ENGLEWOOD, Colo — The newly rebuilt 2024 Broncos will practice in full for the first time Tuesday, the first day of OTAs.
Organized Team Activities. OTAs. Otherwise known as offseason practices.
The Broncos’ offseason began by swallowing a bitter pill. But once the bill from their Russell Wilson-induced, $53 million dead-cap charge was paid, excitement on how to rebuild anew became moot.
Roster repairs were made frugally. After leading the NFL in free-agent spending in 2023, the Broncos stuck to a budget this time, which amounted to buying several backup players whom the football people projected as starters.
The expensive likes of Justin Simmons, Lloyd Cushenberry II, Josey Jewell, Jerry Jeudy and, oh yes, Russell Wilson were set free. They were replaced by the more affordable Brandon Jones, Sam Mustipher, Cody Barton, Josh Reynolds and Zack Wilson and/or Bo Nix.
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The draft brought a first-round pick and the Broncos used it on a quarterback, Nix, who if he works out will be four years away from cashing in on those $35 million-plus contracts. The best time to gradually build a Super Bowl-caliber roster is while the quarterback is on a rookie contract. The Broncos have a four-year window to get it done. Which not-so-coincidentally is how much head coach Sean Payton has left on his contract.
For starters, this year is a roster reset, which, looking back, probably should have been done four, five, maybe even seven years ago since that’s the length of the Broncos’ losing-record streak.
There will be 10 OTA practices over the next three weeks. Offense versus defense, 11 on 11. Then a three-day mandatory minicamp June 11-13. Here are nine issues confronting the Broncos as they are about to embark on their four-week offseason practice schedule:
1. Bo, Zach or Jarrett?
First-round rookie Bo Nix has now practiced a week with the veterans, even if it was offense on offense.
Now he gets to practice against a live defense – full speed, if without pads or taking hits from the pass rush.
Based on the one rookie camp practice open for media viewing last Saturday, Nix seems to be a steady enough operator to believe he will acclimate to the increased NFL speed quicker than most.
Zach Wilson begins serious work on his quarterback rehab following three disappointing seasons with the New York Jets.
Jarrett Stidham is in a rare position where he may be the No. 1 QB at the moment, but is trailing the race for season-opening starter. Stidham’s 2024 payout — $6 million with only $1 million guaranteed — is such that he will have to beat out Wilson by a good margin to stick as the top option to Nix.
2. Has Javonte regained form?
The Broncos’ top running back went from 4.4 yards per carry in his impressive rookie season of 2021 to a 3.6 average last year. In between he suffered a torn ACL.
After spending so much time rehabbing last offseason, his legs seemed to go dead in the final four games of last season when on a combined 47 rushing attempts he gained 124 yards — 2.64 yards per carry.
That type of late-season performance had the Broncos’ brass not giving up on Williams but making sure there were lead-back alternatives. They added fifth-round rookie Audric Estime and undrafted rookie Blake Watson. Running back is perhaps the NFL’s only position where youth carries greater value than experience.
Samaje Perrine is back for his eighth NFL season, second in a third-down role for the Broncos while second-year sprinter Jaleel McLaughlin will bring the occasional packages of speed plays.
3. How much is Courtland Sutton missing with his unofficial holdout?
While Sutton’s ever ripped frame and ability to run route after route in altitude is evidence of his annual offseason conditioning in Florida, the team would prefer he was working out under Beau Lowery’s supervision. And the team would also like their No. 1 receiver working on his timing with the rookie passer Nix. And Wilson and Stidham, also, for that matter.
Sutton has two years left on his contract at roughly $13.5 million per but he feels he’s outperformed the market. The Broncos are not budging, not with other key players like Garett Bolles and Quinn Meinerz having just one year left on their contracts. And has it been mentioned that the team’s 2024 payroll began $53 million in a salary cap hole, $38 million in cash debt because of the Russell Wilson dilemma?
The team can’t punitively dock Sutton for missing OTAs because such activities are defined as voluntary under the collective bargaining agreement. Skipping the three-day mandatory minicamp, June 11-13, however, would be a finable offense if Sutton continues to stay away.
4. Is third season a charm for Greg Dulcich?
Broncos Country has experienced Greg Dulcich Update Fatigue. Two years in a row there seemed to be weekly filings on how the talented tight end was coming along from his persistent hamstring injury.
