The Broncos have made their preference clear on Ja’Quan McMillian: they want him around for the long haul.
McMillian is set to play the 2026 season on a one-year, $5.767 million restricted free agent tender, and while Denver has not worked out a long-term extension beyond that, Sean Payton didn’t leave much room for interpretation when asked about the cornerback’s future.
“Absolutely,” Payton said, via Zac Stevens. “The ball finds him.
We keep talking about taking it away. We even forget Buffalo on the road, Monday night [in] ’23.
The first series of the game, ball’s out, and he’s causing a fumble. He’s just around it all.
That’s not just good fortune. That’s the skill set.”
For Payton, McMillian’s knack for getting to the football is the selling point. The Broncos coach pointed to the way the former undrafted free agent consistently shows up around turnovers, and he made it clear that’s not something Denver views as a fluke.
McMillian, 25, first joined the Broncos in 2022 after going undrafted out of East Carolina. He didn’t stick on the initial 53-man roster as a rookie, landing on the practice squad after final cuts, but Denver brought him back up to the active roster in January 2023 and he has remained with the team since.
The Broncos have continued to keep him in the fold, re-signing him as an exclusive rights free agent last offseason before using the restricted free agent tender on him this year.
On the field in 2025, McMillian played all 17 games and put together a busy stat line: 56 tackles, five tackles for loss, four sacks, two interceptions, one fumble recovery, and one defensive touchdown.
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