Broncos Insider: WR & ILB Aren't 'Priorities' This Offseason

According to Sean Payton, the Denver Broncos' wide receiver corps is in good shape. The common perception among large swaths of Broncos Country and the national media paints a desperate picture at wide receiver, but Payton doesn't see it that way.

The Broncos have Courtland Sutton under contract, Marvin Mims Jr. is coming off another Pro Bowl year as a returner, becoming an explosive weapon on offense, and Devaughn Vele and Troy Franklin each had flashes in 2024. Meanwhile, the Broncos have a quarterback on the rise in Bo Nix, who raises the stock of each of those receivers.

On Saturday, The Denver Gazette's Woody Paige reinforced Payton's wide receiver dismissal and crossed another need position off the list of offseason priorities.

"Despite the driveling of dolts, the Broncos’ priorities are not wide receiver and inside linebacker," Paige wrote.

That doesn't mean the Broncos won't add receiver talent this offseason at some point, but it doesn't seem to be a priority. However, Paige's claim that inside linebacker isn't a priority would somewhat conflict with Payton's remarks to Kay Adams on the Up & Adams Show ahead of Super Bowl LIX.

"We'll look closely through the middle," Payton told Adams. "Inside linebacker, safety—there'll be a few other positions."

Payton could be talking about re-signing Cody Barton and/or Justin Strnad, or he could have meant that the Broncos will "look closely" at the free-agent crop of linebackers as well as the NFL draft. With Alex Singleton being the only noteworthy linebacker under contract and coming off a torn ACL, it's hard to believe that adding linebacker help isn't on Denver's offseason docket, but Paige claims it isn't a priority.

Over the years I've been doing this, I've come to trust Paige's reporting. So while he does cast the Broncos' linebacker needs in a different light, I'm not quite removing it from the list because I have eyes to see and ears to hear what Payton told Adams.

"The urgency is for a running back and a tight end," Paige wrote. "And one has to be, as Payton publicly proclaims, an amalgam."

Paige is speaking of the 'joker' role that Payton is seeking. Payton defined the 'joker' as either a tight end or a pass-catching running back who can work the middle of the field.

Paige asserts Michigan tight end Colston Loveland and Tennessee running back Dylan Sampson as the logical targets to fill Denver's needs in Rounds 1 and 2. Loveland has been one of the most often mocked prospects to the Broncos at No. 20 overall. Sampson is an interesting second-round choice for Denver and one worth exploring as we get closer to the draft.

Time will tell how the Broncos maneuver at linebacker and what decisions are made. If the team had to go to war tomorrow, there would be a massive dearth of proven ability at inside linebacker with Barton and Strnad now unrestricted free agents.

I'm inclined to believe Payton when he went to bat for the Broncos' receiver corps, though. But he's also a smoke-screen artist and could be trying to get the NFL to zig while the Broncos zag.

Stay tuned.