The Denver Broncos have been a team on the decline for several seasons now but new head coach Sean Payton has been brought in to change the culture and restore a winning attitude to a once proud franchise.
Payton has been given the keys to the kingdom and he has a ton of influence on how this team is going to look going forward. The recent decision to release kicker Brandon McManus is evidence that he is not going to shy away from tough moves.
Payton will play the guys that give him the best chance to win regardless of how much money they make or what round they were drafted in. He has been around the league for a long time and knows what it takes to win.
With that in mind, who are some players who can ill afford to have a bad season? Here are four options.
Broncos who can't afford to have a down year in 2023: Garett Bolles
Garett Bolles still has two years remaining on his current deal but he has had an up-and-down career with the team since being selected in the first round of the 2017 draft.
He is coming off of a broken leg that forced him to miss much of the 2022 season and while he is still clearly the starting left tackle for this team, Payton and the rest of the front office could decide to search for a better answer if Bolles gets hurt again or struggles this coming season.
Bolles got off to a rough start in his career, due in large part to all of the holding penalties he drew during his first three seasons in the league. Following the 2019 season, the team chose not to pick up his fifth-year option and it looked like Bolles could soon be on his way out.
But he stepped up in a big way in 2020 and played so well that the team chose to reward him with a four-year, $68 million extension.
Bolles needs a strong season as he missed all but five games last season and is now 30 years old. The Broncos may already have initiated plans to find a long-term answer at left tackle and poor play for Bolles would only speed that process up.
Broncos who can't afford to have a down year in 2023: Lloyd Cushenberry
Lloyd Cushenberry is technically the starting center for this team at the moment, but there is no guarantee of how long he will hold that spot.
Cushenberry has not played all that well since being drafted in the third round of the 2020 draft and the Broncos have added multiple options this offseason. While those options have not been flashy, big-move names, the team has brought in some players to at least push Cushenberry.
Kyle Fuller was signed in free agency and Alex Forsyth was drafted in the seventh round. The team also has Luke Wattenberg, who will be entering his second season in the league.
Cushenberry is listed as the starter but by no means is he locked in to be in that spot when the season kicks off. Any regression on his part at all will lead to him finding his way to the bench and quite possibly, looking for work somewhere else.
Broncos who can't afford to have a down year in 2023: Randy Gregory
After signing a big contract through free agency last offseason, Randy Gregory came to Denver and the Broncos were hopeful that they had just signed one of the game's best pass-rushers and that he and Bradley Chubb were going to combine to make life miserable for opposing quarterbacks.
That didn't even come close to happening.
Gregory played in just six games during his first year in Denver as a knee injury forced him to miss considerable time. As a result, he had just two sacks on the season.
His signing was a questionable one as a checkered past has always left a black eye on his career as a whole. He's a talented athlete, without any question, but to this point in his career, all of the pros don't outweigh the cons.
He will need to bounce back in a major way this season because Payton is not going to tolerate any off-the-field antics and another long-term injury will likely leave the team seeking new options.
Broncos who can't afford to have a down year in 2023: Russell Wilson
The Broncos' quarterback is not going to have the free pass that he had in 2022. While some fans may feel that Russell Wilson took too much blame for last season's struggles, others may feel he didn't get enough.
Simply put, Wilson was very bad in his first season in Denver. The trade looked bad from my perspective when it was made and it looked progressively worse as the season went on.
Wilson is going to have to be much better this season. Perhaps he wasn't a good fit for the system that Nathaniel Hackett wanted to run but Hackett is gone and Payton is here. He will have no choice but to be a good fit for Payton's offense.
If he's not, Payton likely will not be afraid to turn to Jarrett Stidham, who is not as far behind Wilson as you may think.
Would Payton actually bench Wilson, who the Broncos gave up a ton to get from the Seattle Seahawks last year? In my opinion, he will without hesitation. With that said, Wilson is going to have to be the Wilson we saw from 2012-2021 in Seattle and not the one we saw in Denver in 2022.