Sean Payton on Jalen Waddle and Why Denver Is Built Differently This Year One half away from the Super Bowl last year. Fifteen wins. A defense that dominated the line of scrimmage. A quarterback finding his footing. A city that believed again. And Sean Payton is the first one to tell you — none of that means anything if Denver does not do the work to be better in 2026. This is not a team that is resting on what happened last season. This is a team that has been shown the data, told the truth, and challenged to fall on the right side of history. Sean Payton sits down with Trey for the most honest and forward-looking conversation about the Denver Broncos heading into 2026 — the one score game warning, the Jalen Waddle addition, the Super Bowl goal, and what it actually takes to go from one half away to all the way. The One Score Game Warning Here is the stat Sean Payton showed his team this offseason. Over the last twenty years teams that won ten or more one score games in a playoff season followed that up with a playoff season approximately thirty-five percent of the time. One in three. The Kansas City Chiefs went from an NFL record seventeen straight one score wins including the postseason to not winning a single one score game the following year. Zero. Payton is not panicking about this. But he is not ignoring it either. He showed the team the data. Named the examples. Told them exactly where Denver is vulnerable — the two minute drill, the takeaway margin, the run game consistency in the second half of the season. The goal is not to keep winning one score games. The goal is to get so much better in the areas that keep you in those games that you start winning games that are not that close. Nothing is promised. That is the message inside the Broncos building right now. You do not just pick up where you left off. You earn it again. The Jalen Waddle Addition The AJ Brown trade to New England has dominated the offseason conversation and the Waddle move has gotten somewhat lost in the noise. Sean Payton wants to talk about it. He is excited about it. He watched Waddle at the first OTA practice and says he wishes he had clips to share right now because it was that impressive. What made Waddle the right fit? The makeup. The competitive nature. The grit. Payton consulted people who had been around Waddle — who know him from his time with Nick Saban and his time as Patrick Mahomes' college teammate. The reports came back the same way every time. This is a guy who loves football. Who shows up with a bright smile and a chip on his shoulder and a skill set that fits exactly what Denver needs around Bo Nix. Denver was picking in a spot where they believed they could find a similar player in the draft. When the trade with Miami became available George Paton and Payton moved quickly. The vision was clear. The move made sense. And now Jalen Waddle is a Bronco. The Super Bowl Goal Trey asks the question directly. One half away from the Super Bowl last year. What would constitute a successful 2026 season? Payton does not hedge. He does not qualify. He does not talk about the process or the growth or the journey. He says it plainly. He thinks Denver is good enough to play in that final game. Not hoping. Not maybe. Good enough. And then he says the five words that tell you everything about where this team's head is going into 2026. Let's go make a run. The schedule is challenging early — the AFC West, the Chiefs on opening night at Arrowhead on Monday Night Football, Miles Garrett and Cleveland in the mix. Payton knows. He has looked at the calendar. He has done the exercises. And his approach is the same one that got Denver fifteen wins last year — microdose it. Keep it to the next game. Keep it to the next opponent. Do not look at the whole mountain. Just take the next step. The chapter for the 2026-27 Broncos has not been written yet. Sean Payton is anxious to pick up the pen. And those are straight facts, homie. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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