JK Dobbins Signs Extension With Broncos. The Plan to Get to Super Bowl LXII Starts Now
J.K. Dobbins is staying in Denver. The Broncos signed their running back to a two year, $20 million extension during the team’s offseason program. Dobbins, in turn, promised to have the best season of his career. He also made it clear he wants to deliver the Broncos a Super Bowl.
If anybody is going to make a difference for Denver this year, Dobbins is high on the list.
The Broncos came painfully close to the Super Bowl last year. They lost the AFC Championship Game to the Patriots. Dobbins missed the back end of that run after a season ending foot injury in Week 10. He believes the Broncos would have beaten the Patriots if he had been healthy. That belief is debatable but the conviction matters.
“I am 1000 percent” the Broncos would have made the Super Bowl, Dobbins said. The math is hard to argue. Denver had one of the most efficient run games in the NFL when he was healthy. They struggled when he went down. He gave them the kind of explosive runner you need in the playoffs when defenses tighten up and you have to win short yardage situations.
The extension is a good piece of business for everyone. Dobbins gets paid like a real starter for two more years. The Broncos lock in a player they trust without committing long term money to a position that historically does not age well. Sean Payton, who is famously not a fan of paying running backs big money, got a deal he could live with.
The big question with Dobbins is always health. His injury history is brutal. He has had a torn ACL. He has had Achilles issues. He has now had a foot injury that ended his 2025 season. When he is on the field, he is one of the most efficient runners in the league. When he is on the field. That conditional matters.
The Broncos’ offensive line should help. Quinn Meinerz is one of the best guards in the league. Garett Bolles is solid at left tackle. The interior of the line is built to run downhill. Dobbins should get clean creases. He is a one cut, attack the line runner. The system is built for him.
Bo Nix is the X factor. He had a solid second NFL season. He is not a guy who is going to win games with his arm alone. He needs the run game to set up everything else. If Dobbins is healthy and producing, Nix’s play action game becomes a problem for defenses. If Dobbins is hurt, Nix has to put the team on his back, which is not the recipe.
The AFC West is brutal. The Chiefs are still the Chiefs as long as Patrick Mahomes is upright. The Chargers got better. The Raiders are still trying to figure out who they are. The division winner is probably Kansas City again. But the Broncos have a real path to a wild card spot and a deep playoff run.
What Denver needs is for their best players to stay on the field. Dobbins is one of them. Patrick Surtain II is another. Garett Bolles is another. If those three stay healthy for 17 games, the Broncos are a problem. If two of them miss significant time, Denver is back in mediocrity.
For now, the focus is on the extension. Dobbins is committed. The Broncos are committed to him. The Super Bowl talk is loud, but the foundation is there. We will see how it plays out in September.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
