After 62 years on Earth, has Broncos coach Sean Payton finally learned how to get out of his own way?

“When you get older, you just want to win,” Payton said Wednesday after releasing his players to summer vacation at the conclusion of the team’s offseason program.

“You always want to win, but you recognize maybe some of the mistakes you made when you were younger.”

There’s no arguing with the 194 NFL victories Payton has posted on the scoreboard during his brilliant career.

But as a head coach, he has always been a little too obsessed with style points. Sometimes, when the stakes are highest in the playoffs, I get the impression Payton would rather win the argument than the game.

His Broncos will reconvene for training camp in the final week of July.

What lies ahead for the Broncos in 2026 is the most anticipated football season in Denver since Peyton Manning was shouting “Omaha!” at the line of scrimmage.

But the biggest obstacle between the Broncos and a Super Bowl championship isn’t Patrick Mahomes or the other Walmart team in Los Angeles.

It’s the ego of Payton.

During three short seasons in Denver, he has reestablished a winning culture in Broncos Country, jettisoned the dead weight and dead cap of Russell Wilson and wrestled the AFC West from the iron grip of Kansas City coach Andy Reid.

Pretty, pretty good.

Payton, however, hasn’t led a team to the Super Bowl, much less won it, since his gutsy onside kick decision propelled New Orleans past the Indianapolis Colts of Manning’s prime, way back in February 2010.

No coach in the Super Bowl era has gone more than the 10 years between championships that Bill Belichick endured from 2005 to 2015.

Payton is attempting to make NFL history by bridging the largest gap between Super Bowl victories. And nobody tries harder than him. Sometimes too hard. Witness: The stubborn refusal to kick a field goal with a snowstorm forming at the foot of the Rocky Mountains in the AFC championship game against New England.

His decision to turn over play-calling duties to Davis Webb was the first big sign that maybe, just maybe, Payton has finally realized he doesn’t have all the answers.

The new five-year contract that team ownership gave him is not only a sign that Carrie Walton and Greg Penner have a healthy appreciation for the winning systems Payton has hard wired into the new, multimillion dollar training facility at Broncos Park, but also cranks up the clock’s tick-tock intensity on what remains of the coach’s long career.

The NFL has always been a young man’s game on the field. Increasingly, the same adage to head coaches roaming the sideline. By the time his contract expires at the end of the 2030 season, Payton will have celebrated his 68th birthday. The lone NFL coach currently working at that age is Reid.

“Haven’t given any thought to the endgame,” Payton said last week, after his new deal was announced. “I’ve got a lot of juice left and enjoy what we’re doing.”

Nothing is more invigorating than winning. The Broncos are back, baby!

They’re recognized leaguewide as prime-time players, scheduled for gather-around-the-TV games on Sunday, Monday, Thursday and Christmas.

Their addition of receiver Jaylen Waddle, while handing out piles of cash to keep the remainder of the roster intact, spoke volumes to Denver’s belief that this team entered this year only one key player away from winning a championship.

“Expectations are earned,” veteran offensive tackle Mike McGlinchey said.

The Broncos, however, are done sneaking up on anyone.

In a league obsessed with parity, their first-place schedule makes a repeat of 14 regular-season victories seem like an unlikely, if not impossible, dream.

As I noted shortly after Denver’s championship run was halted one step short of a shot at glory on Super Bowl Sunday, only six of the last 50 teams to lose in the AFC and NFC title games hoisted the Lombardi Trophy in the following season.

“Situational football, more and more, when you look at the way these games are finishing – record number of three-point games last year, record number of lead changes in the postseason – the margins each year continue to get a little closer,” Payton said. “Paying attention to that, I think, is real important.”

Will Payton allow Webb to grow as a play-caller without meddling?

Will Payton show the maturity to really commit to the run, especially when we all know he thinks throwing the rock around the yard is more fun?

Will Payton take the three points and resist the temptation to listen to his ego on fourth down?

Making every year count, especially after an NFL coach’s 60th birthday, is all that really matters.

Payton’s never-ending quest to prove himself the smartest man in the room is entertaining.

But a Super Bowl ring speaks for itself.