Welcome to The Denver Post’s free agency tracker, where Post beat reporters Parker Gabriel and Luca Evans will be constantly updating any Broncos-relevant news, signings, and general intel. Denver already moved quickly on the Sunday before free agency to re-up with several pieces of their 2025 roster — tight ends Adam Trautman and Nate Adkins, linebacker Justin Strnad, and quarterback Sam Ehlinger — but the Broncos still have a slew of needs to address. Skill talent, linebacker, and safety will be positions to watch for Denver in the coming days.

Here’s the beat-by-beat guide to all the Broncos’ action. The legal-tampering period begins Monday morning, and free agents can officially sign with new teams at 2 p.m. MT on Wednesday.

10:48 a.m.: As the top free-agent RB in Walker is already off the board, another big name is set to head elsewhere: former Falcons back Tyler Allgeier is “not going to be a Bronco,” an NFL source told The Post on Monday morning.

Allgeier would’ve been an interesting option to pair with RJ Harvey, a 25-year-old fifth-round pick in 2022 who ran for 514 yards and eight touchdowns in 2025. He finished fifth in Offensive Rookie of the Year voting in 2022 after rushing for 1,035 yards. Denver, though, clearly has eyes elsewhere — with their two obvious best options at running back currently free agent Travis Etienne and their own free agent J.K. Dobbins.

10:30 a.m.: Looks like TE Cade Otton is headed back to Tampa Bay, according to several reports. An all-around TE who would have fit what Denver needs more of from its group. — Parker Gabriel 

10:23 a.m.: The Broncos are going to get very familiar with RB Kenneth Walker, but not in their own locker room. NFL Network reported he’s headed to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Walker was expected to be near the top of the free-agent RB market, so his contract details will be interesting. Denver didn’t seem like a clean fit for Walker, though he had a terrific playoff run and was the Super Bowl MVP, in part because he’s not a particularly strong pass-protector. — Parker Gabriel 

10:10 a.m.: The Broncos made a key move Sunday night to loosen the purse strings for themselves, converting All-Pro right guard Quinn Meinerz’s 2026 base salary to a signing bonus and freeing up roughly $12 million in cap room. After Denver’s run of tenders for exclusive-rights free agents, re-signing of guard Alex Palczewski and the Meinerz restructure, they’re sitting at roughly $33 million in cap space entering free agency, by The Post’s calculations — but that’s not factoring in Sunday’s re-signings.

Strnad, Trautman, Adkins and Ehlinger’s 2026 cap numbers aren’t yet known, but a very rough estimation would bundle them at around $10 million in total cap hit. It’s safe to assume in total, then, that Denver has roughly $20-25 million in free cap room as the tampering period opens Monday.

The Broncos can still create plenty further room for themselves. More potential restructurings: Mike McGlinchey (would save $10.5 million, according to Over The Cap), D.J. Jones ($8.4 million), Talanoa Hufanga ($7.8 million) and Jonathon Cooper ($7.7 million). — Luca Evans 

9:55 a.m.: Free agency has arrived.

The Broncos figure to be active in pursuing new additions, but the first order of business for the offseason has been addressing their own crop of free agents.

Denver entered the offseason with 21 free agents of all kinds — unrestricted, restricted and exclusive rights — and has now retained 10 after a flurry of Sunday activity in which the club signed four players.

The Broncos have signed tight ends Adam Trautman (three years) and Nate Adkins (one year), offensive lineman Alex Palczewski (two years), quarterback Sam Ehlinger (one year) and inside linebacker Justin Strnad (three years).

They’ve tendered restricted free agent cornerback Ja’Quan McMillian and exclusive rights free agents in OLB Dondrea Tillman, S Devon Key, DL Jordan Jackson and RB Tyler Badie.

