Always fun when Furman makes the NCAA men's basketball tournament:

This was a massive soundbite, as it turned out. I asked Paton about Strnad/Singleton specifically re: this deep ILB draft class. It's not just noting he'd "love" having them back, but that "we see these guys as Broncos." And then you have the contrast of Greenlaw's Jan. comments about the practices

I'm sure the social-media reaction to Alex Singleton returning will be chill and restrained

Price is intriguing to me because of his kickoff-return potential, too. They'd like to have a second quality KO returner to force opponents into pick-your-poison mode -- either kick to Mims, kick to the other returner, or you're trying for the perfect placement (and risk failing).

It's a priority. Figuring out the contract will be tricky; there's not a snug template to follow. But I know they want him back. I also expect him to be more involved in the offense this year, so ... it's possible they could offer him something, and he might want to wait.

J.K. Dobbins is a top-8, maybe a top-5 back when healthy. But as last year showed, you need a potential RB1 ready in reserve & Dobbins' history shows you MUST plan for missed time. So, let's see what comes next. Draft a Price/Coleman/Washington Jr., & the re-signing looks great.

Kenneth Walker gets $28.7 million in full guarantees and $15 million APY, per reports. That places him third among NFL RBs in full guarantees (behind Saquon Barkley and Ashton Jeanty's rookie deal) and T-3 in APY (tied with Derrick Henry).

Among 52 RBs with 200 touches the last two years, Walker is 39th in total success rate (rushing + receiving), 44th in rushing success rate, 48th in yards after contact per carry, 22nd in yards/carry. Excellent in broken-tackle rate (4th). But that's why SEA blanched at the tag $$

So, to give you some insight into my personal YouTube algorithm, a video compilation of CFL Rare Penalties came across this morning. Here's one of Alex Singleton (!) from 2018 with Calgary getting called for calling out the cadence prior to an opponent's field-goal attempt:

Let the legal tampering begin ...

Just an FYI, if the Broncos retain Alex Singleton, it's not just about George Paton and personnel ... it's the coaching staff that wants him back, too. As Vance Joseph said of Singleton last August, "He is my eyes and ears on the field."

If the NFL conducted its postseason in the same format as the Sun Belt Conference tournament, the Super Bowl would have taken place last Sunday.

In 14 career games vs. the Broncos, Maxx Crosby has 16 sacks and 25 QB hits. And no one has recorded more sacks of Bo Nix than Crosby; he has three. The Broncos will be thrilled to no longer see him twice a season.

Kenneth Walker III will get a massive contract, as far as running backs go. The Broncos shouldn't be the team that doles it out:

Nebraska RB Emmett Johnson talks about his meeting with the Broncos:. He describes Sean Payton as a “great guy” and “nonchalant”

Louisville WR Chris Bell, coming off a torn ACL, says if he could have run the 40 here, “I would have run a 4.3, for sure” …

Taking all the grades in the NFLPA report cards (posted via @kalynkahler.bsky.social) and adding them up in a GPA format, the Broncos would have gotten a 3.55 GPA. Six other teams were higher. The D grade for the locker room drags them down. That will surely improve in the new facility.

The Broncos are talking to plenty of inside linebackers here at the Combine, but George Paton would still "love" to have both Alex Singleton & Justin Strnad back. "Regardless of what's in the draft, we see these guys as Broncos. If we let those guys leave, what are we do --"

Webb will get zero honeymoon period. It may not be fair, but it is what it is.

Depends, who's left on the board?

You know how the Combine is. The nights are long and the alarm blasts early. Linebackers talk at 8 a.m. Eastern time. But I’m still going. AMA

There will be 2 chances to figure out who came out better: Webb or Kubiak. And here’s the thing: If Davis does well, there will be a head-coaching job with a team that CAN win the Super Bowl with quality ownership. Such as, say, Tampa Bay. I think he’d be a marvelous fit there in a year.

I’m looking forward to fewer bubble screens and sticking with the run a bit longer.

The best part of that was that it allowed me to introduce my daughter to a song that will always be associated with the 1997 Buccaneers for me.

