DENVER — A decade ago, when a player joined the Denver Broncos, Peyton Manning would be one of the first people to reach out and welcome them to Denver.

Now, there’s a new sheriff in town. Bo Nix has taken over those reigns.

“He reached out immediately,” new Broncos safety Talanoa Hufanga told DNVR’s Bennie Fowler in an exclusive interview, when asked if he’s talked to Nix since signing with the team in free agency in March. “Got to see him the day I signed. Got to chop it up with him.”

Much like No. 18, Nix has already become a draw to lure top-tier free agents to the Mile High City.

“He’s a guy that’s just been a gamer,” Hufanga said with excitement about his new quarterback. “When you really watch him, way back in the day — went from Auburn to Oregon. I watched him a lot at Oregon because I am from Oregon originally. You just watch the team and see what he does. Everybody was kind of skeptical of his rookie year and he just came out here and balled. And that’s what I love about it.”

Last year, Nix’s 29 passing touchdowns was the second-most ever in NFL history for a rookie. That caught the attention of Hufanga and his former and current teammate Dre Greenlaw, who both left the San Francisco 49ers to sign with the Broncos in free agency.

“Even talking to Dre, he was my locker partner at the ‘9ers and then when we came here together, we were like, ‘Man, when you got a quarterback that can go out there and really play, as a defense, you know it’s not just three and out.’ There are a lot of teams like that in the NFL. So for us, it’s like, ‘We got potential here,'” Hufanga stated with confidence. “Why can’t we come over here and help change. He’s the reason.”

That’s quite the statement to be made about any quarterback, especially one coming off his rookie season.

Even after the first week of the Broncos’ offseason workout program, Hufanga has already noticed the impact Nix has had in his one year in Denver.

“I think a lot of guys in the locker room be like, ‘The atmosphere has changed a lot in these last few years,'” Hufanga added, giving additional credit to the 25-year-old quarterback. “Seeing what they went through and having a guy like Bo come in and do what he does, the way he works. I’ve just been around it so far in OTAs. The dude hustles. Excited to work with him and excited to hopefully go the distance, for sure.”

‘Huf,’ as he goes by, left a 49ers team that was very close to going the distance multiple times during his four-year tenure in the Bay Area. In fact, in his first two seasons in the NFL, the 49ers made it to the NFC Championship Game each year. In his third season, they made it to the Super Bowl. So it’s fair to say, he knows what makes an elite team.

And he can see Bo being part of that formula.

It didn’t take long for Hufanga to choose Denver as his next home. In fact, it took exactly three hours into the NFL’s legal tampering window at the start of free agency.

That was intentional as Hufanga was “very proactive” in the process with his agent and teams. And it appears the Broncos were high up on his list from the jump.

“I really told Coach [Sean] Payton straight up, ‘Let’s do whatever it takes to win. I really want to be there,'” Hufanga stated.

On Mar. 10, at exactly 1:00 p.m. in the Mile High City, Hufanga agreed to terms on a three-year, $39 million contract with an additional $6 million in incentives, officially making him a Denver Bronco.

The First-team All-Pro safety didn’t just want to be part of the Broncos. He was willing to be even more. He relayed one more message to Sean Payton in their conversation.

“‘At the end of the day for me, if you want to give me the mic, let’s give me the mic. I want to run this defense,'” he said, recounting what he told his new head coach. “For me, I’m a person that I want to make sure our guys make plays.”

“We had the best defensive player in the league last year as corner. You got a great safety in Brandon Jones. You have another corner in Riley Moss. We’re drafting these guys. And the front seven is unbelievable.,” Hufanga said, excited as he went through the talent and potential on Denver’s defense. “For me, it’s what can we do to help guys make plays. When they make plays, we win. I’ve seen it first hand on a great defense in San Fran.”

He certainly has. During Hufanga’s four years with the 49ers, San Francisco had a top 10 defense in terms of yards allowed all four years. They had a top 10 defense in terms of points allowed three of those years.

“When guys are dialed into helping each other make plays, going out there, you’re going to make a play yourself, but at the same time, your co-partner is going to make a play and you’re going to win games and you’re going to shut people out,” Hufanga said, pumped up. “For me, my first time [being part of a shutout was] in 2022, I’ve never held an offense to zero points before [then].”