The 11 players who are set to become unrestricted free agents at 10 a.m. are as follows:

* DLs John Franklin-Myers and Matt Henningsen

* RBs J.K. Dobbins and Jaleel McLaughlin

* ILB Alex Singleton

* S P.J. Locke

* FBs Mike Burton and Adam Prentice

* WR Lil’Jordan Humphrey

* C Sam Mustpher

* TE Lucas Krull

— Parker Gabriel 

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Now he’s back for 2026, too.

The quarterback and the Broncos agreed to terms on a one-year, $2 million deal Sunday night, a source confirmed to The Post.

Ehlinger spent the 2025 season as the No. 3 quarterback behind starter Bo Nix and Jarrett Stidham. That’s the way the Broncos quarterback room looks going into free agency, which begins Monday, as well. Stidham has reportedly drawn some trade interest, though Denver’s offensive brain trust led by head coach Sean Payton and now-offensive coordinator Davis Webb loved the way the room operated last year.

After Ehlinger signed with the Broncos about a month into free agency, Webb told The Post that Denver hadn’t pursued many quarterbacks to serve as a No. 3 and to push Stidham, but they liked what they saw in Ehlinger and made him a priority.

“I was always like, man, if somebody just spent a little more time mechanically with him or had a former quarterback coaching him, I think the best is yet to come for him,” Webb said in August. “When he was available and we needed a No. 3 or a guy that could push our No. 2, that was a pretty easy decision.”

In the middle of the season, Ehlinger had a tougher call to make. He had to decide between staying on Denver’s practice squad or returning to Indianapolis, where he spent the first four years of his career, for a spot on the 53-man roster after Colts starter Daniel Jones sustained a season-ending injury.

Ehlinger decided to stay with the Broncos. Denver was primed for a deep playoff run and Ehlinger had grown close with Nix and Stidham along with several others on the team, including long-time friend and former University of Texas teammate Brandon Jones.

He also saw a future developing with Payton and Webb.

“I think Davis is one of the best quarterback coaches in the league, and I think he’s on a fast track to doing whatever he wants,” Ehlinger said in August. “Our conversations during free agency, when making that decision, was that he believed in me. It was a rough couple first years there for a little bit (in Indy), but he really believed in me, watched the tape and and said, ‘I know what you’re capable of and I want you to come and develop and continue to get better, learn a new system.’”

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Nathan MacKinnon hasn’t flashed a smile like that on the ice since, what, June 2022?

Just saying.

“I’ve been here a short while, and I think we’ve got what it takes (to win it all),” Kadri said Sunday after helping the Avalanche snatch a scrappy shootout win over the Minnesota Wild in Naz’s Denver return.

“Being around the guys and understanding their level of focus … they understand that we’ve got ourselves a great opportunity here. And when everyone’s on that same page … (During the) 2022 (Stanley Cup run), that’s exactly the feeling I had. So, I mean, there’s a lot of work to be done. Nobody’s going to give it to us. But we’re going to work for it.”

Speaking of work, it only took Kadri about a period-and-a-half to remind Avs fans exactly what they’d missed about him. The poking. The prodding. The pressing.

With 7:41 to go in the second stanza, the veteran Avs forward closed in and nagged Wild defenseman Brock Faber behind the Minnesota goal — intercepting Quinn Hughes’ drop pass for Faber in the process.

“I think we had some good pressure on the forecheck,” Kadri said. “Made a good read, picked off a pass and found Nate in the slot. He’s going to bury that.”

Whenever MacKinnon’s lurking nearby, it only takes a split second to turn a moment of chaos into utter genius.

Sure enough, Kadri spotted a charging Nate Dogg all alone in the right face-off circle, and fed the Avs center a laser from goalie Jesper Wallstedt’s blind spot. MacKinnon celebrated the gift by launching a wrister over the Wild netminder’s shoulder, putting the hosts on the board with a 1-0 lead.

Cue that smile. Oh, doctor. It was luminous. It’s the one MacKinnon saves for Cup clinchers, downtown victory parades, and reunions with his closest pals. Nate Dogg hugged Kadri. Avs fans hugged one another.