Hey! Wanna know what I think of Sean Payton turning over play-calling to Davis Webb? Watch:

A restaurant that takes part of its space to pay tribute to the great Don Knotts is my kinda place

Sean Payton, on giving play-calling to Davis Webb: “It’s also being quicker, and look, it’s only if there’s someone that you feel is good enough to do that.” Made it clear that this decision is about wanting to give Webb a play-calling shot.

Sean Payton says Davis Webb will call plays for the Broncos offense

I cannot believe things have gotten to such a sorry-ass state to where a freaking Senator saying this is acceptable. Just say "Congratulations." And they wonder why people loathe the U.S.A. If I'd posted anything like what that Senator said as a teenager, my dad would have grounded me for a year.

Mark your calendars, Broncos fans: Sean Payton and George Paton are scheduled to speak with media at the NFL Scouting Combine next Tuesday at 3 and 3:15 p.m. MST, respectively.

NFL Network's Daniel Jeremiah (@MoveTheSticks) has @GeorgiaFootball LB CJ Allen mocked to the Broncos with the No. 30 pick. "I think he'll run, like a 4.5 once we get a chance to see him in Indy. He's just a real physical player," Jeremiah said.

News: The Chicago Bears are a step closer to building a new, retractable-roof stadium in Hammond, Indiana. Views: Hammond is the setting for "A Christmas Story." Thus, as the Raiders have a giant faux torch in Allegiant Stadium, the Bears should have a 100-foot tall leg lamp.

If the Broncos look to Day 2 of the draft for tight ends, who could be in their sights? Daniel Jeremiah of NFL Network offers three names: @stanfordfb.bsky.social's Sam Roush, Michigan's Marlin Klein and @ohiostatefb.bsky.social's Max Klare. Jeremiah breaks them down:

The Broncos could probably offer two R1 picks and either Zach Allen or Nik Bonitto and the Cardinals would probably say, "Keep going."

LoL, there are literally precious few things that make journalism worse than prediction markets. The ceaseless stampede to get involved with ANYTHING gambling-related is disgusting. I'm thankful that I don't have to pretend to give a damn about gambling anymore.

If I could just do whatever I wanted, money being no object, I think I'd consider taking up curling on a full-time basis

And when you make the Super Bowl, you’ve still won something: the AFC. They give you a trophy for that. Another banner goes up in the lobby of team HQ. The teams in the Super Bowl get remembered. The teams that lose in the conference-title games only get remembered by obsessives like me.

For the last time: It's ALWAYS better to make the Super Bowl than to not make it at all.

"My childhood was typical: summers in Rangoon, luge lessons ..."

Just eat the ball. I think that sticks with me more than the fourth down when I think of the opportunity lost. Just eat the damn ball. Because after all, as John Fox once said, “Sometimes a punt is not a bad play.”

True. Who thinks he has talent? “All Summer Long” is a crime against music & humanity, simultaneously murdering the legacies of Warren Zevon & Lynyrd Skynyrd. Anyone who voluntarily plays it should have their ability to choose music taken away for life, as cueing it up screams, “I have no taste.”

This year was a successful disappointment. Successful in winning 14 regular-season games, going two steps beyond the prior season, winning the first playoff game in a decade. A disappointment in squandering home-field advantage in the conference-title game (with self-inflicted wounds).

Proof that Twitter doesn’t reflect the reality of Earth:

I think there are some in Broncos Country still scarred by the SB losses of the 1980s (and SB XLVIII). But I think some have that all-or-nothing mentality -- either you win the Lombardi or the season is a failure. Otherwise known as the Ricky Bobby -- "first or last!" That's nonsensical to me.

The Broncos aren’t even in the top 10? I’m not a gambler, but I’d hop on that one

R.I.P. Ray Handley. Dealt an impossible hand trying to replace Bill Parcells with the Giants. But the shirt is eternal.

It’s always better to make it to the Super Bowl. Winning the AFC is still winning something. Winning a trophy, the Lamar Hunt Trophy. That’s a flag that flies forever, as they say in baseball. And losing with Stidham would have been tough, but everyone would have understood.

It was just on my mind. Then I wrote a little article about it.

And that ends the 2025 NFL season. Everyone is 0-0 again, returning to the same starting point. The arduous ascent to the summit begins anew.

Devon Witherspoon SHOULD be the MVP, full stop. The Seahawks picked him with the first-round pick they got in the 2023 draft via the Russell Wilson trade.