The Denver Broncos have made a ton of solid moves in the Sean Payton era, but these three stick out as being the smartest. The Broncos have not lucked into the situation they're in; they have gotten some elite football production from Sean Payton and his expertise.
Payton, in conjunction with many others, have turned the Broncos' franchise around for the long-term. It's been done on and off the field. Some of their on-field decisions have totally paid off, but they have also made some stellar off-field moves as well.
Here are the three most 'genius moves' by the Denver Broncos in the Sean Payton era.
3 most genius moves by the Denver Broncos in the Sean Payton era
Essentially swapping Dre'Mont Jones for Zach Allen
Dre'Mont Jones departed for the Seattle Seahawks in free agency two years ago. The Broncos essentially signed Zach Allen to take his place. Well, here is the two-year comparison between Jones and Allen:
Jones: 8.5 sacks, 77 total tackles, 12 tackles for loss, 25 QB hits, 34 games
Allen: 13.5 sacks, 121 total tackles, 23 tackles for loss, 64 QB hits, 33 games
In some respects, the Denver Broncos have gotten double the production from Zach Allen over Dre'Mont Jones. It's been flat-out insane just how good Zach Allen has been during his time in Denver, and it's likely that the Broncos extend him this coming offseason.
This has been a huge change for the better on defense for Denver, period.
Cutting Russell Wilson in favor of Bo Nix
The most obvious one on this list; the Denver Broncos decided to take on an NFL-record $85 million in dead cap by cutting Russell Wilson, and after the 2025 NFL Season, his contract will be off the books. Well, the one way Denver could have dug themselves out of that mess was hitting on a rookie QB in the 2024 NFL Draft
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They did! Bo Nix was one of the best rookies in football this year and had one of the most prolific rookie seasons in the history of the NFL. He has totally changed the course of this franchise, and since the Broncos took on the $53 million portion of the dead cap, the worst of it is out of the way. Denver can now enter into the 2025 NFL Offseason with a ton of space and every reason to chase free agents.
This has been the biggest and most 'genius' move in the Sean Payton era, period.
Bringing in Beau Lowery and revamping the training staff
You notice that over the last two years, the Denver Broncos have been extremely healthy? Some people may think this is just dumb luck, but it's not. The Broncos brought in Beau Lowery as Vice President of Player Health & Performance when Sean Payton also came to town. Ever since the start of the 2023 NFL Season, Denver has been one of the least-injured teams in football:
"“[We’re] really pleased. If you looked at our data, the four or five seasons before the last two, we were typically in the bottom of the league in terms of injury rate. Some injuries are just based on luck, but some of it can be attributed to other things. I just felt like we had to take a step back and see what we could change. [There are] two things that I would primarily attribute it to. One was bringing in someone like [Vice President of Player Health & Performance] Beau Lowery who sits above the training room, strength and conditioning, nutrition, sports science, and sees all those verticals but looks at in on a horizontal basis by athlete."Broncos CEO Greg Penner
This has been a huge reason for why the Broncos have also turned this ship around - the team did get to play some banged-up teams in 2024. Sean Payton's old team, the New Orleans Saints, came into their matchup with the Broncos at the beginning of the season very banged up, missing several starters.
The Broncos just haven't dealt with notable injuries over and over. This could also help, as Site Expert Sayre Bedinger notes, in the team's free agency quest. Players will want to come here seeing as the team knows how to manage and avoid injuries, and this is especially true for free agents who have an injury history. Beau Lowery has been exactly what this team has needed.