Call them the sweet 16.
Football sure has gotten sweeter for these guys.
On the Broncos’ 53-man roster, there are 16 holdovers from before Sean Payton took over as head coach in 2023. Before his arrival, none had ever made it to the playoffs or even had a winning season with Denver.
But the Broncos steadily have been built up since Payton’s arrival, going 8-9 in 2023 and 10-7 last season. The latter resulted in their first winning record since 2016 and first playoff berth since they won Super Bowl 50 in the 2015 season.
Now, entering Sunday’s opener against Tennessee at Empower Field at Mile High, expectations are high for the Broncos. Payton, who won Super Bowl XLIV with New Orleans in the 2009 season, has said he has a team capable of making a run to the Super Bowl LX.
“With change comes better,’’ said cornerback Pat Surtain, who had Vic Fangio as his head coach as a rookie in 2021 and Nathaniel Hackett in 2022. “So when (Payton) got in, he knew the type of team he’s trying to build and since then we’ve been carrying that on. … It helped as a team just understanding how to win like a pro, how to train like a pro … These past couple of years you could see us ascending and getting better. … The attitude, the composure, everything, the standard that we hold here now (is better).”
There are other key non-playing figures involved in Denver’s improvement since 2023. The Walton-Penner group took over in 2022, and even though the first season was a downer, team ownership has been regarded as first class.
General manager George Paton arrived in 2021 and faced plenty of criticism for the hiring of Hackett and trading with Seattle for quarterback Russell Wilson in 2022. But Paton made a number of keen decisions before Payton’s arrival, including when the Broncos landed Surtain, guard Quinn Meinerz and outside linebacker Jonathon Cooper in the 2021 draft and outside linebacker Nik Bonitto in the 2022 draft.
But owners and the general manager don’t have won-loss records. Coaches do, and Payton has turned heads by going 18-16 the past two seasons after coming into a very difficult situation.
The Broncos namely had to dig themselves out of a hole after Wilson was given a five-year, $245 million contract extension in September 2022 and then had a rugged time under Hackett, who went 4-11 before being fired with two games left in Denver’s 5-12 season. Wilson was much better in 2023, but not good enough for the Broncos to keep from releasing him in March 2024 and taking on $85 million of dead money on the salary cap.
“I think Sean’s done an unbelievable job putting this team together after starting off with a very tough situation that he inherited,” said Mike Shanahan, who coached the Broncos from 1995-2008, winning Super Bowls in the 1997 and 1998 seasons.
Wilson has been replaced by Bo Nix, entering his second season. Paton has called him a “franchise quarterback,” and Payton has predicted he will be a top-five NFL quarterback within the next two years.
The Broncos have loaded up with a number of other solid young players since Payton arrived. But there are the 16 holdovers who arrived in 2022 or earlier.
“I think he’s done a great job of getting guys he wanted in, what he’s seen that fits his vision of where he wants this team to go,’’ said safety P.J. Locke, who first came to Denver on the practice squad in 2019. “One of the big things last year was, like God, he’s getting rid of a lot of veterans and everything to be so young. … But we’ve got a young, hungry team.”
In addition to Wilson, veterans dispatched after Payton’s first season included safety Justin Simmons, who was released, and wide receiver Jerry Jeudy who was traded to Cleveland. But it’s not as if the pre-Payton players remaining on the roster are old. All but tackle Garett Bolles (a 2017 arrival), wide receiver Courtland Sutton (2018), Locke and linebacker Justin Strnad (2020) were brought in after Paton was hired in 2021.
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Of the 16 holdovers, nine are starters in Surtain, Bonitto, Meinerz, Sutton, Cooper, Bolles, center Luke Wattenberg, nose tackle D.J. Jones and linebacker Alex Singleton. Ja’Quan McMillian is the primary nickel back. Locke has been a regular starter and Strnad started eight games last season. Mitchell Fraboni has been a reliable long snapper. And safety Devon Key, defensive lineman Eyioma Uwazurike and running back Tyler Badie have shown enough to be kept around.
“It’s a little more structure,’’ Jones, who joined the Broncos in 2022, said of having Payton in charge. “You just have a guy who knows what he wants and he’s instilling that in us. (Payton) has a resume, so he’s just applying that here. … So we’re following the leader.”
Lately, plenty of lofty talk has been heard from the leader. Payton, who coached the Saints for 15 seasons from 2006-21, has continued to dub the Broncos a realistic Super Bowl contender.
“My chest isn’t puffed out,’’ he said. “I just think this team is further along than what it was two years ago. Two years ago, quite honestly, we weren’t near where we are now. … Our goals obviously start with winning the division, best seed possible, play for a Super Bowl. I think that’s where your mind has to be if you plan on winning one of those. You don’t just arrive (in) Week 8 and say, ‘We’re on a roll. We might win this thing.’”
Payton is well versed in the history of the Broncos. They have been to eight Super Bowls, winning three.
“I consider Denver’s (history book) to be one of those three or four (NFL teams) that have a lot of good chapters in it,’’ he said. “The excitement in 2025, this team, this organization, ownership, fans have a chance to add another chapter to a book that has a lot of tradition.”
Having won a Super Bowl before, Payton knows what it takes to get there.
“We’re talking about a guy who’s been to (a Super Bowl), been to multiple playoff appearances,’’ Bonitto said. “Why wouldn’t we listen to what he has for us, especially since we’ve never been there before, or in a while?’’
Bonitto was a rookie under the more relaxed Hackett. He admits that when Payton arrived he thought things such as having “six practices in a row” during training camp was “kind of crazy.” But he and other players have bought into that.
“We’re wearing pads (nearly) every single day,’’ Meinerz said. “We’re running gassers after practice. I mean, we’re practicing at least how I think a football team should practice. You got to build a callous. You got to play with pads because that’s how the games are played on Sundays.”
As for expectations the Broncos now have under Payton, Strnad is optimistic of the team going “to the next level.” Locke said there’s an “end goal of winning the Super Bowl.”
Surtain sees both sides of having raised expectations.
“It’s a good and a bad thing,’’ he said. “I think it’s good because you know people recognize the talent that we have, the type of team we have. I feel like it also can be bad because you can fall into the trap and get complacent and lose your drive a little bit because everybody is praising you. … I think it’s all about staying level-headed, staying focused and keeping the main thing the main thing.”
Of course, the main thing for Payton this season looks to be a run to the Super Bowl.