Tag: Training Camp

Hard Knocks status update for Broncos ahead of 2025 offseason

The Broncos can’t be forced into training camp ‘Hard Knocks’ in 2025, and they are unlikely to volunteer.

Each summer, HBO and NFL Films following an NFL team through training camp for “Hard Knocks,” a popular behind-the-scenes show that gives a glimpse at life in the NFL.

Clubs can volunteer to be featured on the show, but that rarely happens. Consequently, the NFL has a “voluntold” process. Teams can’t be forced into the show if they meet one of the three circumstances:

  1. Featured on Hard Knocks in the last decade
  2. Have a first-year head coach
  3. Made the playoffs in either of the last two years

The Denver Broncos have not been on “Hard Knocks” in the past 10 years and they don’t have a new coach, but they did make the NFL playoffs in 2024. Thanks to their postseason berth last fall, the Broncos can’t be forced into “Hard Knocks” in 2025.

Denver has declined “volunteering” for the show in the past, and the Broncos seem unlikely to change that stance anytime soon.

This year, the Carolina Panthers, Atlanta Falcons, Seattle Seahawks and Tennessee Titans can’t say no if “voluntold” to be appear on “Hard Knocks” during training camp.

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Broncos hope facility construction only impacts one training camp

Construction is in full swing at the Broncos’ training facility, and the team hopes it will only disrupt one training camp.

Last summer, the Denver Broncos started construction on a new $175 million facility with the goal of having it completed ahead of the 2026 season.

The team is still weighing options for having fans attend training camp during construction this summer, but if all goes well, it will be business as usual in 2026.

“We broke ground on the new training facility in September and we are about 10 to 15 percent of the way there in terms of completion on construction,” Broncos owner/CEO Greg Penner said on Jan. 15. “We are about 90 percent of the way there on design. Everything is going according to plan. We had some snow days baked in. I think we’ve only had two days off so far. Things are progressing as we’ve planned. We couldn’t be more excited about how that is coming together.

“Our goal is to only have one training camp where that really disrupts our training camp. I think you all saw it this season, we managed the practice very well. Sean [Payton] and his whole staff was great. It didn’t disrupt us at all. Anyways, that is all on track and we’re really pleased.” 

The Broncos currently have a 3,000 capacity limit for training camp practices. It remains to be seen if that number will increase when the new facility has been completed. Denver will announce plans for this summer’s training camp later this year.

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Summer practice with Packers sparked Broncos’ impressive season

“That’s when I knew what type of team we had,” Pat Surtain said of the Broncos’ joint practice with the Packers last summer.

The Denver Broncos dominated the Green Bay Packers in a joint practice last summer, then they defeated them 27-2 in a preseason game. After that game, Packers coach Matt LaFleur said his team was humbled in Denver.

That joint practice against Green Bay’s starters gave the Broncos a confidence boost ahead of the regular season, and Denver went on to reach the NFL playoffs for the first time since 2015.

“I think what was very compelling about that joint practice was the tenacity that the team had,” Broncos cornerback Pat Surtain said. “The energy, the vibrant energy that we had as a team, the enthusiasm. I think that speaks volumes because the Packers are a playoff team as well as we can see. Going out there competing but also dominating as a team. That’s when I knew what type of team we had.

“I already know — minus the doubters, minus the naysayers — but the belief within the team and this organization, I already knew we were destined for this opportunity and this moment. I’m looking forward to next week. Going out there in a playoff game, it a tough atmosphere, playing our hearts out.”

That practice was seemingly a wakeup call for the Packers as well as they went on to go 11-6 in the regular season and also made the playoffs. Green Bay reaching the postseason was not a surprise, though. Few outside of Denver expected the Broncos to make the playoffs.

“[T]alking to the defense after they got done [against the Packers], and the way that they explained how they felt like they dominated on that side of the ball, it was encouraging,” wide receiver Courtland Sutton said. “To have a defense go against… at the point in time Jordan Love had signed his contract, I think he was the highest-paid quarterback in the league at the time. For them to go over there and have the couple days that they had plus the game, it was encouraging. Then for us on offense, there was a two-minute drill. I’m pretty sure you all already know. There was a two-minute drill that we had against their defense, and I think we ran like four plays. We got within five yards of scoring, and they said, ‘Let’s start it over.’

“Seeing that a young guy like Bo [Nix], this was probably two weeks, three weeks into training camp. For him to go out there and orchestrate a two-minute drill like that against a defense of that quality, of that caliber, that was definitely encouraging. As older guy in that locker room, to see Bo go out there and handle and manage that situation the way he did, it was very encouraging. Like I say all the time, his development, his persistence to get better is what I feel like makes him so special. I would say those two situations [were telling].

“I think that joint practice gave us a little bit of, ‘All right, we can go out there and compete,’ because obviously they’re a playoff team as well. A really good team. The Packers are a really good team, so for us to go out there and perform the way we did in that joint practice, it was good to see.”

