Broncos

Broncos HC Sean Payton mentioned QB Bo Nix spent time with Drew Brees this offseason as he prepares for the 2025 season. 

“Look, [Nix] is someone who works his tail off, wants to improve,” Payton said, via Jeff Legwold of ESPN. “And he’s gone and visited Brees for four or five days. … There’s a lot he wants to absorb in a fast period of time, and that’s a great thing for a young player like that.”

Payton added that Nix reached out to Brees and visited him in San Diego to learn from the future Hall of Famer. 

“It was reaching out, coordinating some time to dive into the offense,” Payton said. “That’s what you’re looking for … wanting to know more about the offense. It was [Nix] doing more research at the position.”

Payton isn’t concerned about a possible sophomore slump from Nix. 

“I’m trying to think of the MTV one-hit wonders, and I can’t think of very many,” Payton said. “It’s a term we use, but I can’t think examples that match that term — rookie quarterbacks that excelled and then all of a sudden what happened in the second year?”

Chiefs

Chiefs GM Brett Veach explained how contract negotiations with G Trey Smith transpired and how they didn’t want to let him hit the open market.

“Given the talent and cultural impact a player like Trey brings to an organization, he was a priority for us,” Veach said, via Sports Illustrated. “Extensions off of a franchise tag can be challenging for players, teams and agents to get done. When we started negotiations in February, we knew there would be a lot of hurdles. It was clear that if Trey hit the market this offseason, he likely would have received contract offers at or above the franchise tag number on an annual basis. Given how the guard market has exploded, we feel this deal is a win for both the organization and the player. I appreciate working with Trey, [agent] Tory [Dandy] and [agent] Jimmy [Sexton] to get a deal done that made sense for everyone involved.”

Dandy said that the guaranteed money was a huge part of the negotiations and said that he wanted to make sure Smith reset the market.

“It was one of those things where you had the deadline and both sides knew we wanted to make a strong effort to get something done,” Dandy said. “Sometimes these things take up until that deadline. I’m sure Trey would rather have had it done a while ago and the team as well, but they had the draft, and they had free agency. But they had said Trey was their number one priority this offseason. We knew at some point we were going to make a strong push on both sides to get something done.”

Dandy added that Smith wanted to remain in Kansas City and, hopefully, continue to replicate the success he’s had with the team.

“That carried a lot of weight,” Dandy said. “When you have Creed, who is an All-Pro often in his career, and if he continues this pace, he could be a Hall of Famer. He and Trey are best buddies. Then you have the ultimate leader and winner in Pat Mahomes. That was very important to have, and coach Reid. Trey has a lot of respect for coach [Andy] Reid and the entire organization as well. That’s why, for him, he wasn’t thinking about going to free agency. [It was] more so, ‘Let’s make a real solid effort and push to get this done so I can get back with my guys and win some more rings.’”

Raiders

Raiders HC Pete Carroll is entering his first season with Las Vegas following his time with the Seahawks. He’s going into 2025 with “really high” expectations.

“We’re going to win a ton. We’re going to win a bunch of games,” Carroll said, via the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “I can’t even imagine anything [else]. I’ve been winning 10 games a year for 20 years or something, you know? What are my expectations? We’re going to win a bunch. And I don’t care who hears that — it doesn’t matter to me. It ain’t about what anybody hears, it’s about what we do. And so, that’s why expectations are really high. The standards need to be so that the expectations can be met. We’ll see what happens. I wish I could guarantee it to you, but I can’t even think of what else it could be but being really successful.”

Carroll added he’s always put high expectations on players.

“There is no limit. We’re going for it. We’re going to see how far we can take our club. We’re going to do it one step at a time. We’re just going to see how good we can be,” Carroll said. “The expectations and the standards we are setting are going to be as high as we can make them. That’s how we’ve always done that. So, we’re going to take it as far as we can as quickly as we can, see what that means.”