The Brisbane Broncos have made the somewhat surprising decision to hand dummy half Cory Paix a new deal.

Paix, a former Queensland under-19 player who has failed to live up to that potential since cracking first-grade, has become a key part of the Broncos' game day squad under Michael Maguire.

The turnaround has been quite something, given his cards appeared marked to leave the club at the end of his last contract under former coach Kevin Walters.

Despite that, the Broncos have plenty of competition at number nine. It was thought Paix may have to find a new home, with Billy Walters, who is currently out with an ACL, veteran Ben Hunt, youngster Blake Mozer and development player Cameron Bukowski all either currently in the mix, or likely to be so in the next 12 to 24 months.

Mozer is seen as the key retention for Brisbane, and signed on until the end of 2027 last year. Despite that, his own future now appears clouded, with News Corp reporting the Toowoomba-born Paix has been locked up until the end of 2028.

If Mozer, who has been compared to Cameron Smith by plenty of good judges, can feel confused about his standing at the club, then Walters, who played a starring role in 2025's run to the finals before injuring his ACL, will be even more concerned.

It's understood he wants to finish his career at Red Hill, but being off-contract at the end of this year, and with Ben Hunt weighing up playing on, he may well be forced out by both salary cap pressure and a need for Maguire to balance the squad as Bukowski likely prepares to come into the Top 30.

Paix, for his part, has no intention of leaving the Broncos if he doesn't have to, and sat in reserve grade for all of 2024 under Walters despite having opportunities to depart Red Hill early.

It's understood that a contract offer has not been tabled to Walters as the club waits to see how the 32-year-old will rebound from his ACL injury.

Brisbane's salary cap - stretched by several big contracts - has been released a little by the departure of Payne Haas, although a majority of that money is going to be taken by the arrival of Mitch Barnett, who is set to officially sign with the club in the coming weeks after the Warriors confirmed they would give him a compassionate release at the end of the season.