ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — The Denver Broncos ended both their prolonged playoff drought and their protracted search for a foundational quarterback this season despite an NFL record $91 million in dead cap charges.
With more money to spend in 2025, a cohesive locker room that notably lacks “prima donnas” — as QB Bo Nix pointed out — and a young roster that produced five All-Pros for the first time since John Elway's playing days, the Broncos trust they're finally in position to challenge Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs for supremecy in the AFC West.
“Absolutely, yeah, we could very easily have been 2-0 against the Chiefs this year and our absolute goal next year is to win our division,” team owner Greg Penner said Wednesday at the Broncos’ end-of-season news conference.
The Chiefs (15-2) have won the division every year since 2016 and are again the conference's top seed as they seek an unprecedented three-peat as Super Bowl champions and their fourth Lombardi Trophy since Mahomes became their starter.
The Broncos (10-8) split with the Chiefs for the second straight season, losing 16-14 when K.C. blocked a last-second field goal in Week 10 and shutting out their backups 38-0 in Week 18 as Denver clinched its first playoff berth since the 2015 season.
Denver's loss at Buffalo last weekend prevented a third game against the Chiefs this weekend, one in which the Broncos would have liked their chances.
“We’re not looking backwards, we’re looking ahead," coach Sean Payton said. "And it starts with the division. There’s a lot of confidence in this team. If we could get past that game (at Buffalo), the next game we had to play (at Kansas City) we felt real good about.
“And so we’re still not there yet — and yet we’re a lot closer than we were at this time year ago. That was misery, sorrow, trudgery, give me some more adjectives there. That was brutal, I’ll say that.”
Mahomes is clearly in the Broncos' sights as they reflect on a breakthrough season and prepare for 2025, when they'll only have $32.25 million in dead cap charges, most of it from the remainder of Russell Wilson's contract.
They plan on building around Nix and adding players who fit with the team chemistry and camaraderie that thrived this season.
“I think Bo talking about about no prima donnas is a great testament to what Sean is building here,” Penner said. "We want to be a winning culture, you've got to have really high expectations and everybody's got to be in it together and I don't think prima donnas would do real well right now here in this culture. So, we're going to continue to build this way.
"We want guys who are incredibly competitive and want to work and want to succeed.”
Payton displayed mixed emotions about Denver's season, saying: “There were a lot of positives to build on and yet it's still disappointing to finish the way we did,” referring to the 31-7 loss to the Bills and adding that he thought the Broncos didn't play up to their potential.
“I didn't see a gap last weekend until the second half,” Payton said. “I felt real confident we could go in there, play well and win. We obviously didn't play well enough. But those lines are much finer than we think. I use that term, there's a fine line between a groove and a run. It's a player. It's two players. It's the line of scrimmage. It's the kicking game.”
General manager George Paton suggested the Broncos only whetted their appetite by ending their playoff drought.
“The beauty of going to the playoffs and seeing what it looks like is seeing how close we are, how far we are,” Paton said. "And that has to be our standard moving forward. We have to go to the playoffs. You're going to play teams like the Bills, the Ravens, the Chiefs and so how do we get there? And so that's really our goal this whole offseason is trying to find that secret sauce.”
Roster needs
Upgrades at running back, tight end and wide receiver would help the Broncos take another big step in 2025, but Payton said, "I'm not ready to give you our must-needs and wants.” He did allow, however, that he prefers to split carries between two running backs rather than three like he did in 2025.
Healthy roster
The Broncos revamped their medical and strength and conditioning programs after the 2022 season, when they had 134 total games missed due to injury. For the second straight season, they were among the league's healthiest teams.
“Now, your players are wanting to be here for the recovery,” Payton said. “They want to be here for the offseason, they want to be here lifting, they want to be here. They're not all disappearing to the satellite private workout expert facilities that are supposedly (better).
“They're staying here and there's more than a year of proof. There's two years of proof. When you have 134 games missed because of injury, something's wrong. And then when you have 30-something two years in a row, something's right.”
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
Arnie Stapleton, The Associated Press
