ENGLEWOOD, Colo — Greg and Carrie Penner are the type of bosses who get input from as many people as possible before making a decision – particularly a major decision.
Whether to renovate the Broncos’ training center complex or build a new one constituted a major decision. Because the end result would be a football building, it only made sense for the Penners to seek input from the two leaders of the Broncos’ football operations: head coach Sean Payton and general manager George Paton.
Particularly, Payton, who in his previous head coach role with the New Orleans Saints was in on similar meetings following Hurricane Katrina with owner Tom Benson and general manager Mickey Loomis. Payton lent his advice on the locker room layout and player pathways, among other football-oriented setups.
Now Payton will have new football headquarters, on the same Dove Valley plot of land, for the start of the 2026 season.
“It’s pretty impressive,’’ Payton said in an interview this week with 9NEWS for the Broncos Huddle. “I was fortunate enough to come at the time where I sat in on some of the early meetings. This current facility, they’ve done a great job keeping it up."
“I went through all this in New Orleans," Payton said. "Ownership had to make a decision to remodel or build a new one. And in New Orleans, they remodeled, and I was there for all that.
“And then when I got here, Greg, Carrie asked me take a look, and we had a lot of discussions. The roster size has been expanded. And so that has challenged some of the locker rooms. So there’s some space relative to what can expand.’’
Indeed, the current Broncos’ headquarters site has been around since 1990. It’s been remodeled and expanded several times since then, but the space constrictions in particular made it difficult for the players’ locker room to keep up with the increased rosters.
The first practice squad in 1993 consisted of five players. It expanded to eight practice squad players in 2004, 10 in 2014 and 16 for the COVID season of 2020.
Plus, injured reserve rules have changed so that more injured players are around. It used to be IR meant a player was finished for the season. Then in 2012, one player on IR was allowed to be activated after Week 8. Then in 2017, it was two players who could return after Week 6. In 2020, it was expanded to three players, and now players can return after four weeks.
Plus, the Broncos moved training camp from Greeley to its current site in 2003, which meant housing a 90-man offseason roster during OTAs and minicamps. And so the decision was made to build an entirely new state-of-the-art facility.
“To credit Greg and Carrie, they’re both really good visionaries and looked at it from a long-term perspective,’’ Payton said. “And so right behind us [on the practice field] is where it will be, and the nice thing about that is when the time comes to move, we can grab a couple boxes and walk across the field. Maybe it’s two trips. And so it will be convenient and something the players and the community and everyone that’s part of the Broncos will appreciate.”
Two other topics Payton addressed in his 9NEWS interview: The transition from star Von Miller and the still uncertain state of the team.
*A prominent baseball manager once said one of the more difficult tasks is winding down a superstar," Payton said. "In the NFL, a head coach or general manager often confront the transition from veteran stars to younger players."
It was sad for much of the Broncos’ fan base when Denver Broncos moved on from Miller midway through 2021 and Bradley Chubb midway through 2022, but look at pass rush now with Nik Bonitto (5.5 sacks), Jonathon Cooper (4.5) and Baron Browning (2.0 in two games). With Miller having no sacks through five games this year – Chubb is on fire with 5.0 sacks in his last four games for Miami – there’s little doubt the Broncos edge-rush transition has been successful.
“I can’t take any of that credit because that was all done [before I got here],’’ Payton said. “This is a unique league, much different than when I first got into the league relative to [personnel] decisions. I think the one thing that makes it special for all fans is the hard cap.
“What I mean by that is everyone has the same budget," he said. "When you get into these sports where there’s a soft cap or there’s no cap, then that’s not a square deal, really. In baseball that’s a challenge. That [hard] cap is like a family budget. Do ou want cable TV or do you want to eat out on Friday? You have to make decisions like that that are difficult sometimes.’’
As for the Broncos heading into Buffalo for a Monday night game, their two-game win streak has them in position to get into position, but because of their 1-5 start, they’re not in playoff position, yet.
Payton put it another way.
“I’m pleased that we’re seeing improvement, and yet there are a lot of things that need work,’’ Payton said. “This is an entirely different opponent than our last opponent at home here against Kansas City. These guys [the Bills] are coming off a tough loss. They’ve had a lot of success between Sean [McDermott, the head coach] and the Q, Josh [Allen].
“So we’ve got to be ready to go out on the road," he said. "It’s a tough place to play, especially in November and December. So a different type game. But this league is too difficult. You’re always working to improve. There’s none of this ‘We’re just here.’ You’re either getting better or you not. And if you’re not, you’re getting worse.”
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