ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — On Sept. 17, 2015, the night the Denver Broncos last defeated the Kansas City Chiefs, Justin Simmons was at home on the campus of Boston College, preparing for the second game of his senior season against Florida State.
By the time Simmons joined the Broncos the following April as their third-round draft choice, Denver was coming off a Super Bowl title and paid little attention to a losing streak against its AFC West rival that sat at one measly game.
Now, the star safety is preparing to play the Chiefs for the 14th time in his career — he missed one matchup with an injury — and is still searching for his first victory in the series. The overall losing streak for the Broncos against the Chiefs sits at 15, tied for the longest current divisional losing streak in the NFL (New York Jets versus the New England Patriots). As Simmons finished dressing in Denver’s locker room Sunday following a 31-21 loss to the Jets that dropped the Broncos to 1-4, he was quickly provided with another reminder of where the streak stands with the Chiefs (4-1). Not that he needs one.
How do you quickly move forward, Simmons was asked, and prepare for an opponent that “has beaten you guys, over and over again?”
“It’s another opportunity for us to go down to KC on Thursday night and find a way to win the game,” Simmons said of the game that will be played at Arrowhead Stadium at 6:15 p.m. MT on Amazon Prime. “That’s what is important. Anytime you have a loss, you can’t wait until the next one. The next one is a quick turnaround against a division opponent. I mean, we’ve got to win this one. We say that every week, but this is going to be a really, really big one for us and kind of a turning point for the season.”
Justin Simmons hopes to beat the Chiefs for the first time in his career Thursday. But could it be one of his final games with the Broncos? (Denny Medley / USA Today)
A more pertinent question than whether the Broncos can defeat the Chiefs — Denver is a double-digit underdog for the fourth time in the past seven matchups — is whether Simmons and a handful of other Broncos veterans who have yet to experience victory in this series are running out of chances.
In his latest top-10 projected order for the 2024 NFL Draft, The Athletic’s Austin Mock predicts the Broncos will have the No. 2 pick in April. And with two games against the Chiefs and another on the road against the Buffalo Bills in the next month, Denver appears likely to remain in the league’s cellar for the foreseeable future this season. That reality suggests the Broncos could be looking to deal players ahead of the Oct. 31 NFL trade deadline, which is just three weeks away. Denver already made one move, sending pass rusher Randy Gregory and a 2024 seventh-round pick to the San Francisco 49ers last week for a 2024 sixth-round pick. The Broncos were also sellers at the past two trade deadlines, sending Von Miller to the Los Angeles Rams in 2021 and Bradley Chubb to the Miami Dolphins in 2022, bringing back a combined three draft picks in the process.
Payton addressed the trade deadline during his meeting with reporters Tuesday.
“George (Paton, Denver’s general manager) and I talk every day — three, four times a day. We’re not looking to do business with any of our players,” Payton said. “That doesn’t prevent teams from calling at times. You pick the phone up. That’s kind of where it’s at. We’ve got a good handle on this current roster and our vision for the roster a year from now. That’s the part about improving and getting better.”
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There’s a bit to unpack there, but the most obvious aspect to point out is that teams will rarely come out and say they intend to trade away players for future draft capital. There’s no sense in adding anxiety to the locker room when players are already attuned to external rumors that circulate, such as a report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter over the weekend that said the Broncos “have gotten calls about other players (besides Gregory) on their roster as well and could be active ahead of the Oct. 31 trade deadline depending on how they fare over the next few weeks.”
Payton essentially confirmed those calls are coming in. It would be reasonable to think Simmons — several contenders could use upgrades at safety — and wide receivers Jerry Jeudy and Courtland Sutton would be among the players teams are calling about. The question is whether the offers that come in will be more significant than what we’ve seen in an NFL trade market that hasn’t been particularly friendly to sellers to this point. Wide receivers Chase Claypool (Chicago Bears to Dolphins) and Van Jefferson (Rams to Atlanta Falcons) were traded during the past week for the same return the Broncos got for Gregory, a late-round pick swap. Sutton and Jeudy are more accomplished players than Claypool or Jefferson, but to what degree will the offers reflect that?
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Jeudy and Sutton were frequent subjects of trade rumors during the offseason. The Broncos took calls about both players, but the right offers never materialized. Despite the Broncos’ record, they are in no hurry to make a deal, especially if the calls they are taking don’t include attractive offers. Denver could always explore the market again in the offseason with several of its veterans. As bad as it has been through five games, it is still only five games. It might be too late for the Broncos to make a legitimate playoff charge, but it’s fair to think Payton still wants more time to evaluate the roster and see who he believes can help him build something.
But the reality is the trade chatter isn’t going anywhere with this team, especially if 15 straight losses to the Chiefs turn into 16 on Thursday night.
Payton suggested much can change between now and Oct. 31.
“Until you just said it, I wouldn’t have known (the deadline) was three weeks away,” he said. “Three weeks seems like an eternity right now.”
(Top photo of Jerry Jeudy and Courtland Sutton: Quinn Harris / Getty Images)
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2023-10-11 01:03:09
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