NHL? You’re in trouble deep.

Lord Stanley? We’ve got a table waiting for you at Fogo De Chao.

The helper was Naz’s first point with the Avs since his winning goal in overtime at Tampa to close out Game 4 of the 2022 Stanley Cup Finals.

Mike Penny actually saw that last one in the flesh. Sort of. The Avs diehard was part of a pack of about seven “KADRI 91” sweaters sitting shoulder to shoulder in Sections 128 and 130 Sunday.

“It was amazing,” Penny said of that Naz game-winner. “We were catty-corner from where the goal got scored. And we saw these four Avalanche fans just jumping up and down. And we’re like, ‘They must have scored! They must have scored!’

“So we started jumping up and down. And then next thing you know, the whole crowd erupts.”

“Even the Lightning fans?” I wondered.

“Well, not really,” Penny replied. “But all the Avs fans in the crowd.”

Can’t make this stuff up, kids.

“We knew Naz was coming back (today), right? So we all decided to keep our tickets,” Penny’s friend Marc Angel explained. “And we were all like, ‘Look, we are wearing the Naz (sweaters on Sunday).'”

Angel showed me a group text they’d put together after Avs GM Chris MacFarland landed Kadri from Calgary this past Friday. a coordinated effort to make sure everybody nabbed those old 91s out of the back of the closet. Like Colorado’s power play, it takes a village, sometimes.

“Ever year, (Penny) would get mad at me and tell me, ‘He’s coming back, he’s coming back, I know he’s coming back,'” Angel recalled. “This year, it actually happened.”

“Look, I kept the sweater,” Penny countered. “I don’t know what else you want!”

One more Cup?

One more summer cigar at Civic Center park?

“I’ve never been a (trade) deadline guy,” Kadri said. “But, you know, to come here and play in front of these fans and play with this team is exactly what I could have asked for.”

If Sunday was any indication, the love affair between Avs fans and Kadri burns as hot as ever.

Derek Huffman brought a 2019-2020 game-worn No. 91 with him from Thornton for Sunday’s homecoming. He’s got two more Naz sweaters back home.

“I call him, like, a Claude Lemieux. Like a hemorrhoid,” Huffman said. “The ones you want on your team. And hate when they’re not on your team.

“The guy just pokes and pokes and knows where to poke at.”

Huffman was on a Teams call in his home office around 2-ish this past Friday afternoon when news of the Kadri trade broke.

His daughter, working upstairs, let outt a cry.

“OH MY GOD!”

She went running down the steps and burst into Derek’s room. Huffman turned his mute on and his camera off. Why let a business call ruin a moment of absolute elation?

“We landed him,” she told Huffman. “Oh my God.”

“For what?” he queried.

Once they found out?

Oh. My. God.

“It’s the best thing in the world. I think (Kadri) might be the missing piece,” Huffman gushed. “When you add that back in there and the grit — you already saw it in the beginning of the game, just a grit, (his) back-checking. Getting his face in the middle of the net and everything else. Just being him.”

Naz skated with the top line and opened on the first power-play unit.  With 13:03 to go in the first period, the Avs ran a video tribute to Kadri’s first Denver stint, capped by a WELCOME HOME message on the scoreboard.

Kadri looked up, briefly, then wagged a gloved finger in appreciation. As the applause continued, his gaze turned back quickly to the ice.

“It’s almost like a ‘pinch-me’ type moment,” Kadri said later. “Like, ‘Wow, this is crazy. Hey, guys, can you settle down? I’ve got to focus here.’  But no, of course, I love the noise. I love the support. And these fans are special.”

You’ve heard of fans who can’t wait to drive a player to the airport, right? Avalanche faithful apparently tried to get Kadri from DIA back to Ball Arena quicker after his plane landed late Saturday night.

“You get spotted?” I asked Naz.

“Several times, yeah,” Kadri replied. “But they actually helped me out with my luggage.”

