What Broncos Country is saying about the new owner

The sale isn't final, but the takes on the Broncos' new owners are coming in hot.

What they're saying: Reactions from fans and pundits appeared mostly positive.

• Longtime sports journalist Woody Paige noted that Denver's football team is changing hands from one famous family to another. "Ownership of sport franchises in Colorado [is] fully a family affair," he wrote in the Gazette.
• The Athletic's Nick Kosmider questioned whether the new ownership group will put winning above all else: "That's the legacy [Pat] Bowlen left behind. It's a mantle fans certainly hope [Rob] Walton and his group will pick up right away."
• The sale gives Broncos fans license to dream. "Pro football's sleeping giant, snoozing for half a decade while the Bowlen kids threw lawyers and daggers at one another, has found its feet again," the Denver Post's Sean Keeler wrote
• CBS Denver sports reporter Romi Bean points out that the team completed an off-season trifecta: new coach, new owner and a new quarterback.

Buzz: Denver Mayor Michael Hancock, a diehard fan and former Broncos mascot, said in a statement to Axios Denver he was pleased to see the team settle on a new owner.

• "Now the team can refocus on what’s most important — putting a Super Bowl-winning team on the field at Mile High," Hancock said in a statement.

Yes, but: Will the Broncos become a winning team after five straight losing seasons?

• Quarterback Russell Wilson brings immediate legitimacy (he’s already a Super Bowl winner), but this team competes in the loaded AFC West. It may be home to the best NFL quarterback division ever.
• Monday Night Football broadcaster Troy Aikman offered an optimistic outlook during a media call in May: "I expect them to have a good season, and a big part of that, of course, is because of Russell Wilson.”
• The projected 53-man roster from BroncosWire includes a ton of familiar names, including Javonte Williams, Courtland Sutton and Bradley Chubb.

Of note: Businesswoman Mellody Hobson, part of the new ownership group, will become the first Black woman to co-own an NFL franchise. Her husband is filmmaker George Lucas, best known for creating the "Star Wars" and "Indiana Jones" franchises.