Denver Broncos' Offseason: The Good, Bad, and Ugly

The longest-feeling Denver Broncos offseason in recent memory is mostly in the books. The entirety of the offseason training program is now in the rearview, and all that's left is the six-week NFL summer.

Then training camp hits in late July, and we'll be off to the 2026 races. In the meantime, though, we're still analyzing what we saw during the offseason triaining program.

To put a bow on things, we're breaking down the good, the bad, and the ugly of the Broncos' offseason.

The Good: Bo Nix Returns to Practice

Broncos Country was anxious enough about Nix's health and recovery from ankle surgery. But when he had to go back under the knife in April for a clean-up procedure, it only added to the pit in fans' stomach.

We later learned that Nix's clean-up surgery was due to some painful bone spurs and that undergoing the procedure when he did was about getting ahead of the curve and eliminating it as a possibility during the football season. It was going to happen one way or another, but because Nix was so ahead of schedule in his recovery, he opted to get it done in April, even though it came at the cost of a few missed practices when OTAs rolled around.

However, Nix was out there on Day 1 of mandatory minicamp, which assuaged a lot of angst in Broncos Country. He was limited to individual drills on Day 1, but he progressed on Day 2 to some 7-on-7 action during team period.

If Broncos head coach Sean Payton hadn't cut minicamp short by one day, perhaps we would have seen Nix progress even further to some 11-on-11 drills. But Nix looked good in his limited action in minicamp, and all signs point to him being ready to rock and roll when the veterans report to Broncos camp on July 28.

The question marks surrounding Nix hung like a pall over much of the offseason, but now it's time to let the winds of optimism blow it away because the Broncos are in great shape to repeat as AFC West champions.

Exhale. Nix is okay. And that's good.

The Bad: Veterans Absent From Mandatory Minicamp

Outside of Nix watch, the Broncos had a healthy offseason. Unlike last year, when former linebacker Dre Greenlaw injured his quad during offseason workouts away from the team facility, there were no such setbacks this time around.

However, fast forward to mandatory minicamp, and there were a couple of noteworthy absences. Starting left guard Ben Powers missed practice, as did second-year defensive lineman Sai'vion Jones. That was bad. However, the good aspect is that both were excused by the Broncos.

It's unclear why Powers and Jones were absent, but it sounds like the former is nursing an injury. It may have something to do with the torn biceps he suffered in Week 5 last season, which landed him on injured reserve until Week 16. But we don't know for sure.

“Well, first: Ben’s doing well," Payton said during minicamp. "Ben’s right on schedule to where we thought he’d be at this point.”

The Broncos have great depth at guard, including the recently re-signed Alex Palczewski, 2026 fourth-round pick Kage Casey, and 2023 sixth-rounder Nick Gargiulo. The Broncos opted to retain Powers and didn't fiddle with his contract as he enters the final year of his deal. He's the plan at left guard, but we still aren't sure why he was absent from minicamp.

As for Jones, again, we don't know, but he could use all the practices he can get. A 2025 third-round pick, he essentially red-shirted his rookie year, seeing very few snaps.

With John Franklin-Myers departed in free agency, the hope was that Jones could play a role in the succession plan at his spot on the defensive line. There's still plenty of runway for Jones to do just that, but it's now a situation worth monitoring.

The Ugly: Jonathon Cooper's Arrest

NFL teams hold their breath during the offseason, hoping their players can stay out of trouble. For the most part, the Broncos have been able to do that under the Payton regime, but then Cooper was arrested at the end of the team's first OTA camp earlier this month.

Cooper was charged with domestic violence and criminal mischief. One week later, to the day, he was arrested again after the second week of OTAs concluded. He's innocent until proven guilty, but suffice it to say, the Broncos were very disappointed, especially with his second arrest.

From there, the Broncos opted to excuse Cooper from mandatory minicamp, likely in an effort to keep his off-the-field legal drama from distracting from the team's offseason pursuits. Time will tell whether the Broncos ask him to stay away from training camp until his criminal case is resolved, but the team will face a big decision, especially if he's convicted in court.

Even if Cooper isn't convicted, the NFL is expected to take disciplinary action under the Personal Conduct Policy. NFL players are held to a higher standard, so the league reserves the right to hand down fines and suspension to a player based on charges alone, and after Cooper's second arrest, it all but tied the league's hands.

Cooper will miss time in 2026, and that's if the Broncos decide to keep him. They could choose to release him at some point, which would be a shame, but the charges he faces are disturbing.

The silver lining is that the Broncos are still very deep at outside linebacker. The group is still headlined by the All-Pro Nik Bonitto, but minicamp showcased the Broncos' depth even further.

The second-year Que Robinson looked very, very good, as did Jonah Elliss, who's entering Year 3. Both are recent mid-round draft picks. Plus, the Broncos have Dondrea Tillman, who has produced nine sacks as a rotational piece over the past two seasons, as well as 2023 third-rounder Drew Sanders.

Many Broncos fans wanted the team to bring back Von Miller before the Cooper arrests, but those voices have only gotten louder since. So far, the Broncos have stood pat on the Miller situation, and based on how their depth edge rushers have looked, it's easy to see why.

Cooper's arrest was ugly. Let's hope it doesn't distract the Broncos any more than it already has.

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