A year ago, Sean Payton had reason to fist-pump on his commute home.
The Broncos had just won a tough free agency battle for Dre Greenlaw.
San Francisco put on the hardest of sells on to try to keep the talented linebacker — head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch flew to Texas to try to talk him out of leaving — but Greenlaw ultimately chose the Broncos.
By the time training camp started, Greenlaw had already missed the entire offseason program due to a quadriceps injury sustained in April, but Denver head coach Sean Payton still had reason to puff his chest out when asked about winning the free agency battle.
Broncos NFL free agency 2026 tracker: J.K. Dobbins, Alex Singleton are back, but Broncos cut Dre Greenlaw
“When you get in the competition, those competitive juices are (flowing),” he said in late July. “You’re trying to put your best foot forward. … Two years ago, I don’t know that we win that battle. I don’t know that we do. But we did (this year).”
One year later, Greenlaw is gone. This time around, Denver opened the legal tampering period from a different posture. They checked on external players but declined to push offers far enough to convince anybody to jump.
They watched from the beach as the first wave of free agency crashed ashore.
The action Denver did take: Continue a run of retention that dates back 18 months by agreeing to two-year contracts for running back J.K. Dobbins and inside linebacker Alex Singleton.
They served as an encore to a four-deal Sunday that saw Denver retain inside linebacker Justin Strnad, tight ends Adam Trautman and Nate Adkins and quarterback Sam Ehlinger.
The Broncos also informed Greenlaw of his release, a source said, leaving Singleton and Strnad once again atop position group Greenlaw was signed 12 months ago to upgrade.
That sequence in and of itself is a lesson NFL clubs, players and fan bases learn over and over again, year after year. Free agency can be great, but it is not a sure bet.
Players that end up on the open market typically have some form of baggage, be it the burden of injury, underperformance, age or something else.
Sometimes you hit. Sometimes you don’t. Overpaying is part of the deal.
The Broncos have hit more than they’ve missed in free agency the past three years, but this time around, they apparently didn’t like what they saw enough to wade out into anything resembling questionable waters.
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General manager George Paton forecast as much last month at the NFL Combine despite noting the Broncos had flexibility and would operate with urgency.
“And yet you have to be measured and selective and make the right decisions,” Paton said then. “You can’t just go crazy just because you came three points from the Super Bowl. We’ll be aggressive in that approach, but really measured and trying to make sound decisions.”
Taking that kind of approach to free agency is prudent, understandable, logical and probably smart more often than not.
The Broncos, assuming they can make it to where they want to go in 2026 without outside upgrades, however — particularly to their offensive playmaking— would count as none of those descriptors.
After all, Payton only weeks ago acknowledged Denver could be proud of a 14-3 season and simultaneously take a sober view of it.
“From my lens, we won a lot of games by one score or less,” said the coach, whose team went 12-3 in such contests between the regular and postseasons. “I’m not naive enough to think those games couldn’t have swung. And you could grab any two or three. Where is the meat on the bone? The meat on the bone exists with our takeaways. That has to improve. Our run game consistency. Meat on the bone relative to a number of things that we won despite maybe not being as good as others.
“I think that’s the only way to look at it relative to this team writing its own chapter and getting us to where we want to go, which is obviously a game and a half further than where we went.”
After one day of free agency, then, the question becomes exactly how the Broncos will put themselves in a position to leave less meat in 2026.
Not willing to break the bank
They still have plenty of options, even if the list is shorter than it was at 9:30 a.m. Monday morning.
When the bell rang on the legal tampering period, players started coming off the board quickly.
Sources told The Post Denver had interest in running back Travis Etienne and wide receiver Jalen Nailor, for example. Those players fetched $13 million per year each from New Orleans and Las Vegas, respectively.
Denver clearly wasn’t willing to go that high. Instead of Etienne, they circled back with Dobbins and got a two-year deal done. Financial terms weren’t immediately known, but Dobbins will play at a much more modest average annual value.
The best inside linebacker available, Jacksonville’s Devin Lloyd, agreed to terms with Carolina on Monday night. Las Vegas, as one example, overhauled its room by agreeing to major deals with Nakobe Dean and Quay Walker in a matter of mid-afternoon minutes. The Broncos locked up guys they know well and who are trusted implicitly by defensive coordinator Vance Joseph.
They did similarly with Trautman and Adkins on Sunday as it became clear, sources say, that free agent options at tight end were in line to return to their original teams, command strong deals or both.
DENVER , CO - JANUARY 17: Adam Trautman (82) of the Denver Broncos waves to his supporters before the game against the Buffalo Bills at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver, Colorado on Saturday, January 17, 2026. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)
DENVER , CO – JANUARY 17: Adam Trautman (82) of the Denver Broncos waves to his supporters before the game against the Buffalo Bills at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver, Colorado on Saturday, January 17, 2026. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)
There are still interesting receiving options on the market, but Denver remains bullish on its group and next month’s draft has a strong crop of possibilities, too.
So instead of splashing around in new pools on Day 1, the Broncos ran it back. That won’t remain the case indefinitely. They will invariably bring in new players via free agency and then infuse their roster with new draft picks, too. They could swing a trade along the way, too, be it a major one or a minor one.
In all, though, they clearly believe in the roster they put together that led them to a 14-3 record, the No. 1 seed in the AFC and then within four points — and perhaps a Bo Nix ankle fracture — from the Super Bowl.
Over the past 18 months, Denver has poured more than $400 million into extensions on their own roster. At some point, if you build your team right, that becomes the primary way in which you spend money.
The Broncos are in the healthiest financial shape they’ve been in years after finally shedding Russell Wilson’s dead cap charges, but they’ve already used a substantial amount of that money on their own players.
As Payton and Paton said, that’s a strong position to work from.
It also won’t be enough, which sets up an intriguing second stanza as the week progresses and a critical seven weeks through the NFL Draft.
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