Continuity is a rarity in professional sports, no matter what league you're talking about. In the NFL, the salary cap makes continuity almost impossible, but the Denver Broncos are bucking the trend in 2025.
The Broncos have the highest roster retention rate in the NFL this year at 86 percent. Not only that, but they returned a majority of the coaching staff put in place by Sean Payton. Because Payton is both the head coach and play-caller, however, second-year quarterback Bo Nix is being afforded something he hasn't been able to do since his early high school years:
The chance to run it back.
Bo Nix hasn't had same play-caller in consecutive years since high school
New: Entering Yr 2 w/#Broncos, Bo Nix finally has the same play-caller for 2 years in a row for the first time since HS.
— Luca Evans (@bylucaevans) May 30, 2025
The continuity's allowed him to focus in on mentally dissecting defenses.
"It's huge."
Inside Nix's offseason work: https://t.co/ob5syYkhJo
For a player who was rather underdeveloped as a quarterback in his first year at Auburn, for Nix to have had five different play-callers in his time at the college level before getting to the NFL makes his ascent as a prospect even more astounding. Nix is a very self-driven person who has the type of work ethic and love for the game that is required to be great in the NFL, but it doesn't hurt quarterbacks to have continuity in an offense.
And for the first time since he was a high school football player, Nix has exactly that.
At the first week of OTAs, it was clear to those in attendance at Broncos practice -- including head coach Sean Payton -- that Nix had taken a new level of command in the offense. He was out there directing traffic and calling plays with clarity and decisiveness. Running an NFL offense is somewhat like learning to speak another language and figuring out its intricacies along the way.
Nix is fluent in the Sean Payton offense, and the fact that he can focus on other aspects of his game rather than learning a new system and hoping he and his teammates can get on the same page in the offseason is a luxury in uncharted waters for Nix. It's a huge secret weapon for this Denver Broncos team, one of the most improved rosters in the NFL and a group that can compete for an AFC West title going forward.
Having continuity with Nix and Payton allows this Broncos team to expand the playbook right away, and to really work all offseason at getting different personnel groups in the mix. The Broncos have moved from a discovery phase into a true building phase.
Players at the NFL level have proven capable of excelling regardless of offensive systems or how long a coordinator is around, but it's one of those understated things that can really help with the development of a young guy and give Nix the type of advantage no one else in the league will see coming in 2025.