Yahoo Sports’ Jason Fitz and Frank Schwab discuss the current state of Denver’s depth and how long it will take for the Broncos to become championship contenders. Listen and subscribe to the “Zero Blitz” podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you love.
Video Transcript
My biggest concern with the Broncos is how long this rebuild will last.
If you think about it, they traded for Sean Payton, they traded for Russell Wilson, they gave up five first and second round draft picks for those two guys.
No matter what NFL roster you look at, it’s a good one way or another.
First and second round picks are the foundation of a team.
Having given the Denver Broncos as many as five first and second round picks over the past few drafts, I have come to like them much more.
This was supposed to be the foundation of the team for the next few years, but they’re just zero.
Add in the cap hit of Russell Wilson that will be coming down on them for the next few years.
And things are looking really dire for the Denver Broncos right now.
The only thing they have is a great coach. Sean Payton is a great coach.
But I doubt he’ll be here for long because of all this confusion.
If this is a five- or six-year rebuild, will Sean Payton still be here in 2028 or is he just a nobody?
Back to Fox II, I don’t like it anymore.
I think these are real questions for the Denver Broncos.
Meanwhile, most NFL teams spend two to three years rebuilding.
Look at the Houston Texans, they’re going to be the team we quote all the time.
right.
You know, if you hit a home run with your quarterback and you hit a home run with your coach, you could be a championship contender again in a year or two.
The Broncos just can’t see it.
This is a long-term issue, and I think so considering how much this fan base has suffered since Peyton Manning retired.
That’s pretty depressing, isn’t it?
I’m not lying.
Maybe Payton can get him out of this situation.
Maybe Bo Nix will quickly become a great player and lead his team to the playoffs in a few years.
But if there’s a long-term rebuild going on in the NFL, I think it could be the Denver Broncos.
Yeah.
So, you know, I love cooking shows, and I don’t know if you’ve seen it, but there’s a show called “Next Level Chef.”
got it.
All the chefs are on the third floor, second floor, first floor, etc., and they put their hands against the wall and see something fall and then the ingredients on top of it.
So one of the things a chef has to do is not only be aware that they are creating a dish, but they also have to rise to any challenge.
While this platform is running, they must have everything they need to cook a protein or an entire dish.
And half the time, you’ll see a great chef standing there at the end, they just didn’t grab the good stuff.
So he looked around and said there was nothing he could use to cook with.
That’s how I feel about Sean Payton right now.
It seems like Sean Payton looks around and thinks, oh, for some reason, I just didn’t get a good enough protein and, as you say, none of the accompaniments are good enough to make a dish as decent as the Broncos’.
I believe they are part of this process of stripping it down to the studs.
But it’s important to remember what they gave up before they got to this process, because not doing so will make it that much harder to rebuild.
But there is no other way around it.
They will need time.
Even if Bo Nick becomes a Class A quarterback, they’re going to have to surround Bo with more talent, and that’s going to take a couple of great offseasons.
Frank, in my opinion, even in the best offseason you can imagine, you’d be lucky to get four or five.
These are starters you can’t miss and build around for the future, and I’m talking draft and free agency combined.
While it would be a home run to land four or five breakthrough players in one free agent or off season, the Broncos will likely need as many as 16 new starters over the next few years, even if they hit a home run with the quarterback. This is true, and their roster is really depleted.
So Patrick Celtan and, you know, that’s what the Broncos are right now and while some of the young players may develop quickly, I don’t really like the direction the Denver Broncos are going.
