The journey to sustained success for the Denver Broncos starts now

The Denver Broncos put together their best season in years in 2024, but a lot of work is still needed to make them Super Bowl contenders. This offseason will be crucial to improve the team’s prospects in 2025 and beyond.

The Denver Broncos embarked on their most successful season since their Super Bowl 50 winning campaign with a 10-win season and playoff berth. Despite a blowout loss to the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Wild Card round, both the team and fans across Broncos Country have a lot to be optimistic and proud about.

With the offseason on the horizon, the franchise will now begin their crafting a plan to ensure they are set up for sustained success. General Manager George Paton remarked in his season ending press conference that the playoffs are the realistic goal for this team moving forward. Anything less than that would be a step backward for a franchise that took nearly a decade to get to where they wanted to be.

So, how do they exactly do that? What’s the plan? What’s the vision?

First things first, quarterback is no longer a need on the team’s offseason to-do or wish list. After all those years of searching, they’ve got their signal caller for the foreseeable future in Bo Nix who had a tremendous rookie season. On top of that, the defense posted a league and franchise best 63 sacks this past season and looked markedly better than the year prior. A quality passer and top tier pass rush are essential for success in the National Football League and those are two big aspects the Broncos don’t have to worry about moving forward.

Additionally, young players at key positions stepped up and hit the ground running. That was a positive development for a team facing a historic dead cap hit in ‘24 which will give the team a much better look at their end of the year player evaluations in the coming weeks. While the players deserve a ton of credit for their efforts, the coaching staff certainly had a lot to do with the team’s demonstrable improvement on both sides of the ball.

Reloading the offense with more playmakers will certainly be a primary endeavor for the Broncos. Adding a top-flight running back, talented tight end, or another receiver who can be a primary target in the team’s passing game is going to happen. Moreover, retooling their defensive front seven and adding another player or two in the secondary is likely. However, I’d say the team’s first focus will be securing extensions for Zach Allen and Nik Bonitto, who both had incredible performances this past season.

Everyone knows this offseason will be crucial for future and sustained success. And I have no doubts the Broncos’ leadership will do whatever it takes to ensure that happens. We have already seen their diligence and dedication in that regard. The team already came to terms with key veterans Patrick Surtain II, Quinn Meinerz, Garett Bolles, and Jonathon Cooper. Those were all quality signings that keep top contributors in the fold over the next few seasons and a big change from prior regimes where very few quality players were drafted or retained.

Now here is the fun part. The Broncos have a full slate of draft picks over the first three rounds, a fourth-round selection, and three sixth-round selections. That’s a lot of draft capital to fortify and round out their roster. Additionally, they have roughly $50 million dollars in cap space. While a decent portion of that will be allocated toward retaining in-house players and their 2025 NFL Draft class, don’t be surprised if the Broncos make a big outside splash or two to fortify significant positions of need in free agency.

The future outlook of the Broncos looks bright and it’s going to be a blast seeing how they approach the offseason.