The Denver Broncos have it all on paper. This roster really isn't missing much of anything, and even with the coaching staff and front office, all the way up to ownership, Denver is ready to roll. The 2026 season could end up being one of the most important in team history given how 2025 ended.
It's also another year of the Broncos being right in a Super Bowl window, so the urgency would already be turned up regardless of how last season ended. However, even with the team being in a window right now, future seasons are far from guaranteed.
Denver has done a great job at paying their own players and getting them under contract before they'd hit free agency. This keeps the roster in tact with the necessarily players to keep the success rolling, and with there being some time, the Broncos next big move could not be clearer.
The Denver Broncos must get some contract extensions done before the real work begins
The Broncos got a trio of deals done during the season in 2025 when they had a bit of a break, extending all of Luke Wattenberg, Wil Lutz, and Malcolm Roach. All three would have hit the free agency market this offseason had those deals not been done.
The same thing should happen here between now and the start of training camp. Sure, it's a solid argument that the team should wait until the 2026 season gets underway to pay certain players, as the whole idea is rewarding on-field performance, but there are some clear candidates that should be given some type of deal.
We've talked about some before, but two that stick out immediately would be Ja'Quan McMillian and Brandon Jones. Along with those two, Riley Moss would be the other defensive back of note set to be a free agent in 2027. Denver getting two deals done now would prevent the future headache of trying to potentially retain all three players on the open market.
Getting those extensions done would also make things a lot easier for the front office regarding the rest of the team's 2027 free agency class, which features names like Ben Powers, Evan Engram, Marvin Mims, Nate Adkins, Jarrett Stidham, and others.
It feels rather certain that the Broncos would not bring back Powers or Engram, so being able to extend McMillian and Jones, for example, would take care of much of the heavy-lifting, and when you look at how good each player has been for the team, an extension now would not be jumping the gun.
With how good the defense and the secondary has been, Denver has to ensure that remains the case - the Broncos identity is still clearly on defense, but unless the front office is able to act quickly, that could end up not being the case in future years.
And if those extensions did get done, Denver could then progress through the 2026 season, hit March when free agency begins, and really take a deeper look at the rest of the class, as they'd surely have some major decisions to make with someone like Mims, for example.
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