With nearly $28 million in cap space, Denver strategically builds its championship roster, free from Wilson's past financial burden.
This Denver Broncos’ offseason will be one of the most important in recent memory. After taking the AFC by storm in 2025 and coming one Bo Nix injury away from a Super Bowl, there is a lot of work to do for the Denver front office to return in 2026 still atop the conference.
Denver heads into the offseason with nearly $28 million in cap space available to spend. Finally free from the $85 million in dead cap created by the Russell Wilson release, the Broncos have a lot more flexibility to strengthen their squad heading into next season.
Wilson’s release in March of 2024 resulted in Denver taking on a whopping $53 million in dead money charges in 2024 and another $32 million last season.
Despite tens of millions going toward paying Wilson’s money, the Broncos still found ways to improve their squad all the way into a No. 1 seed in the AFC last season. After returning to the playoffs for the first time in eight years in 2024, Denver went even further in 2025, coming just a few points away from a Super Bowl appearance.
"[I'm] proud of the way everyone else handled it, and looked at developing young players and didn't use it as a built-in excuse," head coach Sean Payton said. "We evaluate wisely. We draft wisely."
Now free of the dead money taking up huge chunks of their cap space, the Broncos are in a much better position than they have been in the last couple of years to make yet another push.
According to ESPN’s Jeff Legwood, however, the Broncos aren’t looking to be one of the most aggressive teams this summer. Instead, Payton prefers the phrase ‘opportunistically aggressive.’ Broncos owner/CEO Greg Penner feels similarly.
“In terms of free agency ... I get a little worried about just the pure phrase of 'aggressive,' because you can be aggressive, but you want to do it in a smart way," Penner said. "... We'll definitely take an aggressive approach, but we're also not just going to bring in somebody that's not right for this locker room.”
The Broncos have several of their own players who played big roles in 2025’s success set to hit free agency this offseason. Defensive tackle John Franklin-Myers, linebacker Alex Singleton, and linebacker Justin Strnad are all set to hit free agency. After playing significant roles in Denver’s great defense in 2025, the front office needs to prioritize bringing back at least two of Franklin-Myers, Singleton, and Strnad.
Denver also desperately needs to use a chunk of their money to add some offensive weapons this offseason. The Broncos are faced with a thin receiver, tight end, and running back room this offseason and need to spend in those areas if they want to solve the issues that the team faced all season long in 2025.
Though they are in a better financial position without Wilson’s dead money haunting the team, there are still many areas to address, and not a ton of money to do it for the Broncos. Their approach over the last couple of years, however, serves as an indicator that the front office in Denver is more than capable of successfully tackling this offseason.