Now that the Denver Broncos have had over a week to reflect on another season of disappointment, Sean Payton and company enter into the offseason with several questions lingering from the fallout of two seasons of depleted draft capital and the benching of Russell Wilson.

How do the Broncos replenish a roster impacted by depleted draft capital from the Russell Wilson and Sean Payton trades.

Is Sean Payton the right guy to lead the Broncos back to the playoffs?

How Denver addresses these questions will either keep the Broncos in the playoff hunt for 2024 or could set them back for several years to come. Let’s examine five things Denver needs to do to fix the Broncos this off-season.

Step 1: Commit to Russell Wilson

After Sean Payton benched Russell Wilson before the Broncos Week 17 game against the L.A. Chargers, it appeared Denver would be moving on from Russell Wilson after this season. It became pretty clear during the season that Payton was becoming frustrated with Wilson not being able to run his offense, and the two sides appear they are heading for a divorce.

Unfortunately for Payton, moving on from Wilson is not as easy as just benching and cutting the ten-year veteran. For the Broncos to move on from Wilson this year, it will result in an $85 million cap hit. Denver does have an option to break this up over two seasons if they move on after June 1st, but simply put, it makes absolutely no sense to move on from Russell Wilson this season. Forget the fact Denver already gave up three first-rounders and the team only possesses six draft picks in the 2024 draft, Wilson did not play bad enough to justify taking this type of hit, and it seems very quick to scrap a guy only 15 games into a new Coach and new system.

The solution? Both Wilson and Payton were brought to Denver to fix the Broncos, so both of them owe it to the franchise and fans to make this work for two more seasons. Sean Payton will need to modify his offense and develop the patience to build a team and scheme around Wilson’s skill sets and develop an offense similar to what Baltimore did with Lamar Jackson, or Pete Carroll did with Wilson in Seattle. Is it what Payton and Wilson want? No, but that doesn’t matter as sometimes being a leader requires you to work with the personnel you have, not what you want, and Sean Payton did not do that this year. Russell Wilson has been a borderline Hall of Famer in this league for ten years, and Joe Flacco taught us this year that Wilson just needs a system built for what he is good at. Re-commit to Russell Wilson and shift the focus to George Paton to start to add depth to the roster.

Step 2: Make some tough cuts with some fan favorites and clean up the Wide Receiver Room

It was only a couple years ago when a receiver corp of Jerry Juedy, Courtland Sutton and Tim Patrick was considered to be one of the best receiver rooms in the league. Going into 2024 however, Denver will need to make some tough decisions of who they should keep and who could be on their way out. Patrick has not seen the field in two years, Sutton had a nice rebound year and showed some chemistry with Wilson and Juedy once again appeared to be inconsistent. 

The Broncos currently sit about $30 million over the cap, so not everyone will be back. Denver will need to move on from the following players to get some flexibility going into next year.

1. Tim Patrick- approx. $6 million in dead money with $10 million in cap savings. Tim Patrick had a ton of potential but can’t stay healthy, unfortunately it’s time to move on.
2. Jerry Juedy- approx. $13 million in guaranteed salary. Denver needs to do all they can to get rid of this salary, but trading Juedy won’t be easy.
3. DJ Jones- approx. $3 million in dead money with $10 million in cap savings. This one hurts, but Denver simply can’t afford Jones next year. Hopefully they can find a trade partner.
4. Justin Simmons- approx. $3.75 million in dead money and $14.5 million in cap savings. Simmons is this year’s Von Miller. He has been unbelievable in Denver, but he deserves a chance to play for a winner and Denver needs to get younger at the Safety position.
5. Garrett Bolles- approx $4 million in dead money $16 million in cap savings. Bolles has been good as of late, but he is plus 30 and a good trade piece. Denver won’t be able to replace him next season easily, but they need his cap space.

Where is Courtland Sutton? Sutton and Wilson were the bright spots on the offense this year, and Sutton appears to be back from his knee injury suffered two years ago. While dumping his salary could be an option, I think he is a playmaker Denver needs to keep entering the draft where Denver could have a few new picks following trades.

Step 3: Secure at least four picks in the first three rounds

With Wilson back in the fold and the Broncos possibly getting more draft capital from potential trades, Denver will need even more draft capital to allow George Paton to rebuild this roster cheaply after the amount of trades he gifted Seattle and New Orleans to bring Wilson and Payton to Denver. A large reason to not take a quarterback in the first round is due to the need for more play-makers on the offensive and defensive side of the ball and since prior to any trades Denver only has six picks entering the 2024 draft along with no second round pick, the Broncos need to be sellers at number 12 and look to move down.

Denver should be looking to trade down into the late teens early twenties to collect a second round pick. George Paton will need to look to secure additional mid round picks from the players listed above with the goal of having at least four picks in the first three rounds. The Broncos need to be taking an Offensive Lineman, Wide Receive, Tight End and Running Back in the first three rounds next year to offset the lack of playmakers on this roster.

Step 4: Target Tyler Huntley in Free Agency and draft a quarterback on day three of the NFL Draft

Denver needs to commit to Russell Wilson, that doesn’t mean there can’t be a contingency plan. Huntley is a mobile quarterback who has been asked to step in for Lamar Jackson and done well. The same could be the case in Denver if Sean Payton can develop a system favorable for Wilson plus give Denver a good bridge option for when they want to move on from Wilson.

Whether it is on day one or day three either way Denver will need to draft a rookie quarterback next year to start to develop to take over for Wilson. A day three prospect will not be ready to play next season, but a player with some upside two or three years down the road should be high on Payton’s development plan for the position. I like Denver developing a young quarterback behind a veteran presence far better than throwing a player like Michael Penix on a team with roster gaps.

Step 5: Have a plan

For years the Denver Broncos have operated with no plan, no identity and consistently hoped to have free agents or new coaches catch fire to lead them to a Super Bowl. This worked for when they brought in Payton Manning, but even with Manning there was no certain he would even play after having neck surgery. Sometimes you have to be lucky, which Denver has been, but now luck is not on their side.

For the first time in years the Denver Broncos have a stable ownership group, stable General Manager and stable Head Coach. Russell Wilson is a more than capable veteran quarterback who can lead them back to the playoffs, but a scheme needs to be build around him. Payton can develop a system and bring in a group of players which will work but he needs patience and since of working with these salary cap challenges.

Once the Russell Wilson contract is off the books then Payton can switch to run the system he wants. He needs to do this though through the draft and developing his players. Payton should be focused on winning with Wilson for two more years and then move to his system and personnel preferences by year three, but until then commit to Wilson, use the extra draft capital to build the roster and look to move on from Russell Wilson following the 2025 season if he doesn’t win a Super Bowl before then.

What do the Broncos do at quarterback with Russell Wilson? Is he truly gone with Denver willing to absorb his $85 million salary dead money, or will the Broncos leave the door open for mending the strained relationship?