The Denver Broncos came just short of hitting their win total of 8.5 last season, but that doesn't paint the full picture of their failure to live up to expectations. The offense struggled under Super Bowl winning coach Sean Payton, and the defense went from good to terrible, including giving up 70 points in a Week 3 loss to the Dolphins. Things got better after a 1-5 start as Denver rattled off five straight wins, four against eventual playoff teams in the Packers, Chiefs, Bills and Browns. The success was short-lived, and Payton eventually decided he could not work with Super Bowl winning quarterback Russell Wilson, leading to a split in the offseason that will take up $53 million of the Broncos' salary cap in 2024.

With that cap limitation, the Broncos were unable to chase another big-ticket quarterback, instead choosing to draft Oregon's Bo Nix with the 12th overall pick despite most predraft analysis pegging him as a Day 2 talent. Where the media says a prospect should go ultimately doesn't matter, and time will tell if Nix can be a Drew Brees type of talent that Payton wants for his offense. It doesn't help that the initial Wilson trade also cost the Broncos their second-round pick this year, robbing Denver of some flexibility to get Nix plus another much needed young talent.

The Wilson dead cap also meant the Broncos had to be pretty thrifty on the talent they brought in during free agency, with players like Brandon Jones, Josh Reynolds and Cody Barton plugging holes rather than significantly upgrading the roster. That leaves the Broncos with one of the lowest projected win totals in the AFC at 5.5.

Below, we'll go through the futures and win total markets for the 2024 Denver Broncos, sharing recently updated odds from major U.S. and Nevada sportsbooks as well as the SportsLine Projection Model forecast for each betting market. We'll then take a look through the schedule, share my power ratings line projections for every game and note any rest or travel advantages or disadvantages to remember. Then we'll examine the changes to the depth chart and what the effect of each could be, before wrapping up with our early forecast of what to expect from this team in 2024.

What are the key factors to consider before locking in Denver Broncos futures bets? And how does the SportsLine Projection Model see the season going? ... Join SportsLine right now to see Broncos betting strategy from the expert who's 636-534-34 on ATS picks from 2017-23, returning $4,899 to $100 players!