The Denver Broncos were close to a Super Bowl in the 2025 season, and the moves they made in the 2026 offseason prove they are going for it all.
The decision to trade for Sean Payton to become head coach of the team back in 2023 has been a monumental shift in the culture of the franchise, which was embarrassingly bad as of late in the 2022 season. The Broncos had been in the midst of one of the most brutal stretches of bad football in franchise history, but Payton has come in and turned things around.
Now, the team has enviable depth across the board and one of the best all-around rosters in the league. They've found players in the draft, free agency, and via trade to make up what could be the next Super Bowl winner.
Even though it was a relatively quiet offseason in terms of outside moves, the top 7 moves the Broncos did make are undeniable needle-movers.
The best seven moves of the Broncos' 2026 offseason, ranked
7. Drafting Tyler Onyedim
The Broncos traded out of the 2nd round and into the top end of the 3rd round where they selected Texas A&M defensive tackle Tyler Onyedim. Although Onyedim wasn't the guy appearing in many mock drafts for the Broncos, he makes a lot of sense for what the team needed the most.
After John Franklin-Myers left in free agency, the Broncos had to replenish their depth on the defensive front. They've now got a couple of young players with upside in Onyedim and 2025 3rd-round pick Sai'vion Jones.
Onyedim is going to be expected to compete for significant snaps as a rookie as the team looks to replace Franklin-Myers, and he has the NFL-ready physical traits to earn those snaps. Onyedim also played a number of positions at Texas A&M and can give Vance Joseph that positional versatility early on.
6. Drafting Jonah Coleman
One of the biggest reasons the Broncos' offensive attack lacked balance last season was the drop-off of the running game in the second half as well as the postseason.
When JK Dobbins went down with a season-ending injury in Week 10, the Broncos simply had no answer, even with 2nd-round pick RJ Harvey in the mix. The team had players like Jaleel McLaughlin and Tyler Badie available, but neither of those guys could seize a bigger role in the running game when the team needed it the most.
So the team went out in the 4th round and picked up Washington star Jonah Coleman, who was one of the best and most underrated backs in this year's rookie class. Coleman was at or near the top of his class when it comes to yards after contact, first downs/touchdowns per rush, yards after the catch, pass protection grade, and more.
Coleman's arrival puts players like McLaughlin and Badie on notice, but also puts some pressure on RJ Harvey in his 2nd season. This is a true three-down back who has future starter qualities, and the Broncos stole him thanks to a weaker class at the position.
5. Keeping Ben Powers
There was a lot of talk going into the offseason about whether or not the Broncos would keep Ben Powers as their starting left guard.
Because Powers has a cap hit of $18.155 million this year -- the final year of his deal with the team -- many assumed he could be a salary cap casualty, especially coming off of a year in which he missed significant time due to injury.
Instead, the Broncos decided to just stick it out through the final year of Powers's deal, which represents unrivaled continuity on the offensive line for 2026. This starting unit has now been together for three seasons, and four of the five (including Powers) are going on four years in a row together.
The Broncos' run game was significantly better with Powers in the lineup last season, and playing for a new contract, he's going to have a chip on his shoulder.
4. Re-signing Justin Strnad
The Broncos decided to stick with the linebacker duo of Alex Singleton and Justin Strnad this offseason, re-signing both players to multi-year contracts and moving on from 2025 free agent pickup Dre Greenlaw.
At this point in his career, Justin Strnad is simultaneously one of the longest-tenured Broncos and also one of the roster's most mysterious players. It's not that we've never seen Strnad play before, but when has he ever entered training camp as an unquestioned starter in the defense?
Never.
Strnad has been one of the best linebackers on the team each of the last two seasons, but he's never even played 60 percent of the snaps. It's going to be fun to see what he can do with a full workload on top of a full training camp with the #1 defense. We might be in for a surprise breakout season from Strnad.
3. Re-signing JK Dobbins
There is definitely some inherent risk with the Broncos re-signing running back JK Dobbins, who is coming off of yet another season-ending injury.
Dobbins's career, up to this point, has been defined by unfortunate injury luck. He hasn't struggled with soft tissue injuries, but major injuries of the "freak" variety. And this season, Dobbins is manifesting a fully healthy year. Not that he hasn't done that in the past, but it seems he's more determined than ever to stay healthy and prove that he can be one of the best backs in the league for 17 games plus the playoffs.
Through 10 games last season, Dobbins was top 5 in the league in overall rushing yards, yards per carry, and explosive runs of 10+ yards. The Broncos were impressed enough with his recovery that they gave him a two-year deal in free agency, fending off teams like the Jaguars who were also competing to sign him.
Dobbins is an extremely underrated player because of his injury history. He's capable of big things, so hopefully this is the year he can stay on the field and reward the faith the Broncos have put in him as their top back.
2. Promoting Davis Webb to offensive coordinator
Anytime other top-tier organizations around the NFL are trying to hire someone away from your coaching staff, it makes sense to let them spread their wings and fly.
It also makes sense to think of ways you can keep those coveted coaches around, which is what the Denver Broncos did with Davis Webb. The team promoted Webb from QB coach/pass game coordinator to offensive coordinator and play-caller. The latter is the biggest development of the offseason, arguably.
Sean Payton has never delegated play-calling offensively as long as he's been a head coach in the NFL, but he's giving that responsibility to Webb, one of the most talented young coaches in the NFL. After getting looks from teams like Buffalo, Baltimore, Las Vegas, and others, Webb decided to stick around in Denver where he's now going to call plays.
And simply because of the fact that Webb is taking over for Payton, it feels like there is all the more reason to be optimistic that we'll see a variety of things:
- More balanced offense (1st in passing attempts, 19th in rushing attempts in 2025)
- More efficient usage of different personnel
- More involvement for tight ends in the passing game
- More tempo and pace
- More efficient overall operation
Sean Payton described late last season his roles as driving in the rain at night, and you could feel that watching the team. It wasn't like Payton was doing a bad job overall -- he's still one of the best offensive minds in football -- but having someone else call his offense while he plays the role of CEO of the team benefits everyone.
And keeping Davis Webb means more continuity on the staff for Bo Nix, something he hasn't had at any level.
1. Trading for Jaylen Waddle
The Denver Broncos trading for Jaylen Waddle really cannot be overstated in its importance, nor is there really any amount of hyperbole that could possibly trump what the team itself has said about the addition.
Earlier this offseason, Davis Webb himself compared the addition of Waddle for the Broncos to the trade the Buffalo Bills once made to acquire Stefon Diggs heading into Josh Allen's 3rd season. And we all saw how crucial that move was for Allen's development as a player.
Bo Nix said during mandatory minicamp that Waddle brings an element of explosiveness that's been missing from the offense for two years.
Sean Payton was gushing about Waddle to the media after seeing a handful of practices from him.
After doing virtually nothing in free agency (except bringing back their own players), the Broncos took the biggest swing of the Sean Payton era by sending 1st- and 3rd-round picks to the Dolphins for Waddle. And no matter what anyone says, he'll be expected to be the missing piece for this team in pursuit of a Super Bowl win.
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