2025 Broncos Training Camp: Day 8 News and Notes

Day 8 of Broncos Camp has concluded, and it will end the streak of 6 straight practices for the team as they will have an off day tomorrow. Today was scrimmage day, but the Broncos dropped a bomb shell this morning when it was reported that they have agreed to terms on a mega extension with DE Zach Allen. He joins veteran WR Courtland Sutton as a key veteran starter who received a contract extension from the Broncos this week.

In today’s piece, we will cover the Broncos’ offense putting up a fight against the defense during the scrimmage, but still falling short in the end. We also heard from Coach Payton and Zach Allen while also having news and notes, injury updates, tweets from camp, quotes, and more!

Scrimmage Notes

During today’s scrimmage, it was a fairly balanced day that saw both the offense and defense make plays. This is coming off a practice where the Broncos’ defense dominated, so it was nice to see Bo Nix and the offense bounce back a bit in this one.

As Zac notes above, Nix started the first team period out with a completion to Vele over the middle of the field and then hit Troy Franklin for a 15-20 yard gain with Pat Surtain II in coverage. Seeing Franklin make plays against PS2 should be a huge confidence builder for him and a sign he’s moving up the pecking order a little bit. Later in the period, Bo would hit Trent Sherfield for a decent gain as well.

During the second team period, the defense flexed its muscle. Corner Riley Moss, who is having an excellent camp per reports, had a near INT and PBU vs. Marvin Mims, followed by a Surtain INT of Nix. There was also an Engram drop as well as a fumbled snap that was recovered by Jonah Elliss.

In the third team period, the defense was stiff against the pass until the final play of the period, where Nix threw a beautiful pass to Sutton with Surtain II in coverage for a touchdown. Even against PS2, Sutton wins these 50/50 balls in the end zone.

The final team period was a move-the-ball period in a two-minute drill scenario. The first play was a false start, but they would bounce back with a 10-yard pass to Vele. Later in the drive, he would hit Marvin Mims for 15 yards in the middle of the field to extend the drive. On the final play, he would hit Troy Franklin in the end zone, but he could not come down with it, and the offense would lose the period. He has had a great camp, but that’s a play he needs to make.

After this practice, Head Coach Sean Payton said he was pleased with what he saw from today’s scrimmage.

“Just real quick, a couple of notes. Obviously the practice format was different. We got a lot of situational work done. We’ll look at the tape. I always think it’s good when you get out of your normal routine. 10, 15 years ago, the [Pro Football] Hall of Fame weekend, Saturday was a live scrimmage for most teams. I think we can get the same work done, it’s full go, but we’re keeping them up. Much like a game, we’re integrating the special teams throughout. I just think that’s more realistic to what happens in a game than just segmented periods. So overall, I was pleased. Most importantly, with the operation in and out on time, the right amount of guys on the field. There’ll be a number of things we have to clean up. And the good news is we have a month still before we get going. So yes, I was pleased overall.”

Overall, it seemed like the most balanced practice from both sides of the ball, where each side made some plays. In the end, the defense still had the edge, but it wasn’t nearly as dominant as in previous practices.

The team will have a day off before having a practice on Monday, where they will begin preparing for their preseason opener vs. the 49ers.

Zach Allen Speaks

It was announced earlier in the day that the Broncos have signed DE Zach Allen to a four-year, $102 million dollar extension. This is a mega deal for one of the Broncos’ top players on the team and currently makes him the highest-paid player on the roster.

This was a much-deserved deal, and Allen will be a force in the middle of the Broncos’ defense for years to come.

After practice, Head Coach Sean Payton was asked about Allen’s extension had some significant praise for the Broncos’ highly paid defender. He told reporters that he was excited for him and talked about how he and Allen had talked about the deal nearing completion earlier in the week.

“I’m excited for him [DL Zach Allen]. We were just talking about it. You get an exceptional player also with the make-up, much like [WR] Courtland [Sutton]. It was getting close. It’s always difficult in the beginning, and it never really starts. The next deal done in July will be the first, or May, because there’s no timeline. Then pretty soon you get closer, and there was a gap. Then I don’t really stay in tune to the exactness of it, but I knew we had gotten closer. Two days ago, I said to him, ‘It appears the ships can see each other on the horizon.’ Then I asked him, ‘How long is the horizon?’ His answer bothered me. He said, ‘20 miles.’ It’s eight miles. It’s a credit to both sides. There’s a lot that goes into it. He’s excited, and I think the players genuinely are excited for him when they see that something like that happens. So that’s a good thing for the Broncos.”

