Broncos Clips
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.
Earlier this week, free-agent quarterback Russell Wilson had a visit with the Jets. He’s also looking at another potential path.
Andrew Marchand of The Athletic reports that Wilson is in “deep discussions” to embark on a television career. Per Marchand, CBS is considered to be the favorite.
Wilson has made bye-week appearances with CBS, and its Sunday studio show currently has an opening after the departure of Matt Ryan for a high-level job with the Falcons.
Marchand also reports that CBS has shown interest in Hall of Fame linebacker Luke Kuechly.
With Wilson firmly in the backup-at-best phase of his football career, it makes sense to explore available options in TV. Very few quarterbacks who were once the highest-paid player in the league choose to continue as understudies when their opportunities as starters have dried up. (Joe Flacco is the rare exception.)
Wilson, who seems to be interested in remaining in the New York area, could work for CBS from its Manhattan studio. It makes too much sense to not happen, if CBS ultimately decides to make him an offer — and if he accepts it.
Wilson, a third-round pick in 2012, won a Super Bowl and went to another during a decade with the Seahawks. He then spent two seasons with the Broncos, one with the Steelers, and one with the Giants. He started three games in 2025 before being benched for rookie Jaxson Dart.
With the Jets, Wilson would be the backup to Geno Smith, Wilson’s former backup in Seattle.
Broncos safety Devon Key officially signed his exclusive rights free agent tender on Thursday.
Key will make $1.075 million on the one-year deal.
The Broncos’ other three exclusive rights free agents — running back Tyler Badie, defensive lineman Jordan Jackson and outside linebacker Dondrea Tillman — previously signed their tenders.
Key joined the Broncos in 2022, and he has become a core special teams player. In 2025, Key was a first-team All-Pro for his special teams play.
In 17 games last season, Key played 73 defensive snaps and 388 on special teams. That was 82 percent of the team’s special teams play, and he made 28 tackles.
Key’s brother, Dane Key, is joining the Broncos as an undrafted free agent.
Justin Simmons left the Broncos after the 2023 season, but he returned to his primary NFL team to bring his playing career to a close.
Simmons announced his retirement through the club on Wednesday. Simmons was a third-round pick in 2016 and spent eight seasons with the Broncos before being released. He played one season with the Falcons and did not play at all in 2025.
Simmons was a four-time second-team All-Pro and two-time Pro Bowler during his time with the Broncos.
“I would just love to be remembered as not just a Bronco, but just a man that gave his all to the team, the city,” Simmons said. “Even in my letter to Broncos Country when I got let go was, ‘I don’t live with regrets.’ I always tell everyone I walk with a sense of purpose and understanding of everything happens for a reason. And the one thing that I wish I could hit on was just getting back to the postseason. There were a lot of positive things that happened individually, but I really hold and carry a lot of that weight as a team leader, as a captain, of not being able to promise that stuff, though. So, I just want to be remembered as someone who gave his all and tried his best.”
Simmons had 666 tackles, 32 interceptions, 4.5 sacks, five forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries in 134 career games.
Broncos quarterback Bo Nix had a scheduled re-check with Dr. Norman Waldrop last week. The visit to Waldrop’s practice in Alabama included a clean-up procedure on Nix’s right ankle, Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports.
Rapoport added that it was “successful and anticipated.”
Nix fractured his right ankle near the end of the Broncos’ divisional round playoff victory over the Bills. He missed the AFC Championship Game, the first game Nix has missed in his career.
Before his Jan. 20 surgery, Nix called his injury a “simple fracture” that would require only a 4-6 week recovery. He did not mention a necessary follow-up procedure, and team owner Greg Penner said in March that the Broncos were confident Nix would participate in organized team activities as the quarterback was ahead of schedule in his rehab.
Now, the timeline is training camp as the Broncos will be “conservative” with his participation in the offseason program, per Rapoport.
Head coach Sean Payton said this weekend that Nix is “doing great.”
“We’re excited about his progress,” Payton said, via Parker Gabriel of The Denver Post. “Nothing to report.”
The Broncos didn’t pick in the first or second round of the 2026 NFL draft, but they’re finally on the board early in the third.
With the 66th overall pick, the Broncos selected Tyler Onyedim, defensive tackle from Texas A&M.
Denver traded its first-round pick to acquire Jaylen Waddle from Miami, then traded down in the second round. The pick the Broncos finally used had originally belonged to the Titans, then was traded to the Bills, who traded it to the Broncos.
