Denver Broncos

Denver sits with $32.7M in cap room ranked 11th leaguewide and a league-best $1.0M in dead money, giving the front office real spending power right now, though next year's room tightens sharply to $2.0M.

24 contracts expiring

Madden Tools Analysis

Six starting spots have weak depth behind the starter.

Denver holds eight picks in the next draft including six first-rounders spread across rounds one through seven, and 22 picks over three years with three first-rounders, giving the front office genuine draft leverage to accelerate or reshape the roster.

• Acquired: Round 7 from Saints, this draft

Denver's top strength is a defense headlined by one of the league's best cornerbacks and a loaded defensive front, while the weakest spot is a WILL linebacker room that ranks near the bottom of the league in both starter and depth quality.

• HBhigh

  J.K. Dobbins starts at 81 overall but the position ranks 28th in starter quality leaguewide, making an upgrade at running back the team's most pressing offensive need.

• WILLhigh

  Justin Strnad starts at WILL but ranks 25th at the position leaguewide, and the depth behind him ranks 30th, making this the thinnest spot on the entire roster.

• LGlow

  Ben Powers holds the starting left guard job at 74 overall, ranking 21st leaguewide, and his release economics make him a natural cut or upgrade target.

• TElow

  Evan Engram starts at 78 overall but the position ranks 22nd leaguewide in starter quality and 19th in depth, leaving tight end as a secondary but real roster gap.

• 64Jarrett StidhamQBJarrett Stidham sits third on the QB depth chart behind Bo Nix and Sam Ehlinger, and releasing him frees $6.0M against $2.0M in dead money, making him an easy roster economics cut.Frees $6.0M · $2.0M dead
• 76D.J. JonesDTD.J. Jones is the second-string DT behind Zach Allen at 76 overall, and cutting him frees $10.1M against $4.4M in dead money to redirect toward higher-priority needs.Frees $10.1M · $4.4M dead
• 74Ben PowersLGBen Powers starts at LG but ranks 21st leaguewide at only 74 overall, and releasing him frees $12.5M against $5.7M in dead money, creating the single largest cap recapture on the roster.Frees $12.5M · $5.7M dead
• 78Evan EngramTEEvan Engram starts at TE at 78 overall but the position is a stated low-severity need, and cutting him frees $11.0M against $3.1M in dead money to fund a more impactful upgrade.Frees $11.0M · $3.1M dead
• 57Sam EhlingerQBSam Ehlinger is the third-string quarterback at just 57 overall, and releasing him costs nothing in dead money while freeing $2.0M with no cap consequence.Frees $2.0M · $0 dead

Denver is built around a strong defensive identity, anchored by Pat Surtain II, Zach Allen, Nik Bonitto, and Jonathon Cooper, and a young quarterback in Bo Nix who has room to grow alongside a genuinely elite offensive line. Quinn Meinerz at 27 and Nik Bonitto at 26 give the franchise premium Superstar-trait talents in the prime of their careers, while Talanoa Hufanga and Jaylen Waddle add youth and depth on both sides of the ball. The immediate concerns are the running back and WILL linebacker positions, both of which rank near the bottom of the league. Garett Bolles and Alex Singleton are dependable starters now but are entering the late stages of their careers, so succession planning at left tackle and middle linebacker will become necessary within the next couple of seasons. With $32.7M in cap room ranked 11th in the league and the lowest dead cap in the league at $1.0M, Denver has the financial flexibility to patch those holes in free agency while Bo Nix develops into the long-term centerpiece of the offense.

The Denver Broncos were founded on August 14, 1959, when minor-league baseball owner Bob Howsam was awarded a charter franchise in the upstart American Football League (AFL), and they began play in 1960 in Denver, Colorado. Denver won the first-ever AFL game, a 13-10 victory over the Boston Patriots on September 9, 1960, but the decade that followed was bleak: the Broncos compiled a 39-97-4 record across the AFL's ten seasons, the worst of any original AFL club, and were the only original AFL team never to post a winning season or reach the league title game. The franchise nearly relocated in 1965 before a local ownership group led by the Phipps brothers stepped in, and the 1967 signing of Syracuse running back Floyd Little, nicknamed 'The Franchise', helped stabilize the club. Denver joined the NFL in the 1970 AFL-NFL merger. The Broncos' first sustained success arrived in the mid-1970s: Denver posted its first winning season in 1973 under John Ralston, and in 1977, first-year head coach Red Miller and the vaunted 'Orange Crush' 3-4 defense, anchored by linebacker Randy Gradishar, carried the team to a 12-2 record and its first Super Bowl (XII), a loss to the Dallas Cowboys. The defining modern era began in 1983 with the arrival of quarterback John Elway, who reached five Super Bowls and authored signature moments such as 'The Drive.' Under owner Pat Bowlen and head coach Mike Shanahan, Elway and MVP running back Terrell Davis finally broke through, winning back-to-back titles: Super Bowl XXXII over the Green Bay Packers (31-24, Davis MVP) and Super Bowl XXXIII over the Atlanta Falcons (34-19, Elway MVP in his final game). After a playoff drought, the Peyton Manning era (2012-2015) delivered a defense-driven 24-10 win over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50, the franchise's third championship. The Broncos hired Super Bowl-winning coach Sean Payton in 2023, drafted Bo Nix in 2024, and rapidly returned to contention, going 14-3 and reaching the AFC Championship Game in 2025.