Later, Allen spoke to the media right after officially signing his contract and would go on the praise the Broncos ownership group, General Manager George Paton, and Head Coach Sean Payton. He would go on to praise the Broncos’ culture and how they handled his and Sutton’s deal the right way, and that they believe in this organization and this team. He would finish by saying that it is really a blessing to be part of the Denver Broncos organization and that today is a great day.

I would have a great day too if I just signed a $102 million dollar contract.

Allen would go on to have a dominant performance during the Broncos scrimmage, where he would get a sack, blow up run plays, and just create the havoc we have grown custom to seeing from him. I always thought Allen receiving an extension from the Broncos was a given, and it’s great to see them get it done early and not let it drag into the regular season or into the offseason.

Injury Report

• WR A.T. Perry remained on the PUP list and continued to miss practice
• LB Alex Singleton was back in pads today – Source
• LB Dre Greenlaw (quad) sat out today’s practice but is expected back next week
• Rookie edge rusher Que Robinson missed his third straight practice due to a bone bruise but is expected back soon
• LB Drew Sanders (Foot) will be sidelined on the north side of 4 to 6 weeks and will be out through the start of the season
• FB Michael Burton was observing practice but did not participate – Source

News and Notes

• Broncos signed DE Zach Allen to a four-year, $102 million dollar contract extension – Source
• QB Bo Nix opened practice with a 20-yard pass to Troy Franklin with Surtain in coverage – Source
• CB Pat Surtain II had another INT of QB Bo Nix today during a team period – Source
• CB Riley Moss had a nice PBU and near INT during practice while covering Marvin Mims Jr. – Source
• EDGE Jonah Elliss had a sack and fumble recovery during today’s practice – Source
• UDFA WR Jerjuan Newton had a diving 60-yard touchdown reception from QB Sam Ehlinger – Source
• QB Sam Ehlinger also hit UDFA WR Courtney Jackson on a deep out – Source
• RB Audric Estime had a couple of nice goal-line runs where he showed off his power and vision – Source
• QB Bo Nix had a nice touchdown pass on a fade route to WR Courtland Sutton – Source
• First team offense nearly had a touchdown during the final move the ball period but WR Troy Franklin dropped the ball – Source

Tweets from Camp

Notable Quotes

Head Coach Sean Payton on DL Zach Allen’s interior pass rush

“He had good numbers. He was a big part of it. You guys said it all the other day, flexibility across the board, productivity, consistency, stamina, all the things that you’re looking for. Periodically, there’s a player that comes up and you say to yourself, ‘If we’re not willing to pay him, then who are we paying?’ I can think [of] that outside linebacker with the Chargers, who was drafted by the Raiders. [Chargers LB] Khalil Mack, was drafted in the first round by the Raiders. Now many of us don’t know him, but the make-up is fantastic, and I’m going back now to when he was younger. Production. What’s difficult for a team to understand is when a player like that leaves, then you’re like, ‘Well, what are we looking for?’ I don’t know. He’s a potential [Pro Football] Hall of Fame player with great make-up, leadership, and a rare skillset at a position that’s hard to find. So it’s never easy for either side. There’s always that early period. I think the most important thing that we have to have as a program is trust. The players have to trust in our training room, in our coaching staff, in our gameplan, and trust in why we’re doing a 9-on-7 drill instead of not being in pads. We can show them why. You can’t B.S. that stuff. I think that again, it’s just a credit to both sides of the equation throughout.”

Head Coach Sean Payton on how DL Zach Allen has progressed compared to the initial vision he had for him

“It’s a great question. There have been free agents that I’ve signed that you thought you were getting ‘X’. [Saints LB] Demario Davis, we signed I think in the third week or fourth week of free agency from the Jets to give us another linebacker. Then when he arrived, and as he began to play, and then became a captain. There was so much more that we couldn’t have expected, and you’re like, ‘Man.’. Then sometimes you sign someone and it’s like, ‘Ah.’ I don’t want to use the parallel, but my parents loved garage saling. That was their deal, the one thing they enjoyed together. I think I had 10 couches growing up. So they’d come home with a new couch, and you’d remove the old one, and you were so excited it was a sectional until you sat in the left corner and it wiggled and then you realized why it was a free agent. You just have to really do your homework and spend a lot of time on it. Fortunately we did, and I would say relative to him, more than, ‘This is what we saw, we’re excited to get.’ Then there was this much more. That’s great when that happens.’

