Why Sean Payton's Confidence in the 2026 Broncos Carries More Weight This Time

Last summer, Sean Payton made some waves by publicly naming the 2025 Denver Broncos as one of the handful of his teams over the years that could compete for a Super Bowl in the football season to come.

At the time, Payton's words were met with derision and some scorn around the NFL. How dare he compare a team that had just produced its first double-digit winning season since 2015 to some of his great New Orleans Saints teams helmed by Drew Brees? This team is only two years removed from winning five games, and now he's saying the Broncos could be a Super Bowl contender?

Payton's read turned out to be 100% on the money, and his words would have been realized had quarterback Bo Nix not suffered a freak ankle injury on the third-to-last play of the Broncos' 33-30 overtime win over the Buffalo Bills in the divisional round on the playoffs.

Fast forward to this summer, and the question now is whether the 2026 Broncos check those same boxes. Payton didn't hesitate to answer the question directly at the podium on Wednesday after the Broncos' "acclimation practice," explaining why this squad is qualified for such lofty expectations.

“Yeah, this is one of them," Payton said. "I think you have to play good defense to be one of those teams. You have to get good quarterback play. You have to be good on the offensive and defensive lines. You have to be well coached. I think we’re all of the above.”

After everything the Broncos achieved in 2025, Payton's Super Bowl expectations carry more weight this time around.

Checking the Boxes

Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix (10) during mini camp at Broncos Park. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Broncos definitely check all the boxes Payton mentioned. Nix won 14 games as a second-year quarterback, coming into his own, especially as a clutch-time player. The Broncos have a bona fide franchise quarterback, and he's only entering Year 3.

The Broncos' defense once again led the league in sacks, and fielded one of the best run and pass units in the NFL. The 2026 defensive line will be without John Franklin-Myers, who departed in free agency, but it's still led by the All-Pro presence of Zach Allen. It's a deep room.

The Broncos have had one of the NFL's best offensive lines now for years, a feat that Payton is especially proud of. And for the third straight year, the Broncos will return all five starters, including two first-team All-Pros in left tackle Garett Bolles and right guard Quinn Meinerz.

Lastly, when it comes to the Broncos being well-coached, there's no doubt about that. Payton has hoisted the Lombardi Trophy as a head coach with the 2009 Saints.

Even in his early 60s, Payton is still clearly at the top of his game. The Broncos have won 32 games in the three years he's been here; they dethroned the Kansas City Chiefs for the AFC West crown, and secured the No. 1 playoff seed in the AFC. That doesn't happen by accident.

The Broncos' coaching staff was once again highly coveted around the NFL during January's hiring cycle. Defensive coordinator Vance Joseph and new offensive coordinator Davis Webb were both in consideration for head-coaching jobs, while the Broncos lost multiple key assistants to promotions elsewhere.

Despite the league's interest in his assistants, Payton found a way to keep the most important coaches: namely, Joseph and Webb. Throw in special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi, one of the most respected third-phase coaches in the NFL, and the Broncos clearly check that last box Payton mentioned.

The Continuity Key

Denver Broncos running back J.K. Dobbins (27) during mini camp at Broncos Park. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Broncos are poised to defend their AFC West crown with authority this season, despite a difficult first half of the schedule. They returned 90% of their snaps from last year, and Nix is healthy, fully cleared, and back on the practice field at training camp.

The Broncos know how close they were to achieving their Super Bowl ambitions, before the Football Gods pulled the rug out from beneath them. The 2026 squad, suffice it to say, embraces the high expectations and is looking to make up for lost time, so to speak.

“Certainly this is a team that understands or has expectations of playing in the postseason, and yet there’s still that journey that starts again," Payton said.

None of this is to say the Broncos can't improve. It's kind of a shocking notion, considering they won 14 games last season, but there's plenty of room for improvement, and that should concern the NFL.

The Takeaway

Payton doesn't preach the cliché message of a team looking to pick up where it left off. In his opinion, the NFL doesn't work like that; every team dumps the board game upside down each year, collects its pieces, and starts again at square one.

Still, all the experience this team gleaned last year will certainly count for something. When the starting gun goes off in September, this won't be the same Broncos from the year prior. They're wiser, more confident, and certainly tougher.

"There’s a topic. Yesterday, with the initial team meeting, it was hitting some of those bullet points that can play against these odds, for instance, of so many one-score games," Payton said. "Where are the areas we’ve really got to look at ourselves and say, ‘We can improve here.’ I haven’t stood up there with a Lombardi Trophy yet and said, ‘Hey…’ Not yet."

Payton hasn't stood up there with the Lombardi Trophy as head coach of the Broncos... yet. But that is absolutely the plan as this young team gears up for the 2026 season.

Sign up for our free Denver Broncos On SI newsletter, and get breaking Broncos news delivered to your inbox daily!

Add us as a preferred source on Google