Dulcich was the star of Payton’s first offseason in 2023 and what did it mean in the end? Thirty-two snaps and three catches.
Like Williams at running back, the Broncos had one foot in and one foot out on Dulcich this offseason. They had a tight end or two in mind from free agency but the market got too rich. They had a tight end or two they liked in the draft, but you can’t draft them all.
The Broncos did re-sign three-down tight end Adam Trautman to a two-year contract that pays him $4.5 million this year. But that down-the-seam weapon the Broncos need to keep up with the Travis Kelces, Brock Bowers and Hayden Hursts within the AFC West is up to whether Dulcich can stay healthy.
5. What’s the defensive line look like?
This became the second priority position of the Broncos’ offseason. After quarterback, of course. Malcolm Roach, a Payton draft pick in New Orleans four years ago, was the second free agent signed. He’s looking at a backup role now after the Broncos made a second significant acquisition up front by trading for the New York Jets’ defensive end Kris Myers-Franklin.
The Broncos’ front three now has Zach Allen ($15. 25 million), D.J. Jones ($10 million) and Myers-Franklin ($7 million). Roach ($4.25 million) is a backup who will compete with Jones for the nose tackle position. The team also added 10-year NFL veteran Angelo Blackson and don’t forget about Elijah Garcia, a developmental player who will be well-enough developed to contribute inside pass rush in his third season, and Matt Henningsen, a third-year grinder.
6. Who replaces Josey Jewell at the inside linebacker spot next to Alex Singleton?
Cody Barton, a six-year veteran, will get the first chance. He was Bobby Wagner’s backup for three years in Seattle, then became a starter two years ago for the Seahawks and last season for Washington.
He received a one-year, $2.5 million contract as a free agent from the Broncos, almost all of it guaranteed. So while Barton is making low-end starter money, it won’t prevent someone like Jonas Griffith or undrafted rookie Levelle Bailey from pulling off a preseason surprise.
Whoever it is, he will have a terrific partner in Singleton, a smiling, tackling machine whose exuberance says no one loves playing the game of football more. Singleton has made — get this — 340 tackles in his two seasons with the Broncos. And that’s while coming off the bench for six games in his first year with the team in 2023.
7. Who will be the boundary cornerback opposite Patrick Surtain II?
The Broncos aren’t lacking for candidates. In the draft the past three years, they took Riley Moss in the third round, Damarri Mathis in the fourth and Kris Abrams-Draine in the fifth.
New Broncos secondary coach Jim Leonhard also has veteran Levi Wallace, a six-year starter for Buffalo and Pittsburgh. Wallace only has a one-year, $1.29 million deal which would indicate he would be this year’s Fabian Moreau if one of the kids doesn't step up.
The vision for Abrams-Draine, by the way, is on the outside, not the slot as so many draft analysts and scouts considered.
The Broncos have a potentially terrific slot defensive back in Ja’Quan McMillian and Surtain is among the league’s best at the primary boundary corner position.
8. Is Marvin Mims Jr. ready to step up as a No. 2-type receiver?
Not only does last year’s second-year draft pick have the speed to get open deep, he has the type of hand-eye coordination to track and snag the long ball.
Mims is also one of the league’s best kickoff and punt returners which can limit him some at receiver. Whether he’s ready to replace Jeudy as the Broncos’ No. 2 receiver, or stay at No. 3 with Reynolds moving in will depend on how far Mims comes along in year two.
9. Will it be Riley Dixon or Trenton Gill?
Dixon is considered one of the league’s most athletic punters and he’s also one of the best holders. And while he has the talent to be a Pro Bowl punter, he was inconsistent last season.
He’s making an affordable $1.735 million this year, although none of it is guaranteed.
By signing Gill last week to a two-year contract that will pay him around $985,000 this season, the Broncos brought in legitimate competition. Gill was a 7th-round draft pick two years ago by the Chicago Bears and punted two seasons for them. The swirling elements of Soldier Field can be difficult on punters and even though Gill was just replaced by fourth-round rookie Tory Taylor, Broncos special teams coordinator Ben Kotwica and top advisor Mike Westhoff obviously saw enough talent to work with
And while saving $750,000 may seem like nickels compared to, say, eating $38 million on a deposed quarterback, so it goes with punters.
Two years ago, the Broncos cut the veteran Sam Martin for the less costly Corliss Waitman.
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