Head Coach Sean Payton on how the player personnel department approaches free agency

“The whole process I love here, and that element existed before I got here. I’m talking about the free agents. The process, and then as we begin to implement, ‘What exactly do we value in that process?’ In other words, then it becomes much more select. If you’re not careful, you’re signing a player just to create excitement like the new rollercoaster at an amusement park, but you have them for the year. So they have to meet, and I say this all the time, we’re at a point where we ask ourselves, ‘How will the locker room feel about this player?’ We owe it to the locker room to answer that question, and that’s extremely important.”

“I think for a large number of these second-year players, there’s such a growth relative to… It first starts with just hearing the call, and getting a line and playing the defense. Then the more that becomes second nature, you can now rely on your instincts to play. If you’re thinking about alignment and assignment, it’s difficult to execute the technique and production. So one of the things as coaches that we always talk about is, ‘Let’s not slow him down with a gameplan. Let’s not make him think.’ I want to be coaching more technique as opposed to what to do. So with those players there in that portion of their career where a year ago it was, ‘Where’s my alignment? Where’s my assignment?’ And we haven’t even snapped the ball yet. The objective still is to defend the ball. So when you can slow it down and all of us the same way, when we know exactly what’s expected on a test, we can take it and execute. Every one of us has been somewhere at some point in our lives where we weren’t quite as prepared and we were scrambling. I think that’s the difference in Year 1 and 2.”

HC Sean Payton on CB Pat Surtain II’s career-high interceptions in 2024

“Sometimes they come. I would say one of the challenges with [CB] Pat [Surtain II], and I talked to him about it, I said, ‘Any time we get one of these elite receivers, man, you’re out there and it’s clinic film.’ Then periodically, there’ll be a guy we don’t even know catch a deep ball on him, and it’s that mental focus of each week. If it’s not an elite receiver, it’s still a capable receiver. So I think you begin to see that discipline, regardless of who he was lined up over. He’s one of those players, the ball kind of finds him, and part of that is his length and his ability to deflect a pass. He’s a rare athlete. I think it helped when we brought in the old timers and one of the guys going into or being recognized, the [Ring of Fame] safety [Steve Foley], you had 44 interceptions. I asked Pat, ‘How many do you have?’ Well if you’re Pat, when you finish here, you want to have the most interceptions. When he heard those numbers, he saw that it was a journey. It was beyond the horizon to get to those numbers. He’s also someone who’ll respond to a challenge from me, I can turn to him and say, ‘How great are we wanting to be?’ I pulled up a clip of a Raider receiver catching, and I don’t even know who the receiver is. He’s extremely coachable. He wants to please. That’s a great trait. I think you become Defensive Player of the Year, and you’re in his echelon. Then there’s, not pressure, but that added expectation of this is the club I’m in, and it’s a difficult club and this is what everyone expects.”

DE Zach Allen on staying focused on football despite going through contract negotiations

“Obviously those conversations are having… But like I said from Day 1, when this whole process started, being here was my happy place. The guys on this team are awesome, everybody from the teammates to the staff to the front office, the way we handled this was just awesome. Like I said, we have very high goals for ourselves, and we know it’s going to take a lot of work to get there. So at the end of the day, no matter what happens, it’s our job and my job to perform at an elite level, and that’s our plan right now. The fact that we were able to go about this the way we have, compared to some other things around the league, it’s kind of a testament to what we’re building here.”

DE Zach Allen on how much Defensive Coordinator Vance Joseph means to him

“I’m forever grateful to [Defensive Coordinator] Vance [Joseph]. He gave me my start in Arizona, and he was a major reason why I came here. So to be able to share these milestones across the way with him has meant a lot. That’s kind of the cool thing about this. Obviously the money’s the money, and everything like that, but to be able to share it with the people that have helped get you here is the coolest thing because it is a status symbol or whatever, it’s kind of where you’re standing in the league is a little bit, it’s a respect thing. To be able to have a guy like Vance believe in me year after year and help me day after day. He’s been incredible and I’m forever grateful of him.”

DE Zach Allen on going through extension talks alongside WR Courtland Sutton

“Courtland was awesome because, like you said, we were both going through similar things. I said it on a podcast this year, Courtland’s one of the greatest people I’ve ever met in my life. I mean… He is an absolute sweetheart, everything. To have a guy like that who’s going through the same thing, bounce ideas, keep you sane with it because there are days where it is kind of tough, but [it] was huge. The fact that we get to spend four more years together is incredible. That’s my guy.”