Denver Broncos

The Broncos are moving on from a pair of players in a series of Tuesday roster moves.

Via multiple reporters, Denver is waiving running back Deuce Vaughn and cornerback Will Wright.

The Broncos had added receiver Michael Woods and cornerback Paul Manning after both players participated in rookie minicamp on a tryout basis.

Vaughn had joined the club last September on the team’s practice squad. He did not appear in a regular-season game and signed a futures deal with the team in January.

A Cowboys sixth-round pick in 2023, Vaughn has appeared in 14 career games, recording 110 yards rushing and 10 catches for 58 yards.

The Chiefs ended their 2025 home slate with a visit from the Broncos. The Chiefs will start 2026 the same way.

After announcing on Tuesday morning that the Broncos and Chiefs will cap the first week of the season with a Monday night game, the league has now supplied the location: The game will be played in Kansas City.

The Christmas night 20-13 win by the Broncos ended a 10-year losing streak at Arrowhead Stadium. Denver won that game with the Chiefs not having quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who had suffered a season-ending knee injury two weeks earlier. His availability will now hover over the prime-time division matchup to start the year.

By all indications, Mahomes will be ready to go. And Mahomes is wired to do everything he can, and then some, to get back. The fact that the season opens with the defending AFC West champs coming to town will serve only to make him more determined to be ready to play, and to play well.

The announcement locks in three of the four prime-time games for Week 1. On Sunday night, the Cowboys will visit the Giants. On Thursday night, the 49ers will face the Rams in Australia. The only game left to be determined is the Wednesday night opener in Seattle, where the Seahawks will host an opponent to be announced.

The first Monday Night Football game of the season will feature a matchup of the last two AFC West champions.

The NFL announced on Tuesday that the Broncos and Chiefs will meet to cap off the Week 1 schedule. The location of the game is still being finalized, per Adam Schefter of ESPN, and is expected to be announced ahead of or along with the announcement of the rest of the schedule on Thursday.

Denver broke the Chiefs’ long run of division titles last season and the game will likely feature the return to action of Broncos quarterback Bo Nix after he broke his ankle in the divisional round of the playoffs. It could also see Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes play his first game since tearing his ACL last December, but we’ll have to be much closer to the game to know if that will be the case.

The Chiefs are also the fifth of the Seahawks’ potential Week 1 opponents — the 49ers, Rams, Giants and Cowboys are the others — to have their opening game revealed, which leaves the Cardinals, Chargers, Bears and Patriots as the remaining options for the first game of the 2026 NFL season.

Former NFL quarterback Craig Morton, who led the Broncos to their first Super Bowl appearance, died on May 9 at his home in Mill Valley, California, the Broncos announced Monday. He was 83.

Morton, who spent six seasons with the Broncos from 1977-82, led Denver to its first playoff appearance and a berth in Super Bowl XII. The Broncos went 12-record in 1977 and had home playoff wins over the Steelers and Raiders before losing 27-10 to the Cowboys in the Super Bowl when Morton threw four interceptions against his former team.

For his performance during that 1977 regular season, Morton was named the AFC’s Offensive Player of the Year. He was also named the Sporting News Player of the Year, the PFWA Comeback Player of the Year and the NFL UPI MVP for the 1977 season.

In that AFC Championship Game win over the Raiders, Morton played through a hip injury that led to him spending days in the hospital ahead of the game.

During his Broncos career, Morton led the team to a pair of division titles and three playoff berths. He finished his career with the most passing yards (11,895), passing touchdowns (74), pass attempts (1,594) and completions (907) in franchise history to that point.

His 41 regular-season wins remain the third-most in franchise history.

Morton was inducted into the Broncos Ring of Fame in 1988, two years after his induction into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame.

He began his career with the Cowboys as the fifth overall pick in 1965. He played in Dallas until 1974, and the Cowboys traded him to the Giants after he lost the starting job to Roger Staubach.

With the Cowboys, Morton threw for 10,279 yards and 80 touchdowns.

In his career, he threw for 183 touchdowns and 27,908 yards while winning 81 regular-season games.

Wide receiver Michael Woods has earned himself another NFL shot.

Tom Pelissero of NFL Media reports that the Broncos will sign Woods to their 90-man roster. Woods took part in the team’s rookie minicamp over the weekend as a tryout players.

Woods was a Browns sixth-round pick in 2022 and played 10 games as a rookie, but missed all of 2023 with a torn Achilles. He returned for five games in 2024 and finished his time in Cleveland with 12 catches for 110 yards. Woods spent time on the Packers’ practice squad after being cut by the Browns last year.

Courtland Sutton, Jaylen Waddle, Marvin Mims, Troy Franklin, Pat Bryant, and Lil’Jordan Humphrey are the other veteran wideouts in Denver.

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.