Denver fans with the assist. Naturally. Some legends write themselves. And some sequels are worth the wait.

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Denver and veteran tight end Adam Trautman agreed to terms on a three-year deal worth a total of $17 million on Sunday afternoon, multiple sources confirmed to The Post. The deal can scale up to $18.5 million total with incentives. Trautman would have become a free agent and gained the ability to negotiate with any team at 10 a.m. Monday.

The deal came together quickly, a source said. Denver reached out to Trautman on Sunday afternoon and an agreement got hammered out in a matter of hours.

It comes as no surprise that head coach Sean Payton and company wanted Trautman back. He has been their most-used player at the position since the Broncos traded for him in the spring of 2023. Even after Denver signed former Pro Bowl tight end Evan Engram to a two-year deal with $16.5 million guaranteed in last year’s free agency, Trautman still far outpaced Engram in playing time at tight end — a 57% offensive-snap share for Trautman against just 40% for Engram.

In total, Trautman caught 20 passes for 195 yards and a touchdown in 2025. Payton and the Broncos are well aware that receiving isn’t necessarily Trautman’s strongest trait; the tight end had a built-in contract bonus if he reached 25 catches in 2025, and entered Week 18 against the Chargers still sitting at 20.

“I said it to him — I love him, but that’s what he averages a year,” Payton joked after the Broncos’ win postgame.

Trautman, though, is a steady pass-blocker and willing run-blocker as an in-line tight end in Payton’s system, although his Pro Football Focus run-blocking grade has declined every season since he entered the league in 2020. Ultimately, the near-$6 million in average salary makes sense for Trautman; former Giants tight end Daniel Bellinger’s camp is aiming for a deal in free agency between $7 to $8 million in yearly salary, a similar player to Trautman in production and usage.

Trautman, of course, also authored the undeniable quote of the year in defending Bo Nix from online detractors in November.

“We don’t care what other people think,” Trautman said then. “We know what we have in the building. And we know what he’s made of. And we don’t really care what people have to say. So, ‘Dragonslayer69’ with a 7-11 Slurpee in his mom’s basement, I don’t give a (expletive) what you have to say, right? And Bo doesn’t either.”

Trautman has played every one of his six seasons — save for Payton’s retirement in 2022 — for Payton, and Denver traded for Trautman from New Orleans just a few months into Payton’s tenure in 2023. He was originally drafted by Payton in New Orleans in the third round in 2020’s draft out of Dayton; at that time, Payton traded a slew of Day 3 draft picks to move up and pick him.

They are still widely expected to be players in the tight end market when the legal tampering window opens Monday. The Broncos could move on from Engram, though they would only save about $4 million on their 2026 cap and would take more than $10 million in dead salary cap charges.

Either way, what the Broncos do to complete the room will be closely watched considering the three players under contract now combined to produce a steady, but not particularly dangerous, group in 2025.

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Nathan MacKinnon and Valeri Nichushkin scored in the one-on-one competition Sunday afternoon, and the Avs knocked off the Minnesota Wild, 3-2, at Ball Arena. They also beat the Dallas Stars in a shootout Friday night, securing a huge four points to put the Central Division title and the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference in clear view.

Colorado led the Stars by nine points and the Wild by 10 after the win, though Dallas had a game to play later Sunday night. The Avs were 1-5 in shootouts before this weekend.

“It was great,” Avs goaltender Scott Wedgewood said after making 32 saves and three more in the shootout. “I think it foreshadows that it is probably going to take some extra time come playoff time. I think you just get that upper edge. You feel like you beat them, regardless of how you beat them.”

Nazem Kadri had an assist in his return to the Avs after being acquired Friday afternoon in a trade with the Calgary Flames.

Two of the other new guys teamed up to help the Avs get even at 2-2. Nicolas Roy tipped a Brett Kulak shot from the left point past Minnesota goaltender Jesper Wallstedt at 12:39 of the third period. It was Roy’s first goal with the Avs after being acquired Thursday in a trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Colorado entered the day 33-0-0 when leading after two periods. The Avs wobbled in the third, but they are now 34-0-0.

