Broncos Clips
The Broncos have three quarterbacks on the roster. Starter Bo Nix’s status is currently undetermined given the recent second procedure on the broken ankle he suffered late in a playoff win over the Bills.
So could the Broncos add another quarterback for the offseason program? Coach Sean Payton was asked that question during a Saturday press conference.
“That’s a great question,” Payton said. “We’ll discuss that. It means look, we have 90 [roster spots], so it is possible you can bring someone back in on a trial basis for the minicamp. Yet generally with those practices, two [quarterbacks] is not a problem. It would be more of an issue if you felt a player was going to be a PUP in training camp, and that’s not going to be the case.
“I’m not saying we couldn’t sign an additional quarterback. We’ve discussed it, but really more in terms of, ‘Do we see something in these two guys?’ This [E.J.] Warner reminds me a lot of Chase Daniel. If you see his height, weight, size, speed, they’re very similar. He’s done a nice job. He’s done a very nice job and especially considering he’s coming off a weekend with different terminology, and he’s kind of yawned at it. It’s been real quick for him.”
E.J. Warner is the son of Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner. Payton addressed the similarities, or lack thereof, between the son and the father.
“He’s entirely different,” Payton said of E.J. “He’s just really stood out with getting in and out of the huddle. He has a quick release and a good stroke. [He’s a] different type [of] player even. He’s probably more celebrated coming out of Fresno [State] than his dad was coming out of Northern Iowa.
“It’s funny in today’s college game, those players that came from Jackson State or Southern Illinois or those smaller schools end up playing at Auburn and Purdue. You don’t see those . . . . Occasionally [you do]. The true I-AA or smaller school players end up [in I-A]. We were having this discussion about HBCU schools. Walter Payton, does he finish at Jackson State or does he finish at Alabama. And Jerry Rice. It doesn’t have to be an HBCU school, it can be Eastern Illinois when I was back there on a campus visit and I asked them, ‘How are you guys handling that?’ Those schools are then looking at the other schools who are smaller than them to supplement their team. It’s a lot different than it used to be. When you look at however many draft picks there were and you looked at [Division I], that ratio is much higher now. They are filtering up.”
That’s a great point. And it’s a byproduct of the NIL era. Between the availability of money and the ease of transferring, players who stand out at a small school will be gobbled up by a bigger school. Like E.J. Warner, who went from Temple to Rice to Fresno State.
And there’s a chance, after his tryout at Denver’s minicamp, E.J. Warner could get a spot on the offseason roster.
It’s critical for an NFL coach and an NFL General Manager to be on the same page, at all times. And it’s ideal for the coach and G.M. to work together, and remain together, as long as possible.
Sean Payton had that in New Orleans, where he partnered with G.M. Mickey Loomis for Payton’s entire 16-year tenure with the team. Payton has it now in Denver, with G.M. George Paton.
In the wake of Paton signing a new contract that runs through 2030 (his prior deal was due to expire after 2026), Payton was asked at a rookie minicamp press conference about the Payton-Paton partnership.
“I said this to [Paton] the other day, and look — in our league, it’s almost half the battle,” Payton said. “I said to him, I said, ‘Man, I consider myself very fortunate to have been with one General Manager in New Orleans who I would call a very close friend and a great working partner,’ and then to find another person like George.
“I know that we both feel the same way. We love the grind together. He’s a tremendous asset and all, and he’s very good at what he does. I think we complement each other. I am super excited for him. I said that to you guys at the Combine, it was just a matter of time. We think alike in a lot of cases.”
Paton, who got the job both before Payton was hired and before current ownership bought the team, has thrived due to his ability both to do the basic requirements of the job and to navigate working with the other key members of a pro football operation.
It’s about finding the right way to work toward the same goal and, most importantly, it’s about figuring out how to weather the periodic and inevitable storms in a way that strengthens the relationships. Those who can set aside their personal interests for the greater good tend to figure it out.
Paton has done that. Payton has done that. It’s no surprise that the Broncos have become a short-list championship contender, or that the franchise has had a record rate of season-ticket renewals. After a long stretch of struggling since turning the final year of the Peyton Manning era into a Super Bowl win, the new Pa(y)tons have turned the Broncos into a team that could win another one.
Or maybe two.
Broncos head coach Sean Payton gave a positive update on quarterback Bo Nix’s right ankle during a press conference from the team’s rookie minicamp on Saturday.
Nix had a second procedure on the ankle he broke in January’s playoff win in late April that Payton said “was not a surprise” to the player or team. He said the team feels “real good” about where Nix is and expressed confidence that Nix will get some work in before the team’s offseason program comes to an end.
“There’s a good chance we see him in this offseason program in June,” Payton said. “We’re going to be the ones kind of holding back, if you will.”
If Nix is not able to make it on the field next month, Payton said he will be “clearly full speed” in time for training camp this summer.
Broncos General Manager George Paton has been on the job for five seasons. He has agreed to stick around for five more.
The Broncos have announced that Paton has signed a contract that runs through 2030.
