\u201cOr else, I might\u2019ve been having it in some other city,\u201d Singleton said.<\/p>\n
He spoke to reporters Friday very much present and accounted for in Denver, on-site at his second annual cornhole event with Special Olympics Colorado. Two months earlier, the Broncos captain received $11 million in guaranteed money on a new contract. The Special Olympics team got the green light. But for a brief period, this was all far from a certainty.<\/p>\n
At February\u2019s NFL Combine, Broncos general manager George Paton said point-blank they\u2019d \u201clove\u201d to re-sign Singleton and fellow ILB Justin Strnad, both impending free agents. Words that drift through the haze of NFL contract negotiations, however, rarely equate to actions. Strnad told The Post on Friday that he \u201cwasn\u2019t nervous to go to the market.\u201d Hours into free agency opening March 9, Singleton remained unsigned<\/a> \u2014 and had a skeleton deal lined up with another NFL team in free agency if negotiations with the Broncos fell through, according to a source familiar with the process.<\/p>\n Paton\u2019s word never wavered, though. Denver finalized multi-year deals with multi-year mainstays Strnad and Singleton, cut 2025 signee Dre Greenlaw, and immediately set the precedent for an offseason of unprecedented veteran retention<\/a>.<\/p>\n Broncos head coach Sean Payton may hate the term \u201crun it back,\u201d as he said at the start of April. But his linebackers, for one, appreciate the sentiment.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s everything,\u201d Singleton said Friday. \u201cCoaches say it all the time, like \u2014 \u2018Ah, if we could just run it back, we could go be better.\u2019 And then they let half the guys go, and sign all these free agents, and you\u2019re just like, \u2018Well, were they lying to us? What was the upstairs thinking?\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cBut instead,\u201d Singleton continued, \u201cwe\u2019re in an organization right now that, what they\u2019ve said is completely true. What Sean has said since Day 1 \u2014 he\u2019s going to keep the guys here, they\u2019re going to win football games for us \u2014 he\u2019s done that. And now, we\u2019ve had a year of winning where we got close. Instead of trying to fix something that isn\u2019t broken with new pieces, we just kinda put together the band. And we\u2019re going to see what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n The heart of a defense that is the heart of these Broncos, then, is back to try to climb through a Super Bowl window everyone in Denver knows is open. Everyone across the NFL, too, if you ask Singleton.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not chasing targets anymore,\u201d Singleton said Friday, asked about the team\u2019s self-expectations. \u201cWe\u2019re the target, now, I think, in the AFC. So we need to know that.\u201d<\/p>\n Beyond a blockbuster trade for Dolphins receiver Jaylen Waddle,<\/a> the Broncos placed a rather massive offseason bet on retaining their own pieces to successfully dodge that target. That begins with Singleton and Strnad, two veteran buddies who\u2019ve been handsomely rewarded for their efforts and will now be tasked with rewarding the organization\u2019s faith.<\/p>\n For years, Broncos fans have argued across social-media keyboards that the middle of coordinator Vance Joseph\u2019s defense is, in fact, broken. Joseph himself has acknowledged that opposing offenses have attacked his scheme<\/a> with tight ends across the past two seasons, and Singleton and Strnad have both had spotty records covering TEs in space<\/a>. The two, however, also happened to be the two best inside linebackers on the NFL\u2019s No. 3 defense in 2025, and Joseph has attached Singleton to his hip as his on-field defensive play-caller.<\/p>\n The Broncos could\u2019ve easily signed a different linebacker in free agency for a similar cost. They did not. They could\u2019ve drafted an early-to-middle-round linebacker, even as Texas\u2019s Anthony Hill Jr. was ripped away two picks before the team\u2019s second-round selection in April. They did not.<\/p>\n \u201cWe feel really good about Alex and Justin,\u201d Broncos assistant general manager Reed Burckhardt said post-draft, on evaluating draft ILBs. \u201cAnd so, it wasn\u2019t a gotta-have-it.\u201d<\/p>\n Singleton\u2019s floor and ceiling are both obvious: a 32-year-old captain who struggled in coverage situations but put together arguably the best year of his career against the run in 2025 (just a 7.5% missed tackle rate, according to Pro Football Focus). Strnad, though, may have another leap to take entering his first season as a clear starter.<\/p>\n Entering his sixth season as a Bronco, the 29-year-old Strnad has still only started 21 games. He filled in capably for the oft-injured Greenlaw in 2025, and made himself impossible to take off the field in obvious coverage and pass-rushing situations even when Greenlaw was healthy.<\/p>\n Strnad told The Post Friday, at Singleton\u2019s tournament, that it was \u201cawesome\u201d to see the organization \u201ctake care\u201d of him after years earning his stripes. And Singleton said he thinks Strnad will take a \u201chuge leap,\u201d now that his role is finally set.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause you have that confidence where a team finally gives you what you deserve,\u201d Singleton said. \u201cYou have that confidence all offseason. So he\u2019s had that already. There isn\u2019t that question of, \u2018Oh, what snaps am I going to play?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n The organization\u2019s confidence in the locker room\u2019s pre-established culture has even trickled down to offseason scheduling. At Payton\u2019s behest, the Broncos will start Phase Three of its offseason program (organized team activities) later than any other NFL team, on June 2. Singleton, though, said Friday he believes the Broncos are weeks and months \u2014 if not years \u2014 ahead of \u201ca lot of teams in the league.\u201d<\/p>\n They\u2019ll need to be, to reach Super Bowl heights.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think we like, really get too caught up in the, like, whole \u2018window\u2019 thing,\u201d Strnad said. \u201cBut I definitely think it\u2019s obvious that it\u2019s time for us to do what we want to do.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Justin](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/TDP-L-BRONCOS-RAIDERSAO2_8626x.jpg\")
Justin Strnad (40) of the Denver Broncos pressures Geno Smith (7) of the Las Vegas Raiders during the second quarter at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada on Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz\/The Denver Post)<\/p>\n