“Obviously at that point, we needed a goal,” Roy said. “Just tried to switch the mindset up a little bit, tried to attack a little more. It was good to get one there. Good timing.”

While the Avs have been historically great for much of this season at even strength, they nearly lost this contest on special teams. Minnesota rallied from a 1-0 deficit in the first half of the third period with a pair of special-teams tallies.

Kirill Kaprizov scored four seconds into a Wild power play after Ross Colton went to the penalty box for slashing. Kaprizov was shooting for Matt Boldy’s stick, but the official scored determined it went off Brent Burns’ blade instead and just inside the far post at 4:17 of the third.

Then, with the Avs on the power play, old friend Nico Sturm got behind everyone and scored shorthanded at 7:01. That is Colorado’s 11th shorthanded goal against this season, which leads the NHL.

The Avs went 0-for-5 with the man advantage in this contest and yielded a shorthanded goal. That’s a bad day at the office, even though Colorado’s first unit did create far more chances than it has on other scoreless days this season.

MacKinnon had the lone goal of the opening two periods. Wild defenseman Quinn Hughes tried to leave the puck for a teammate, but Kadri jumped the drop pass and then sent it to MacKinnon cutting to the net.

The league leader scored his 43rd of the season at 12:19 of the second, and immediately pointed across the to ice to Kadri.

The Ball Arena crowd gave Kadri several loud ovations — during warmups, when he was introduced in the starting lineup and after a welcome back video during the first television timeout. He got another one after setting up MacKinnon’s goal.

Kadri spent three seasons with Colorado from 2019-22, but became one of the most popular players in recent franchise history.

His run culminated with the club’s third Stanley Cup championship in 2022. Kadri signed a seven-year, $49 million contract with the Calgary Flames a few weeks after lifting the Cup with the Avs, then returned Friday afternoon in a trade completed just before the deadline.

“It was emotional,” Kadri said. “Just seeing the support I get here, it was absolutely incredible. Just makes me want to play harder for these fans and this team.”

FOOTNOTE: Avs captain Gabe Landeskog missed the game is “week-to-week” with a lower-body injury. Landeskog got hit in the groin area with a Cale Makar shot during the second period Friday night, but finished the game and played nearly 23 minutes in the 5-4 shootout win. He took nine shifts in the third period.

“It’s a lower-body injury, not a comfortable one,” Bednar said. “That’s the timeframe the doctor gave us.”

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After nearly three hours on the field, Mora described the first practice as ‘average’ and stressed the Rams have a long way to go to reach the standards he and his coaching staff expect of them.

Still, the Rams were enthusiastic and full of energy as the foundation for what they will be when they kick off the season in September against Wyoming began to be laid.

“Pretty average start,” Mora said. “Probably what I expected, though. It’s interesting. We’ve been doing some work inside and all you have to do is kind of change the setting a little bit and you throw people for a loop. We always want to be trying to put pressure on these guys, create uncertainty because that’s what the game of football is about.”

Pressure, uncertainty and a little bit of chaos are what Mora and his coaches will try to instill in the team as they begin their allotted number of practices over the next five weeks.

Even though Mora described the first day as average and stressed the team has a long way to go, he was appreciative of the team’s attitude, saying that their willingness and interest are what excites him the most about the team he has assembled through a brief recruiting period and the transfer portal.

“When you look at someone, you can tell whether they’re interested or they’re not,” he said. “Just observing, all these guys are were interested. They’re soaking it in. They want to be good players. They want to have a good football team.

“We’re never going to have a perfect practice. We’re never going to play that perfect game. But we can have a perfect attitude. We can have a perfect effort. We can have the desire to have perfect execution, and that’s what excites me.”

While the team is transfer heavy, there are several returning Rams who stayed around to play for Mora.