“We are pleased to announce a new five-year contract for George Paton that reflects our confidence in his leadership, vision and the overall direction of our team,” CEO Greg Penner said in a team-issued release. “As our General Manager, George has demonstrated a strong commitment toward building a winning roster while forming a collaborative and supportive partnership with Sean Payton.
Paton passed on other opportunities through 14 years in Minnesota. His arrival predated the purchase of the Broncos by the Walton-Penner group — and the hiring of Payton.
It has worked very well, overcoming the ill-advised trade for Russell Wilson, and the even more ill-advised market-level contract Wilson received before playing a single game in Denver.
The Broncos, under Paton and Payton, have built an elite team. They’ve been to the playoffs two straight years, and they earned the top seed in the AFC in 2025.
The Broncos have agreed to terms with two more members of their 2026 draft class.
According to multiple reports, fifth-round tight end Justin Joly and seventh-round safety Miles Scott have agreed to their rookie deals. Two other seventh-round picks — tight end Dallen Bentley and linebacker Red Murdock — have also come to terms with the team.
That leaves three more picks for the Broncos to get under contract. The team will hold its rookie minicamp this weekend.
Joly led N.C. State with 49 catches last season and had 92 catches in two seasons at the school. He spent two years at Connecticut before transferring in 2024.
Scott was a three-year starter at Illinois. He had 64 tackles, four tackles for loss, a sack, three interceptions and four fumble recoveries last year.
The Broncos are giving veteran quarterback Nathan Peterman a tryout at their rookie minicamp this weekend, Mike Klis of 9News reports.
Peterman, 32, was not in the NFL last season.
He was last with the Saints, Raiders and Falcons in 2024 but has not played a game since 2023 with the Bears.
The Bills made Peterman a fifth-round pick in 2017, and he spent a year and a half in Buffalo. He played games with the Raiders in 2020 and 2021.
Peterman has played 15 games with five starts in his career, completing 53.1 percent of his passes for 712 yards with four touchdowns and 13 interceptions.
Kurt Warner went from going undrafted to playing quarterback in the NFL and his son is trying to follow the same path.
Mike Garafolo of NFL Media reports that E.J. Warner has accepted an invitation to participate in the Broncos’ rookie minicamp as a tryout player this weekend. Warner was at the Chiefs’ minicamp last weekend for the same purpose.
Warner started 10 games at Fresno State last season and went 192-of-277 for 2,030 yards, 13 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He was Rice’s starter for the 2024 season and spent two seasons as the starter at Temple to kick off his college time.
Warner’s father famously worked in a grocery store and played in the Arena League and NFL Europe before getting his chance to start for the Rams in 1999. He won the MVP and the Super Bowl that season, which makes for a tough act to repeat so his son will likely just be focused on earning a spot on a roster or practice squad to start his own career.
The Broncos made the final two picks of the 2026 NFL Draft and they have both of those selections under contract.
Per multiple reports on Wednesday, seventh-round tight end Dallen Bentley has agreed to his four-year rookie deal. Bentley was selected with the 256th overall pick and the final pick, linebacker Red Murdock, agreed to terms on Tuesday.
Bentley had three catches in his first two seasons at Utah, but jumped up to 48 catches for 620 yards and six touchdowns during the 2025 campaign. He joins Evan Engram, Adam Trautman, Nate Adkins, Lucas Krull, Caleb Lohner, and fifth-rounder Justin Joly at tight end in Denver.
Joly is one of four other Broncos picks who still need to agree to their first NFL contracts.
The Broncos have agreed to terms with linebacker Red Murdock, Benjamin Allbright of KOA Colorado reports.
Murdock is the first of seven Broncos draft picks to agree to terms after being the final pick in the 2026 draft. Mr. Irrelevant will receive a four-year, $4.5 million deal with a signing bonus of $122,600.
Murdock earned second-team All-America honors at the University at Buffalo in 2025. He set an FBS record with 17 career forced fumbles and totaled 298 tackles in his final two collegiate seasons.
The Broncos will have their rookie minicamp this weekend.
They did not have first- or second-round picks, but selected defensive tackle Tyler Onyedim in the third round, running back Jonah Coleman and offensive lineman Kage Casey in the fourth round, tight end Justin Joly in the fifth round, safety Miles Scott, tight end Dallen Bentley and Murdock in the seventh round.
The 2025 Broncos won the No. 1 seed in the AFC and came within a whisker (and a Bo Nix broken ankle with a twist of a freak snowstorm) of the Super Bowl. They have high hopes for 2026.
As a result, the Broncos have a record-high renewal rate for season tickets.
Via Parker Gabriel of the Denver Post, the Broncos had a 99.5-percent renewal rate, the highest in franchise history.
The franchise saw nearly a full renewal of season tickets despite an average price increase of nine percent.
The Broncos will host eight regular-season games in 2026. The opponents are the Chiefs, Chargers, Raiders, Bills, Dolphins, Rams, Seahawks, and Jaguars.
