The Roaming Photographer: The Denver Broncos

This is the ending paragraphs of the Denver Broncos

and the reference sources for the entire article

2019 – 2021: Vic Fangio years

On January 10th, 2019, the Broncos hired former Bears defensive coordinator Vic Fangio as their head coach(95). The Broncos once again shook up their quarterback room, acquiring longtime Ravens starter Joe Flacco in a trade and subsequently sending away Case Keenum to the Washington Redskins(96)(97). Joe Flacco’s season was ended after a back injury that landed him on injured reserve(98). Flacco led the Broncos to a 2 – 6 record before being placed on injured reserve and second-year quarterback Brandon Allen was named the starter. Notable drafted players included tight end Noah Fant and quarterback Drew Lock. On June 13th, 2019, longtime owner Pat Bowlen passed away at age 75 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease(99). The 2019 Broncos finished 7 – 9 for their third consecutive losing season, the longest such stretch of losing seasons since nine years from 1963 – 1972.

In 2020, with Lock established as the team’s starting quarterback, the team regressed even further, finishing with a 5 – 11 record, their fourth straight year with a losing record. Notably in the offseason, the team drafted wide receiver Jerry Jeudy in the first round of that year’s draft. Jeudy would go on to have a respectable rookie season, with 856 yards receiving and three touchdowns.

In the offseason, the Broncos would make a change at quarterback by trading for Teddy Bridgewater from the Carolina Panthers, which relegated Lock to a backup role(100). The 2021 Broncos would start well with a 3 – 0 record by the end of September, including a 26 – 0 shutout win against the New York Jets to make it the team’s best start since the 2016 season. However, the team from there would struggle massively and finished the season on a 4 – 10 run despite being at one point at 7 – 6 and in contention for a wild card spot. The slump was capped off by a 4–game losing streak to end the season at 7 – 10, which prompted changes. On January 9th, 2022, Vic Fangio (along with most of his coaching staff) was dismissed as head coach after three seasons under his leadership.(101)

2022 – present:
Walter Penner ownership group

2022: Hackett – Wilson tandem

Following the firing of Fangio, the Broncos hired Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett as head coach on January 27th(102). Less than two months later, the Broncos completed arguably the biggest trade of the 2022 offseason. In a deal with the Seattle Seahawks, the Broncos sent Drew Lock, Noah Fant, Shelby Harris, and five draft picks to the Seahawks in exchange for star quarterback Russell Wilson and a fourth-round selection(103). Wilson, a nine-time Pro Bowler, had spent the last ten seasons with the Seahawks before being traded to the Broncos.

In early June, the Broncos, after being owned by the Pat Bowlen estate for the last three seasons, were approached by a consortium led by billionaire Walmart heir S. Robson Walton to purchase the team(104). On August 9th, the sale of the team was unanimously approved by the NFL’s team owners for a price of $4.65 billion, the largest–ever value of a professional sports team at the time of a sale. In addition, Walton brought along several high–ranking individuals to be a part of the ownership group, most notably former United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and 7 – time Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton. (105)

The team entered the 2022 season with high expectations; however, the season began with a loss to Wilson’s former team, the Seahawks. The Broncos struggled during their next two games but won them both to hold a share of first place in their division. From that point, the team performed very poorly; they fell into a 4–game losing streak to fall to 2 – 5. The team defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars to improve to 3 – 5, but again fell into another losing streak, losing 5 straight games to fall to 3 – 10. Notably, the offense was criticized for their poor performances, including a 9 – 12 overtime loss to the Indianapolis Colts, a 9 – 16 loss to the New York Jets, and a 9 – 10 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. They defeated the Arizona Cardinals to snap their 5–game losing streak, but were defeated the following week in blowout fashion by the severely shorthanded Los Angeles Rams to fall to 4 – 11. Following the loss, head coach Nathaniel Hackett was fired(106) and replaced with senior assistant Jerry Rosburg.(107)

2023: the Sean Payton era begins

Following the team’s disastrous 2022 season, the Broncos acquired Super Bowl–winning head coach Sean Payton from the New Orleans Saints and named him the new head coach of the Broncos. The Payton era began inauspiciously, as the Broncos began the 2023 season by losing five of their first six games, with one of those losses being a humiliating defeat in which the Broncos’ once-vaunted defense surrendered a historic 70 points to the Miami Dolphins. However, the team experienced a midseason turnaround and went on a five-game win streak to improve to 6 – 5. The win streak included a two-possession victory over the powerhouse Kansas City Chiefs, which was Denver’s first victory over Kansas City since 2015. However, the team stumbled after the win streak and lost three of their next four games. One of those losses came at the hands of the AFC-worst New England Patriots and effectively ended Denver’s season. The Broncos would win the next week but were eliminated from playoff contention for the eighth consecutive season thanks to a Kansas City victory on the same day.

On March 4th, 2023, Payton and general manager George Paton announced that the organization would release Wilson at the beginning of the 2024 NFL league year. Wilson’s release resulted in an NFL record $85 million - dollar dead cap hit. (108)

Team Records:

The Bronco's all-time regular season record (as of the conclusion of the 2018 season) includes AFL games in 476 – 414 – 10(6). Their record since joining the NFL in 1970 is 437 – 317 – 6. Their all-time playoff record is 20 – 18. (6).

John Elway is the Broncos all-time leading passer, with 300 touchdowns and 51,475 yards passing.(109)

Peyton Manning holds the Broncos records for single–passing yards (5,477) and passing touchdowns (55). Both of these records were set in 2013, and both are also NFL records. (110)

Terrell Davis is the Broncos all-time leading rusher, with 60 touchdowns and 7,607 yards rushing. (111)

Rod Smith is the Broncos all-time leading receiver, with 68 touchdowns, and 11,389 yards receiving.(112)

Jason Elam is the Bronco's all-time leading scorer, with 1,786 points. He also holds the record for games played as a Bronco, with 236(113)(114). The Broncos have won 3 Super Bowls to date.

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