Denver will now face the Buffalo Bills in the Wild Card round of the NFL playoffs. Green Bay will travel to take on the Philadelphia Eagles. The Packers might not know it, but that joint practice with the Broncos seemingly kicked off a new era of relevance for Denver.

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Saints have already re-signed their first pending free agent for 2025

The New Orleans Saints have already re-signed their first pending free agent for 2025. Irish kicker Charlie Smyth will return to compete with Blake Grupe this summer:

The New Orleans Saints have a long list of pressing matters on their offseason to-do list, so it may be a little surprising to learn their first order of business was re-signing the backup kicker. But NFL Ireland’s Michael McQuaid first reported that Charlie Smyth was the first of the team’s pending free agents to put pen to paper on a new deal. It’s a two-year contract.

As for the timing? Smyth spent his rookie year on the Saints practice squad, so his contract expired after their final regular season game. We’ll see a wave of reserve/future contracts signed by players who were on the practice squad over the next week or two as the Saints work to retain them. Remember, these are league-minimum deals that effectively promise nothing more than an extended tryout at training camp. It’s standard practice for every team.

Hopefully Smyth can beat those expectations. The young pro has a big leg and he’s been hard at work refining his craft. He held his own in the preseason last summer and is poised to push Blake Grupe again in 2025. Grupe improved his accuracy on field goals (going from 81.1%, which ranked 25th last year; to 87.1%, which ranks 13th this season) but whiffed on a pair of extra point tries while extending his career-long to 57 yards. Grupe has earned some more trust but he’s not yet known for having ice water in his veins. We can’t rule out a rally by Smyth later this year.

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Saints bring back a familiar offensive lineman to their practice squad

The Saints brought back a familiar face by re-signing Sincere Haynesworth to the practice squad. The rookie from Tulane spent his summer with New Orleans:

After a plethora of moves yesterday that included a highlighted Alvin Kamara extension, the New Orleans Saints made yet another transaction that likely flew under the radar, as reported by KPRC2 Houston’s Aaron Wilson.

The Saints brought back a familiar face from this summer, adding rookie offensive lineman Sincere Haynesworth to the practice squad. Haynesworth, a Tulane alum signed with the Saints as an undrafted free agent earlier this year and spent the summer completed for a spot on the interior of the offensive line.

Haynesworth was waived by the Saints before the start of the regular season and then picked up by the New England Patriots four weeks into the year. However, his time there would be short as he was cut just seven days after his signing.

The addition of Haynesworth to the practice squad could be a sign that guard Nick Saldiveri won’t be active this week, as he was sidelined during last week’s game against Denver with a shoulder injury. This could possibly indicate that another interior offensive lineman, maybe even Haynesworth himself, could be brought up for gameday this week.

We should know a bit more in the next few days when the injury reports start to clear things up.

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Saints can no longer keep their opinion on young quarterbacks veiled

Dennis Allen will be forced into choosing between Jake Haener and Spencer Rattler after Derek Carr’s injury. He avoided a public decision after training camp:

Dennis Allen avoided saying who won the battle between Jake Haener and Spencer Rattler at New Orleans Saints training camp. Even Haener’s placement as Derek Carr’s backup doesn’t give a clear-cut answer. We’ve seen situations where the backup doesn’t take over in the following weeks, like when Taysom Hill stepped in for an injured Drew Brees rather than Jameis Winston.

With Carr expected to miss multiple weeks, the veil will be completely lifted on who they believe has the edge, because New Orleans won’t run a two-quarterback system. If the Saints truly think it’s an even race, they’ll have to make that tough decision. Allen will have to make a decision, and he’ll have to make it quick.

Neither Haener or Rattler have ever started a regular season game. Whoever is starting needs to take all the first team reps this week in practice. Competing throughout the week and sharing first team reps will ultimately do a disservice to the Week 6 starter.

This doesn’t mean Allen has to announce the decision. He actually will probably keep it to himself. Allen didn’t even want to say Will Harris will be the starting safety in Week 1 prior to the game. He’ll definitely keep the starting quarterback close to the vest. In this situation, it’s more understandable.

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Numbers say 49ers WR trending toward All-Pro form despite slow start

Brandon Aiyuk was open a lot in Week 2. Brock Purdy has to start finding him.

It appears the San Francisco 49ers are quickly seeing some of the adversity generated when a wide receiver misses all of training camp.

Wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk and quarterback Brock Purdy haven’t been able to get on the same page in the 49ers’ first two games. Aiyuk, who missed all of training camp because of dispute over a long-term contract extension, has 10 targets so far this season. He’s hauled in six of them for 71 yards. His longest catch went for 22 yards.

Part of the blame can fall on his playing time. Through two weeks he’s played 73 percent of the 49ers’ offensive snaps. Last year he played in 82 percent. In 2022 he was at 91 percent.

