The Denver Broncos made a massive leap in the 2024 season, making it to the postseason for the first time since the 2015 season when they won Super Bowl 50. However, once they got there, their lack of experience showed as they were bounced by the Buffalo Bills 31-7 in the Wild Card Round.

Fast forward a couple months, and Sean Payton has a team that is far more mature than the one that stepped on the field in Buffalo back in January. From the experience gained, to the addition of a couple veterans, to the fact that the Broncos have one of the highest retention rates on their roster from last year to this year, Payton feels that his team is much stronger mentally.

“Yeah,” Payton said when asked if his team was more mature at Broncos Practice on Thursday. “Part of that is a byproduct of playing young players a year ago.”

However, the veteran coach emphasized that no matter how many players you bring back from one season to the next, the competitive nature of the NFL still makes you have to hit the reset button after every year.

“I think we’re obviously further along with regards to what we’re doing. Now, you still have to turn the game board over and start from the beginning in our league. You have to do that. We’re not picking up from where we left off. You have to start with the fundamentals and you get a chance to do that in these sessions,” Payton said.

Payton’s not trying to discredit the leaps and bounds that his squad made a season ago, he’s just describing the nature of the NFL. From the Eagles to the Titans, every single team in the league has to start with a clean sheet in 2025 to work towards winning Super Bowl LX.

Not including practice squad players, Payton’s Broncos are returning 86% of their players who made the 53-man roster in 2024, the highest in the NFL and by far the best mark in the AFC West. There were a lot of young players who were thrown into the fire a season ago, such as Bo Nix, Riley Moss and Audric Estime, but that experience is now set up to pay dividends.

Teams with the highest percentage of players returning to the roster in 2025 (PS players not included)

1. Broncos- 86.0%
2. Packers- 84.5%
3. Bills- 84.2%
4. Lions- 80.0%
5. Bengals- 79.1%
6. Bucs- 78.1%
7. Cowboys- 77.9%
8. Rams- 77.0%
9. Giants- 76.8%
10. Commanders- 75.9%

— Jason_OTC (@Jason_OTC) May 27, 2025

“We probably had the most roster turnover in the two years prior,” Payton joked.

While Payton has some new players to work with this season in RJ Harvey, Jahdae Barron, Evan Engram and Talanoa Hufanga, a lot of the production is going to come from the guys who were on the field in 2024 like Marvin Mims Jr. and Nik Bonitto. That retention rate will give Payton and the Broncos a head start of building back up after turning over the game board.

Don’t forget about the guys who have been around for a while in Courtland Sutton, Alex Singleton, Pat Surtain II and Garrett Bolles. They’ll be around as well.

Having a squad with mature veterans who have been around the block a couple of time mixed with a plethora of young guys who experienced tough losses is an equation for success, and that’s what Payton has in his pocket. However, he and the rest of the team can’t be satisfied with just making the playoffs and beating the Chiefs once in a season, they need to stay hungry to take that next leap up the totem pole in the AFC.

Next up for Denver is mandatory minicamp, which begins on Tuesday. John Franklin-Myers, who has been absent for OTAs, should be there and there could be an appearance from a new running back who is visiting with the team following this week’s round of practice.