PHOENIX — Broncos coach Sean Payton wanted to make it clear Tuesday morning: J.K Dobbins was the team’s first choice at running back once he and George Paton had evaluated all of the potential options available to them this offseason.

“George [Paton] and I, we’re all sitting in there going through the puzzle, and, yeah, I think there were certain priorities. Dobbins was a priority ahead of all others,” Payton said during the AFC Coaches Breakfast at the NFL Annual Meeting.

And he knew that wasn’t was some would want to hear.

“Now, that’ll anger people,” Payton said.

“We know he’s been injured. We understand, and the injuries haven’t been soft-tissue driven.”

In saying that, Payton reiterated the point Dobbins made last week during an appearance on NFL Network, when the seven-year veteran running back pushed back on the notion that he’s “injury-prone” despite landing on injured reserve in each of the last five seasons, including his only Broncos campaign last year.

The injury history is why Dobbins’ new Broncos contract landed well shy of other premier runners on the market despite a career average per carry above 5.0 yards. But to reiterate a point that Paton made Wednesday, Payton alluded to Dobbins’ value beyond the field and what he does with the football in his hands.

“He’s someone that’s one of those compound multipliers. Like, he brings 10 others along with him in a positive light,” Payton said.

“Our success last year, he’s got some fingerprints on that. Dre (Greenlaw) has some. All these players that came in, that have been in winning programs, are a big part of how you win 14 games in, call it, Year Three of the program.

Payton was much more forceful than Paton, who Monday described it as a “tough balance” when evaluating Dobbins’ extensive injury history in the calculus.

“No, you’re right,” Paton acknowledged when a reporter brought up the injury history.

But Paton, too, brought up the intangible value to the Broncos.

“This guy, from the minute he walked in our building, changed it,” Paton said, “and so it was like, we just didn’t want to let him leave. He meant too much to the building.

“He was a top-four rusher in the league when he got hurt. Let’s sign him back. He meant too much to this team.”

 

 

BRONCOS BROUGHT BACK THE RB ROOM INTACT

The entire Broncos running-back room is under contract for the upcoming season, as the team re-signed Jaleel McLaughlin and Tyler Badie to join second-year runner RJ Harvey, last year’s second-round pick who has three more years left on his rookie contract.

Denver declined to give McLaughlin a restricted free-agent tender, but brought him back on an unrestricted free-agent deal. Badie was an exclusive rights free agent. Practice-squad back Cody Schrader also returns.

“We like the backs,” Paton said.

“… We are going to be looking in the draft, and we are going to be looking after the draft. We are always looking. We didn’t sign J.K. until like May or June last year. We feel good with where we are at right now. Last year at this time, we didn’t have J.K. and we didn’t have RJ, and we were OK. We’re going to be fine.”