Offensive lineman Phillip Ocon is one of them, and he took good things away from Sunday’s initial session.

“It’s been great,” Ocon said. “OTAs and winter is one thing. We worked really, really hard to build a good base, and now that we’re on the field and in gear, we’re really seeing those values come to light. The coaching staff has done a great job really instilling those values in us. They really want us to lean into the hard work here and don’t want us to shy away from it.”

Mora said following practice that he and the staff were going to demand a lot from the players. They are going to create chaos and uncertainty and expect the players to react and respond.

He is looking for endurance as well. He expects the players to practice hard and put in the work. Even going as far as to say that guys standing around watching practice isn’t going to work with him.

Mora hopes once spring practice concludes, the team has an identity that will carry into fall camp and then the season-opening Border War and first season in the Pac-12 Conference.

“We expect to win,” Mora said. “What we need to come out of spring with is an identification who our playmakers are, who we can count on, who we can trust, who is dependable to us as a staff, who is dependable to their teammates, who has the mental toughness to do it the way we want it done.”

Over the next five weeks, Mora hopes to find the players with those qualities that will lead the team on Saturdays.

After all, the 5-foot-9, 175-pound receiver from San Jose State led the country last season in targets (156) and receiving yards (1,297), numbers that will be tough to duplicate at CU.

Scudero still figures to have a prominent role in the CU offense, but he is eager to spread the wealth among his talented teammates in the receiving corps.

“The guys in the room make it easy (to shift perspective),” Scudero said after the third practice of spring on Friday. “Guys like (Kam Perry), that I want to see them eat; and they want to see me eat. I want to see Kam run a deep ball; when DeAndre (Moore) is back, I want to see him run a deep ball. … I want to see Ernest (Campbell) use his 4.3 speed to pass people. I want to see everybody do what they came here to do, and I know that it’s reciprocated where they want to see what I can do, too.”

Perry (Miami-Ohio), Moore (Texas) and Campbell (Sacramento State) were all highly productive at their previous schools last year, too, while Joseph Williams was the second-leading receiver at CU in 2025.

Scudero and those other four had a combined 243 catches for 4,049 yards and 32 touchdowns during the 2025 season. CU also brings back talented returners in Hykeem Williams, Quanell Farrakhan Jr., and Quentin Gibson, while adding two incoming freshmen in Jacob Swain and Christian Ward.

“I would say, one, there’s a lot of talent in this room, from the top to the bottom,” Scudero said. “I mean, everybody that is in this room is a dawg. … When you have the mindset of you’re striving to get better every practice and really just holding each other accountable, that really makes for a dangerous room because you have to put your best foot forward, otherwise the guys are going to get on you. And we really just hold each other to a high standard in this room.”

Scudero is the most experienced and productive of the group coming into the year, however, despite humble beginnings.

Lightly recruited out of Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose, California, Scudero accepted the only Division I scholarship offer he received, from Sacramento State at the FCS level. He spent two seasons with the Hornets, redshirting in 2023 and then catching 52 passes for 664 yards and five touchdowns in 2024.

Last year, he went from the FCS to FBS. Now he’s jumping to a Power Four conference team.

“It makes for a cool story, but at the same time, you kind of have the mindset of you gotta earn everything,” he said. “Everything that is kind of given in this sport, you really just earn it. And the only way you can earn it is just by working.

“When you look up, you see the scoreboard or see what you did at the end of a season and the rest is the rest. So you don’t really look into (adversity) that much, you just kind of just fall in love with the process.”

That process has brought him to Boulder, where he has two seasons of eligibility remaining.

“I’m blessed to be here,” he said. “I think it was really the relationships that I came here on my visit with, with (offensive coordinator Brennan) Marion and Coach Prime (head coach Deion Sanders) and just pretty much everybody here. They were very welcoming, and welcomed me and my mom to Boulder.”

