The Denver Broncos have changed pretty drastically since they were purchased by the Walton-Penner Family Ownership Group, a group which has done so much to make substantial upgrades on and off the field.
They spared no expense to hire head coach Sean Payton and gave Payton full permission to choose the quarterback that he wanted, even if it meant taking on an NFL-record $85 million in dead money from releasing Russell Wilson.
They have also spared no expense when it comes to $100 million worth or renovations to Empower Field at Mile High, a state-of-the-art, $175 million training facility which will be coming before the 2026 season, and plenty more where that came from. Denver's ownership group has also made a concerted effort to improve player safety, which we've seen the fruit of over the last two years as the Broncos went from having the most salary cap on injured reserve in 2022 to one of the least in 2023.
And that has continued in 2024.
Broncos ownership foots the bill for all new field again in 2024
One of the big reasons for that is that the ownership group has proven its willingness to do whatever it takes to make it safer for the players to play, including ripping out the field in the middle of the season and putting in a new field entirely.
Which they've now done three consecutive years.
For the third consecutive year, the Broncos have proactively installed a brand new field in-season at Empower Field at Mile High in the interest of player safety.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 13, 2024
The team brought in 14 truckloads of Kentucky Bluegrass from a turf farm in Platteville, Colo., and completed the… pic.twitter.com/skkvSByRFX
As the title of this article states, the ownership group is literally planting seeds to make sure players want to play in Denver. That will obviously include guys who aren't currently on the roster but are prospective free agents down the line.
NFL players obviously want to get paid, but in order to get paid, they've got to stay on the field. The Broncos are doing their part to make that happen.
It's such an advantage to have forward-thinking ownership like this, and the deep pockets have bigger impact than people realize. The Broncos were heavily involved in 2023 NFL free agency when they went out and got key starters like Mike McGlinchey, Ben Powers, and Zach Allen (among others), but they were relatively inactive by comparison in 2024. You just can't spend like that every year.
But with over $62 million in projected salary cap space for 2025, the Broncos are set up extremely well to not only be active in 2025 NFL free agency, but aggressive.
This could be one of the most exciting offseasons for the team in quite some time, especially with the development of quarterback Bo Nix this season. The Broncos have every reason to go after some studs in free agency, spend some money, and get better talent around their young franchise quarterback.
And things like putting in a new field when one gets worn down, building a brand-new training facility, and taking proactive measures to ensure the health and safety of the players? Those types of things are going to get noticed by agents around the league who will want their clients to play for Denver.