{"id":934628,"date":"2026-07-02T12:15:27","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T12:15:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/934628\/"},"modified":"2026-07-02T12:15:27","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T12:15:27","slug":"broncos-riley-moss-talks-contract-year-competing-for-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/934628\/","title":{"rendered":"Broncos’ Riley Moss talks contract year, competing for job"},"content":{"rendered":"

Funny thing about playing a position that requires a short memory: Even if wide receivers struggle to run past you, time sure seems to fly by.<\/p>\n

Such is the case for Broncos cornerback Riley Moss, who heads into training camp this month no longer just a young, promising player.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s a multi-year starter opposite Pat Surtain II. He\u2019s a critical piece of one of the best defenses in the NFL. And he\u2019s entering the final year of his original rookie contract.<\/p>\n

\u201cDude, it\u2019s gone by so fast,\u201d Moss told The Post after a minicamp practice last month. \u201cIt\u2019s unbelievable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moss enters his fourth training camp as one of the most interesting figures on Denver\u2019s roster. He has provided two seasons of mostly high-caliber play in an unenviable role opposite Surtain, the perennial All-Pro candidate. Moss has reveled in knowing he\u2019ll be targeted frequently rather than shying away from it. He\u2019s bounced back when he\u2019s had a tough game and worked to correct issues like his eight 2025 pass interference penalties, the second-highest mark in the NFL.<\/p>\n

He will soon dive into a contract year as part of a fascinating secondary picture that is almost sure to change in some sort of substantial way after the 2026 season. Moss and nickel Ja\u2019Quan McMillian are both free agents after the year<\/a>. Denver has 2025 first-rounder Jahdae Barron waiting in the wings and coaches have said repeatedly that they believe he can play in the slot or outside. The Broncos have also received quality play from Kris Abrams-Draine in spot outside duty over the past two seasons.<\/p>\n

Moss may marvel at how quickly this point in his career has arrived, but he said he rarely considers what\u2019s just beyond the horizon, which is likely a lucrative contract extension here or elsewhere.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be honest, no. It\u2019ll handle itself out like it always has,\u201d Moss said. \u201cI trust in God, and I trust in myself, and I\u2019m just going to go out, do my thing, continue to do my thing, and the rest will take care of itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

If Moss and McMillian each enter training camp without an extension<\/a>, it will be tempting to interpret Barron\u2019s workload as a clue to what the future might hold. Will Barron play primarily outside and try to push Moss for a timeshare or the job outright? Will he mostly man the slot and try to stage a more compelling battle against McMillian than he did last summer? Or will he split work in preparation for what could be a similar reserve role to last season?<\/p>\n

Moss expects competition from somebody or somebodies four weeks from now, when the Broncos report.<\/p>\n

\u201cNaturally, if you\u2019re a competitor and you want to last in this league, you have that regardless of who is behind you,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s good for us. It pushes me, it pushes them and overall I think it\u2019s good for our room.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"RileyRiley Moss (21) of the Denver Broncos celebrates breaking up a pass intended for CeeDee Lamb (88) of the Dallas Cowboys during the first quarter at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver on Sunday, Oct. 26, 2025. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz\/The Denver Post)
\nA focus on creating turnovers<\/p>\n

The Broncos originally traded up for Moss in the third round of the 2023 draft, selecting him No. 81 overall. The former University of Iowa standout had a core muscle injury that sidelined him for most of his rookie training camp, but he developed into a trusted special-teams player over the 2023 season. Then he won the job opposite Surtain and hasn\u2019t looked back, starting 31 games over the past two seasons.<\/p>\n

After this most recent season, Moss got a reel of film from the coaching staff and front office that he said broke down \u201cthe good, the bad and the ugly\u201d and provided a roadmap for where the brass wanted him to focus. Those things can be picked at over the spring and summer, but the real technical work begins anew in training camp.<\/p>\n

Mostly, Moss said, his focus during the offseason months is on physical conditioning.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first thing is getting my weight back,\u201d Moss said. \u201cI lose a good 8 pounds during the season just naturally from running all over the place. So I just try to get my feet back, get my weight back and then kind of work from there.\u201d<\/p>\n

During minicamp, Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph called creating more turnovers this fall a problem that needs fixing after his group wreaked havoc in 2025 but forced just 14 turnovers (tied for 29th in the NFL).<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s for me, schematically, having more eyes on the ball with pressure,\u201d Joseph said. \u201cThat\u2019s our players catching the football. That\u2019s our players, when they\u2019re sacking a quarterback, breaking the elbow and causing more forced fumbles.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Moss, No. 2 on the list rings particularly true after he tied for the NFL lead in passes defensed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s me, myself and I,\u201d he said. \u201cI only had one pick and I had like (19) passes defended or whatever the heck it was.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to start coming down with those a little more often. That\u2019s something you work in practice and we\u2019re going to get some more turnovers for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Want more Broncos news? Sign up for the Broncos Insider to get all our NFL analysis.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Funny thing about playing a position that requires a short memory: Even if wide receivers struggle to run…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":934629,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2062],"tags":[232,231,258,2426,7,1006,3894,929,926,6,3267,1514,9,45789,2832],"class_list":["post-934628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-denver-broncos","tag-broncos","tag-denver","tag-denver-broncos","tag-denverbroncos","tag-football","tag-jahdae-barron","tag-kris-abrams-draine","tag-latest-headlines","tag-more-broncos-news","tag-nfl","tag-pat-surtain-ii","tag-riley-moss","tag-sports","tag-university-of-iowa","tag-vance-joseph"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116850335953289965","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/934628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=934628"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/934628\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/934629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=934628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=934628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=934628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}