the 20th year in the past 21 that at least one has.
Last year, four undrafted rookies made it. The college free-agent tradition continues to run strong and deep in the Mile High City.
Let’s examine the final roster.
Bo Nix, Jarrett Stidham, and Zach Wilson.
Analysis: True to his word, Broncos head coach Sean Payton kept all three quarterbacks, including Wilson, whose solid preseason display couldn’t be denied.
Javonte Williams, Jaleel McLaughlin, Audric Estime, and Blake Watson.
Analysis: The Broncos moved on from Samaje Perine and waived Tyler Badie, though I’d expect the latter to end up on the practice squad if he goes unclaimed on the waiver wire.
Courtland Sutton, Josh Reynolds, Marvin Mims Jr., Troy Franklin, and Devaughn Vele.
Analysis: This position featured a few painful decisions, including the release of Tim Patrick. The Broncos also cut Lil’Jordan Humphrey and Brandon Johnson, both of whom have been with the team for a while. David Sills V was also waived, but I could see him returning on the practice squad.
Adam Trautman, Greg Dulcich, Lucas Krull, and Nate Adkins.
Analysis: This position shook out exactly as expected, but if I were Adkins, I’d be a little edgy the next day or two as waiver claims around the NFL resolve.
Garett Bolles, Ben Powers, Luke Wattenberg, Quinn Meinerz, Mike McGlinchey, Matt Peart, Alex Palczweski, Alex Forsyth, and Frank Crum.
Analysis: The biggest surprise here is that the Broncos kept the undrafted tackle Crum, who was absolutely atrocious during the preseason. The team obviously sees something here that we don’t, but if O-line coach Zach Strief can reach Crum, his size would make for a formidable tackle, much like McGlinchey.
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Zach Allen, John Franklin-Myers, D.J. Jones, Malcolm Roach, Jordan Jackson, and Eyioma Uwazurike.
Analysis: It was good to see Jackson’s really strong preseason pay off for him. And after missing last year due to a gambling suspension, the 11th-hour return of Uwazurike saw him make the roster, for now.
Alex Singleton, Cody Barton, Justin Strnad, and Levelle Bailey.
Analysis: In one of the bigger surprises of the day, the Broncos waived Jonas Griffith. He was made expendable by the undrafted rookie, Bailey.
Baron Browning, Jonathon Cooper, Nik Bonitto, and Jonah Elliss.
Analysis: This is another position that shook out as expected. The Broncos have some young talent here. As a group, they need to figure out how to translate that potential into production on the field.
Patrick Surtain II, Ja’Quan McMillian, Riley Moss, Levi Wallace, Kris Abrams-Draine, and Tremon Smith.
Analysis: The only big surprise here was that Damarri Mathis, the young veteran, was placed on injured reserve after suffering an ankle injury in Sunday’s preseason finale.
P.J. Locke, Brandon Jones, Devon Key, JL Skinner, and Keidron Smith.
Analysis: Props to Smith for making the cut. He couldn’t be denied after a very strong summer, punctuated by having his fingers on three Broncos takeaways in the preseason, including a pair of interceptions.
Wil Lutz (K), Riley Dixon (P), and Mitchell Fraboni (LS).
Analysis: Dixon emerged victorious in the punter competition, vanquishing Trenton Gill.
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Every team in the NFL has injuries every season. It is part of the game and to be expected.
In having a dominant regular season that secured the #1 seed in the playoffs, the Broncos have allowed themselves to get healthy by and large at the right time.
The one glaring link missing is going to be Brandon Jones, who is going to be missed on defense. He’s a versatile, physical safety who has played exceptionally well in the Broncos’ defense.
But getting back inside linebacker Dre Greenlaw is a big deal. He’s an enforcer over the middle and is capable of covering backs and tight ends in the passing game (which is what the Bills love to target).
With Brandon Jones out, the news of P.J. Locke returning is welcome news. The Broncos are thin at safety, and he’s been the #1 backup for the safety group all season long. Hopefully, he’s learned from last year’s playoff game and won’t let Josh Allen pick on him as he did in last year’s playoff game.
Another key player getting healthy is Jonathan Franklin-Myers, who is an absolute beast of an interior lineman and a pass-rushing nightmare. With the style of pass rush that the Broncos employ on mobile quarterbacks, Franklin-Myers and compatriot Jared Allen could have big games up front.
At the end of the day, the Broncos have no excuses for this game. They are healthy, prepared, and playing at home. Now they just need to go out there and execute on Saturday.
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.
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