There’s more to it than just playing time, and there appears to be more to it than just Aiyuk getting in playing shape. While playing shape may have been a problem in Week 1, peripheral stats indicate Purdy just didn’t get Aiyuk the ball in Week 2.

Pro Football Focus ran the numbers on separation for pass catchers through two weeks. They have a metric called ‘separation percentage’ which aims to measure “how often a receiver beats the coverage to get open rather than benefiting from a defense more focused on limiting yards after the catch or stopping them short of the first down,” according to their website.

Week 1 wasn’t good for Aiyuk. He created separation on only four of his 12 opportunities. Those numbers help paint the picture of why he earned only five targets.

Week 2 was substantially better. Per PFF he had 14 opportunities and gained separation on 12 of them. His 85.71 separation percentage was the sixth-best in the NFL in Week 2. Alas, the uptick in separation didn’t lead to an uptick in targets. Purdy threw him the ball only five times again.

This is something that has to get remedied immediately. All indications are that Aiyuk is trending quickly toward his All-Pro form. Purdy now needs to look his way with more frequency. That was always going to be the case, but there’s a dramatic uptick in urgency with Deebo Samuel joining Christian McCaffrey on the sidelines with a calf injury.

Purdy and Aiyuk need to get on the same page because the quicker they do, the quicker the 49ers can overcome injuries and solve some of the offensive issues that have plagued them on third down and in the red zone so far in 2024.

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Alvin Kamara on potential extension with Saints: ‘It’s too late for contract talk’

Alvin Kamara issues a bleak update on his contract entering Week 1

Alvin Kamara’s contract situation has been an ongoing conversation this offseason. He is going into the final year of his contract and was looking for an extension, which has yet to come. As the New Orleans Saints prepare to open the season versus the Carolina Panthers, the two sides have not reached a deal.

Don’t expect them to reach one any time soon, either. Kamara told reporters on Monday that it’s gotten too far into the year for a deal to get done. ”

“It’s too late for contract talk,” he said.

Kamara left the team’s final minicamp practice, which sparked this conversation in June. It doesn’t seem like there’s been much progress since then.

We’ve seen players agree to new contracts early in the season, but Kamara won’t be added to that group. He doesn’t want to carry negotiations into the season.

He doubled down on his “too late” statement by saying, “I’m at the point where I’m kind of like I’m not even talking about it until after the season. I don’t want to talk about it.”

Entering a contract year in a new system could be troubling for some, but Kamara’s football intelligence makes this unconcerning. The scheme is supposed to heavily feature the running back as well. Kamara will have ample chances to showcase why he deserves a new deal next offseason.

Broncos planning around construction to have fans at training camp in 2025

With construction at the facility, the Broncos are considering bringing in temporary bleachers for fans attending training camp next summer.

The Denver Broncos are working on building a new facility at Broncos Park Powered by CommonSpirit that is set to be completed in two years.

With construction at the facility next summer, the Broncos still plan to have fans attend training camp in 2025, but the capacity limit might be lower than the current limit of 3,000 fans.

“That’s still a bit of a work in progress,” team president Damani Leech said last week when asked how fans will be able to attend training camp around the construction. “I think that the one thing that we’re exploring now is putting temporary bleachers into [south] parking Lot B and providing some space for fans there. It might be a little bit less than what we had this year, but we’re still working through that.”

Denver’s brass hopes to have it completed before training camp begins in 2026.

“Our goal is to be in the new facility by June of 2026, so training camp in 2026, everyone will be in the facility,” Leech said.

As for the facility itself, team owner/CEO Greg Penner believes it will make a statement to players.

“I do think it sends a message to the team that we’re willing to invest,” Penner said, “we’re going to set a very high standard and our expectations for ourselves and them are very high.”

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Preseason injuries helped Saints linebacker room in the long run

Demario Davis and Pete Werner missing most of training camp allowed Willie Gay to gain experience in the system and Anfernee Orji to develop

Demario Davis and Pete Werner missed the entirety of the preseason due to injuries. You never want players to be injured, but there was a silver lining to their absence: Other linebackers had the chance to step up.

Willie Gay Jr. and Anfernee Orji both showed up big in the preseason. Let’s separate the two because they entered camp at two different places and had two different benefits from the preseason.

Gay seemed to be entering a training camp battle with Werner, but Werner’s extension put that assumption in doubt. Pair that with Werner missing the majority of training camp, but not losing his job, and you are looking at Gay likely always destined to be the strong side backer.

Gay made the most of his preseason by playing a large amount of snaps in the first two games. Getting this amount of reps allowed him to get comfortable in a new system quickly. As a guy who will play Week 1, this was huge for him.

Orji was fighting for a roster spot and became a lock with an emphatic preseason. Orji went from a player who could end up on the practice squad again to a young linebacker to be excited about. He even got some reps versus the opposing starters that did play in the preseason.

No one is ever happy to see an injury occur. Getting Gay quickly acclimated and Orji’s major development were two positives to come from the situation, though.