Broncos

Broncos HC Sean Payton believes that WR Troy Franklin is taking his play to another level, and his teammates have also taken notice, including QB Jarrett Stidham, who has worked with Franklin this offseason.

“It’s happening, and I’m excited,” Payton said of Franklin, via NFL.com. “I think we’ve just got to be smart because he’s playing two spots, but he’s … had a really good camp. He’s confident. I’ve said this a bunch of times; it has to happen on the field, and you guys that have covered this team or any other team, you see it in the preseason every year. Some players begin to make some plays, and it carries over. So, that’s why these games are important. Obviously, it’s challenging when you’re not going to play your starting group, but when you see growth like that, and every year we don’t know who those players are going to be, but he played well tonight.”

“It’s hard to put into words, because he has grown so much since last year,” Stidham said of Franklin. “And you can tell, he’s playing with so much confidence right now. I think he’s going to help our offense in a really big way, and I know the guys in our [quarterback] room, we’re really excited about that and we’re looking forward to it.”

Broncos

Broncos HC Sean Payton likes the pass protection shown by RB Tyler Badie and thinks it could be a key to him cracking the 53-man roster.

“He’s someone who has really good football I.Q.,” Payton said of Badie, via BroncosWire.com. “He’s a little bit more experienced. … He’s good in protection. When the fronts move around, he’s a good receiver. … You’re seeing some of the things that he does well. He can play in the two-minute, and we activated him late in the year at a playoff game. There’s some savviness to his game. Before he got hurt, before we got here, he had a little bit of success. So I like the player. I like coaching him.”

Chargers

• Per Over the Cap, Chargers WR Keenan Allen signed a one-year, $3,020,000 deal with the team that includes $2,255,000 in guaranteed money.
• The deal has a base value of $1,255,000, a prorated signing bonus of $1,000,000, and a guaranteed salary of $1,255,000.

The post AFC Notes: Keenan Allen, Troy Franklin, Sean Payton, Broncos, Chargers appeared first on NFLTradeRumors.co.