DeMarcus Ware may be best known for his nine-season tenure with the Dallas Cowboys, but he won his Super Bowl ring with the Denver Broncos.

The Hall of Fame pass rusher joined the Broncos prior to the 2014 season and spent the last three years of his career in Denver. Ware won Super Bowl 50 at the conclusion of the 2015 season after notching his ninth and final Pro Bowl bid, recording five tackles and two sacks in the big game.

Fast forward to the present day and the Broncos are finally back on the right track for the first time since that Super Bowl win. Denver is coming off of their first playoff berth in nine years, breaking one of the longest droughs in the NFL.

Under the leadership of veteran head coach Sean Payton and young quarterback Bo Nix, Ware is confident that the Broncos can take the leap from being just a playoff team into an elite one.

“For sure,” says Ware in a one-on-one interview when asked if they can make the leap. “From what they have done last year, they’re a couple missing pieces that I’m trying to just think about that they will need. Because they play well enough on defense and play well enough on offense, and maybe it’s just experience. Experience is missing. You can never have too much supporting cast.”

Ware mentions how the Broncos need to acquire more of a possession receiver to take the load off of Courtland Sutton and give Nix another offensive playmaker. Denver’s next-best wideout outside of Sutton was Marvin Mims with 39 catches for 503 receiving yards and six touchdowns.

While Mims is certainly a playmaker, having been named an All-Pro selection in back-to-back seasons as a returner, he’s more of a special teams weapon than a receiving threat.

Ware says the Broncos need to find a wide receiver that’s a “Wes Welker” type of receiver. Welker teamed up with Ware during the 2014 season and was considered the best slot receiver in the league during the late 2000’s and early 2010’s.

Finding that type of receiver to support Sutton – who is coming off of a 1,000-yard season – will go a long way towards determining the Broncos’ success.

“I always say Courtland is that long range guy,” says Ware of Sutton. “Who is that Wes Welker? Somebody that can come in, when they make an impact from an offensive standpoint, they can play left and right and more like that slot-type guy, but a go-getter, That’s a really good thing when you’re thinking about a guy that can come in as somebody that’s supporting Courtland.”

With the 2025 NFL Draft coming up, the Broncos hold the No. 20 overall pick. Ware says Denver may not have to necessarily target that type of receiver with their first-round pick, saying they could probably find him in the second or third round.

“You can probably get him in the second or third round,” says Ware of that Wes Welker type of receiver. “I don’t know who’s there right now that can sort of fill those shoes.”

Ware says he would draft a defensive playmaker or go offensive line with the No. 20 overall pick. He does mention how the Broncos have already beefed up in the leadership department with their offseason additions, guys like San Francisco 49ers defensive veterans in Taloanoa Hufanga and Dre Greenlaw.

“They’ve gotten some better leadership, in the offseason, which I feel like they need they’re going to just push them to get a little bit later in the playoffs,” says Ware. “They have the team – a sleeper team

“Offensive and defensive line, I would say go and get offensive line up there,” Ware continues to say of the Broncos’ No. 20 pick. I would go and get just to protect Bo Nix, I would do that if I was going to draft at 20. If it was a for-sure thing, I would draft a defensive guy that’s going to come in and make an impact right now.”

While it remains to be seen what the Broncos will do with their No. 20 overall pick, Ware knows what he’s doing entering the 2025 NFL Draft.

DeMarcus Ware Partnering With Crown Royal To Honor Veterans At 2025 NFL Draft

The Hall of Fame defensive player is teaming up with Crown Royal and the Bob Woodruff Foundation to honor 32 military veterans at the NFL draft in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

The veterans will be honored just prior to the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft in a special ceremony inaugural “Hall of Heroes” event as part of the NFL’s Salute to Service initiative.

“This is the first time that they’re doing it at the draft, and it’s so cool to now let the military get the vibe and the feel of what it feels like to be the best,” says Ware of the event. “When you think about the Hall of Fame and Hall of Heroes class, these are going to be the first that’s going to do it and there’s going to be many more after this. They’re going to do that at the draft and just to honor the vets from 32 teams that have done the most in their community.”