“That’s something that’s really, really special as a defense,” he continued. “For me, coming here, why can’t we do that every game? It’s hard, obviously, everybody gets paid. But that’s what we strive for. Getting here and just learning is going to be something I’m going to really want to push as a defender… I’m a person that’s really ready for the action.”

The 25-year old knows what a top-tier defense looks like from close up. And he’s willing to do anything and everything to help Denver’s defense shut teams out.

Another big draw to Denver for Hufanga was being able to play alongside the Defensive Player of the Year Pat Surtain II.

“I’ve just been watching him these last four year like, unbelievable. Every year he just does something even better,” Hufanga said in awe. “I was super excited to play with a guy like that. When you’re on the field, that half of the field is completely shut down. You don’t have to worry about him. If they want to throw that way, they can try. And he’s going to make them pay for it.”

Hufanga, however, has known about Surtain’s abilities long before he became the Defensive Player of the Year last season.

Both 25 year olds graduated high school in 2018, dominated in college for three years and were drafted into the NFL in 2021. Hufanga followed and watched Surtain’s game dating back to the transition to college. He looks forward to watching it even closer now as teammates.

“Somebody like him, I’m super excited to work with. I can learn from him as much as I can,” Hufanga said with eagerness. “I’ll be a sponge around him and absorb as much knowledge, for sure, in how to play the game the right way.”

On the flip side, a player that will likely be a sponge around Hufanga is Broncos’ versatile first-round pick Jahdae Barron.

“One thing that stood out to me was his character. I think that goes a long way,” Hufanga said of Denver’s newest defensive back. “For me, just seeing how mentally and mature he was, the right way when he showed up.”

There was one instance that really stood out to Hufanga about Barron. When Barron received the phone call from the Broncos informing him they were going to draft him, the rookie asked Greg Penner to put him on speaker phone so he could talk to Denver’s entire draft room and thank them for the opportunity.

That impressed the head coach as he said that’s something he’s never seen a player do before. It also impressed Hufanga.

“That’s just something you don’t see nowadays,” the veteran safety said about that phone call. “Everybody could be in it for the wrong reasons, or they just want to get drafted — He was so respectful. A person that’s beyond his years, for sure.”

“For me, I’m just excited to work with somebody like that,” Hufanga continued. “Being a guy that’s still young, like I just turned 25, I feel young still. I’m in Year 5, so I came out young. Last year, I had rookies that were older than me. It’s a different time now, but he’s definitely ahead of it, for sure.”

Despite making the transition to a new team and a new city, not all will be new for Hufanga. There will be at least one familiar face in Orange & Blue from his time with the 49ers.

“I always say, I’ve been blessed because I’ve been on the same side every single play with him, so I’ve never had to go against him,” Hufanga said about Dre Greenlaw, who also left the 49ers to sign with the Broncos in free agency. “Every scout team rep that I was on, he wasn’t on the field. I was good.”

Known off the field as a kind and friendly person, Greenlaw brings a completely different attitude once his chinstrap is buckled.

“That guy is different. He plays with a different type of intensity. The guy that you see in the huddle is very different than the guy you see outside of the game,” Hufanga said, providing insight about the Broncos’ new inside linebacker. “He’s a very relaxed, chilled, walk around, can have a good conversation. The minute he’s in game mode, the light has switched.”

Arguably no one knows Greenlaw better as a football player than Hufanga. Not only did they both come from the 49ers, their lockers were right next to each other the past four years in San Francisco.

“For a guy like him, we always talked and we always said the way he plays is desperate. That’s something that I think is the best compliment you can give somebody in my opinion,” Hufanga stated. “He’s the one person that I would give it to, the way he plays the game is desperate. He has to itch and scratch and claw every single play. That’s why I’m super excited to play with him again.”

Despite 938 miles between the 49ers’ locker room and the Broncos’ locker room, Greenlaw and Hufanga’s lockers will remain right next to one another

“[The Broncos] made sure to put [our lockers] together because that was something special,” Hufanga said with a smile.

With their lockers once again next to each other, Hufanga and Greenlaw hope to make their time in the Mile High City special by bringing home the Broncos’ fourth Lombardi Trophy.