This is the second time in three years that CU has brought in one of the nation’s most productive receivers as a transfer. In 2023, LaJohntay Wester led the country in targets (152) and was second in receptions (107) while playing for Florida Atlantic. He came to CU and still dominated, with 74 catches for 931 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2024.

Scudero hopes to follow a similar path as he comes to CU’s rebuilt, Go-Go offense led by Marion.

“(Marion) definitely knows how to get playmakers in space,” Scudero said. “I know he’s said a lot where it’s like don’t count your reps, make your reps count. And that has kind of stuck with me because I mean, he puts us in a lot of positions to succeed; that’s all you can ask as a playmaker. You just want to be in the position to succeed and Coach Marion does a great job with that.”

Head coach Tad Boyle said recently even a seven-win conference season isn’t at all where the program expects to be. Still, given the depths of last year’s lows and the number of freshmen the Buffs have leaned upon this season, the jump from last year’s last-place 3-17 Big 12 mark is substantial.

Even with Saturday’s near-upset that turned into an 89-79 defeat against No. 2 Arizona, and also despite a few road clunkers, the Buffs have put together some of their best all-around efforts of the season in recent weeks. One of those performances occurred in a Feb. 21 home win against Oklahoma State, which the Buffs will face again on Tuesday night in the first round of the Big 12 tournament (7:30 p.m. MT, ESPN+).

“I like the effort that we played with, the toughness that we played with,” Boyle said following the loss against UA, which ended a run of four consecutive home wins for the Buffs. “(Arizona’s) the Big 12 champion for a reason. I’ve coached 15 years now against Arizona. I’m not saying it’s the most talented team they’ve ever had, but I think it’s the best team they’ve ever had.”

While the Buffs and Cowboys close the opening day of action, the tournament tips off at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri, between 12th-seeded Arizona State and No. 13 Baylor. Ninth-seeded Cincinnati then takes on last-place Utah before 10th-seeded BYU battles No. 15 Kansas State. All first-round games will air on ESPN+.

The winner between the Buffs (17-14, 7-11 Big 12) and Oklahoma State will take on sixth-seeded TCU on Wednesday (7:30 p.m. MT, ESPN2 or ESPNU). CU also defeated TCU at home on Feb. 1, but the Horned Frogs have won eight of nine games since to earn a first-round bye.

Arizona clinched the top seed as the Big 12’s regular season champ even before defeating the Buffs, while the top four seeds were rounded out by Houston, Kansas and Texas Tech. The top four seeds received double-byes into Thursday’s quarterfinals.

The Buffs might not have competed for the conference crown, but they were steady in their results, going 6-1 against the teams seeded behind them in the Big 12 bracket while struggling to a 1-10 mark against the teams ahead of them. Saturday’s loss against the Wildcats added to that latter ledger, but it also served as a confidence-booster for the Buffs. CU was routed by several of the Big 12’s best on the road, but they led Saturday’s game for six-plus more minutes than an Arizona squad widely considered a Final Four favorite.

“At least we know we can compete with the best team in this league,” Boyle said. “Now, we didn’t prove that in Ames, Iowa, or Houston, Texas, or Waco, not that Baylor’s at the top of our league. But we did (Saturday), and Arizona won this league just 17 games into it. They’re a hell of a team.

“No moral victories for sure, but I do think our guys can take some positive things out of this that we can take to Kansas City with us. One of those is the confidence we can play with anybody in this league when we put our minds to it. We’ve got to put our minds to it, we’ve got to execute our game plan on both sides of the ball.”

His next challenge is make an impact when he’s on the court.

His third will be to stay there.

“Obviously, I’ve gotta play better on the offensive side,” he said after his first game in more than a month. “And defense. I’ve just gotta play better for us to have a chance to win. I think as I get my legs back under me, I’ll do that. So I’ve gotta be better for us.”

Gordon was blunt about his performance but upbeat about the state of his right hamstring — it might as well be the state of the union for the Nuggets — while reflecting on a 1-for-7 shooting night Friday. It was supposed to the power forward’s triumphant return after missing 17 consecutive games with a reaggravated hamstring strain. Instead, it was Denver’s worst home loss in franchise history, a 142-103 smackdown by the Knicks at Ball Arena.