Onyedim spent four years at Iowa State before transferring to Texas A&M last year. He’s an athletic defensive lineman who should be able to step in and contribute to the Broncos’ defensive line rotation as a rookie.
The Broncos have linebacker Dondrea Tillman back in the fold.
Mike Klis of KUSA reports that Tillman has signed his exclusive rights free agent tender. The deal sets Tillman up to make $1.075 million during the 2026 season.
Tillman signed with the Broncos in 2024 after playing three seasons for the Birmingham Stallions in the USFL and UFL. He’s been a fixture on special teams in Denver and has also played 659 defensive snaps in 29 regular season appearances.
Tillman has 64 tackles, nine sacks and two interceptions in that action. He has also been credited with 16 tackles in three postseason contests.
Three weeks ago, more than 63,000 fans showed up at Mile High Stadium for the debut of the Denver Summit of the NWSL. On Saturday, the local MLS team pushed that bar even higher.
A total of 75,824 attended the match between the Colorado Rapids and Inter Miami at the home of the Denver Broncos. It’s the second-biggest crowd in MLS history, and the third time in the last two months that attendance for an MLS game topped 70,000.
The record was set three years ago at the Rose Bowl, when 82,110 watched a match between the L.A. Galaxy and LAFC.
Mile High Stadium has a capacity of 76,125 for Broncos games.
Four of the ten most attended games in MLS history featured Inter Miami as the visitor, since Lionel Messi joined the team.
And it underscores the power of soccer in the U.S. With the NFL trying its damnedest to globalize, the most popular sport in the world continues to make more and more progress on pro football’s home turf.
The Broncos are without a first-round draft pick. They traded the 30th overall choice and their third-rounder in a deal with the Dolphins for veteran wide receiver Jaylen Waddle.
The Broncos made the deal believing Waddle will help them more than two rookies selected in the top 94 would have.
The team’s first pick next week will come at No. 62 overall, and whoever the choice is, the Broncos don’t expect him to contribute much in 2026.
“We like to draft high-trait players and maybe they lack a little polish, and it’s going to take some development,’’ Broncos General Manager George Paton said Thursday, via Mike Klis of 9News. “Sure, we’d like someone to come in and start right away, but that’s not always realistic for first-, second-[round picks], no matter where they’re picked. It’s just hard, and with the way our team is built now it’s going to be hard to come in and start Day 1.”
Cornerback Jahdae Barron, the team’s first-round pick in 2025, played only 30 percent of the defensive snaps in 17 games last season. He spent most of his rookie season watching Ja’Quan McMillian.
The Broncos have done their homework on prospects they expect to be drafted between No. 45 and 75 overall. They then narrowed the list again.
“There’s six players we’re kind of focused on that could be there at 62,’’ Paton said. “We feel good about those players. We’re going to keep working through them.”
Paton said the Broncos could move up in the second round, but they are “unlikely” to trade back into the first round.
The NFL has announced the names of the current and former players that will take part in next week’s draft by announcing second-round picks.
The list includes players associated with all 32 teams, including Cardinals running back James Conner. Conner has strong ties to the Pittsburgh area after playing for the Steelers and attending Pitt, which likely made him an easy choice as the Cardinals’ representative.
Former Bears tackle Jimbo Covert, former Cowboys running back Tony Dorsett, former Chiefs defensive lineman Bill Maas, current Vikings tackle Brian O’Neill, former Jets running back Curtis Martin, and former 49ers punter Andy Lee are other Pitt alums who are set to take part.
The hometown team will be represented by four players. Former Steelers Jerome Bettis and John Stallworth will be joined by Joey Porter Sr. and Jr. next Friday.
The other players taking part and their team affiliations appear below:
Falcons: Michael Turner
Ravens: Mark Ingram
Bills: Shane Conlan
Panthers: Jake Delhomme
Bengals: Ken Anderson
Browns: Phil Dawson
Cowboys: Drew Pearson
Broncos: T.J. Ward
Lions: Calvin Johnson
Packers: John Kuhn
Texans: Billy Miller
Colts: Pat McAfee
Jaguars: Paul Posluszny
Raiders: Matt Millen
Chargers: Shawne Merriman
Rams: Tavon Austin
Dolphins: Dwight Stephenson
Patriots: Deion Branch
Saints: Marques Colston
Giants: Osi Umenyiora
Eagles: Brian Westbrook
Seahawks: Cliff Avril
Buccaneers: Ronde Barber
Titans: Jeffery Simmons
Commanders: Mark Rypien