Consider Gordon unfazed.

“I’ve gotta stay on top of it. But I play without worry,” he said when asked about the risk of re-injury. “When you’re worried about an injury out there, that’s usually when it happens. So I feel great. My body feels good. It’s just the timing and the pace of the game that needs to come back to me now, but I feel good.”

Gordon returned from the injury for 10 games in January, only for it to emerge again during a game in Milwaukee. He was welcomed back by a rousing ovation Friday at Ball Arena. He played 21 minutes in the loss, amassing three points, three rebounds and three assists. His playing time will remain restricted for now.

“It’s fun. I’m grateful to be able to play this game and be out there and express myself through the game that I love to play,” Gordon said, “and to be out there with the fellas. So win, lose or draw, I have gratitude. Obviously, it’s better to come out with a win, and that’s what I’m looking for day in and day out. But I’m grateful to just play the game.”

His second game back could require a step up in speed and physicality. The Nuggets will visit Oklahoma City on Monday for a rematch of their chippy overtime affair with the Thunder 10 days earlier. Gordon is still shooting 39% from the 3-point line this season, but he thinks there might be something to the notion that he was out of rhythm Friday in part because his conditioning was in catch-up mode.

“Anybody in the league can make shots when there’s no cardio involved, when no one’s tired,” he said. “But as soon as you start running up and down, it gets a little bit harder to make shots and be in the right place at the right time. But I’m not here to make excuses. I played bad (against the Knicks). And I know that affected us losing the game.”

The Nuggets are 17-7 when Gordon suits up this season. They’re 12-4 when he plays 25 or more minutes, with three of those losses by one-score margins and all four of them by single digits.

“Aaron was on an emotional high, but he’s still trying to find a rhythm in a real game,” coach David Adelman said. “… When (Nikola) Jokic came back, he was trying to find his rhythm. Even him. So it’s part of the whole thing. But regardless of how we lost or whatever it is, it’s good to have him back.”

In the meantime, Gordon pinpointed the timing of his pregame routine when asked if there are any strategies he’s implementing in an attempt to prevent more health complications for the rest of the season.

“I’m getting to the gym earlier,” he said. “Much, much earlier. Warming up more diligently.”

Jamal Murray day-to-day

Jamal Murray avoided a serious injury Friday and is considered day-to-day with a mild left ankle sprain, league sources told The Denver Post.

The Nuggets were optimistic after their loss to New York that Murray would not miss extended time. The All-Star point guard was helped off the court by two teammates late in the first half after stepping on Jokic’s foot. He’s officially going to be listed as questionable for Monday’s game.

The Nuggets didn’t hold a formal practice Sunday before they flew to Oklahoma City.

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Avalanche captain Gabe Landeskog will not play Sunday afternoon against the Minnesota Wild and is “week-to-week” with a lower-body injury, a team spokesman said.

Avalanche best Wild in shootout, sweep division rivals in huge weekend

Landeskog took a Cale Makar shot to the groin area Friday night during the Avs' 5-4 shootout win against the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center. He showed reporters his athletic cup after the game in the Avs' locker room, and it had a puck-sized dent in it.

He has nine goals and 29 points in 47 games for the Avs this season after missing the previous three regular-seasons with knee issues.

Landeskog just returned from an upper-body injury. He missed the last 14 games before the Olympic break after crashing into the net and end boards during a game in South Florida. He returned for the 2026 Winter Olympics with Sweden, and was in the lineup for the first six Avs contests since the break.

The Avs are going to have Nazem Kadri in the lineup against the Wild for the first time since the 2022 Cup Final. Kadri signed a seven-year contract with the Calgary Flames shortly after the title run, but the Avs brought him back in a before-the-buzzer trade Friday just ahead of the deadline.

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