Who’s next? We asked that question a year ago as it related to the Broncos extending players, and the answer was easy, it was Pat Surtain II, the only question was when would the deal be done. Turns out it happened on an off-day in early October when PS2 was doing a pair of ribbon cuttings at local high schools, on behalf of his foundation. Spending all-day with Pat, you wouldn’t have known he was set to become the highest paid defensive back of all-time. As he went on to have the best season for a defender, and earn NFL Defensive Player of the Year Honors. Combine that with four other contracts given out to his contemporaries like Derek Stingley Jr. with the Texans and the Jets’ Sauce Gardner, and the Broncos feel like they’re getting a bit of a steal in the franchise’s first DPOY since Hall of Famer Randy Gradishar in 1977.
The four Broncos players looking for new deals all have a legitimate argument. The most obvious seems to be edge rusher Nik Bonitto. The former 2nd rounder is headed into the final year in his rookie deal, and he’s coming off a 2nd Team All-Pro nod and Pro Bowl appearance for his 13.5 sacks, which were fourth highest in the NFL. We’ll circle back to Bonitto for two reasons, so let’s put a pin in it.
In addition to Bonitto’s mark at the top of the team sack list, the Denver defense posted the best sack mark in the entire league as a team, with 63 quarterback sacks, and were tops in the league in QB Pressure rate. That was spearheaded by their 2 defensive ends wreaking havoc in Zach Allen, a 2nd Team All-Pro performer and John Franklin-Myers who they acquired for basically nothing from the Jets the week of the 2024 draft. And just like he did early in his time with the Rams and for 4 years in New York, JFM outperformed his contract.
Allen originally signed a 4-year $64 million deal to come to Mile High City with Defensive Coordinator Vance Joseph from Arizona. His deal was re-worked and voidable years were added to it, but that accelerated his contract expiring, so both players, like Bonitto, are in the final year of their current deal. Allen led all interior d-lineman in QB pressures, and was 3rd on the Broncos in sacks with 8.5. Bonitto’s tag-team partner, Jonathon Cooper, who got his own new 4-year $60 million deal last November was just behind Bonitto with 10.5 sacks. Like Allen, JFM also had a career high with 7 QB sacks, and was stout against the run. So, can you pay all 3 defenders? Should you? Both Defensive Ends will be 28-years-old when the season kicks off, and with 6 years each behind them, they are both firmly in the prime of their respective careers. A case could be made that both players exceled for reasons beyond just their abilities, and that’s the scheme they’re in, the fact they play so well off of each other, and the edge rushers and nose tackles inside of them as well.
Back to Bonitto, who might be best served to wait until later or the end of the season to sign an extension. There has been a noticeable improvement in each of the former Sooner’s first 3 seasons. His rookie year was hampered by a back injury, and struggles in run defense. By year 2, he was more stout against the run, and showed some tremendous flashes of potential greatness, including an explosive performance in Head Coach Sean Payton’s first Denver win, Week 4 in Chicago where his 2.5 sacks, 1 of which was a strip-sack of Justin Fields that Cooper scooped up returned for a 35-yard score. Bonitto would finish 2023 just one half of a sack behind Coopers team high 8.5. If either of them aren’t a member of the Brocnos in 2026, it’s likely in part because 3rd round rookie, Sai’vion Jones from LSU, has come along quickly enough, that it isn’t necessary to keep both Allen and JFM.
While Bonitto has been good, or even great like he was in 2024, he has not been as prolific as the Browns Myles Garrett the 2023 DPOY, who inked a 4-year, extension that pays him an average of $40 million annually, nor the 2021 DPOY, Steelers edge rusher T.J. Watt, who last week became the highest paid defender of all-time with his 3-year $123 Million extension. Nonetheless, he knows it’s a good time to be a pass rusher, especially with Cowboys all-world linebacker Micah Parsons and Lions Defensive End Aidan Hutchinson poised for new deals any day. “Edge market is kind of crazy right now!” Bonitto said at his youth football camp Sunday in Littleton, “knowing that everybody’s getting these deals, it’s only gonna get bigger and bigger.”
Again, this sounds like a no-brainer. But, the counter-argument to made, and not that it’s likely, is that you can probably get a king’s ransom for a 25-year-old pass rusher heading into his prime. And if he can yield a haul of picks, is it worth it to move him, and rely on the interior play of Allen and Franklin-Myers, as well as Cooper’s stout play on the edge? Also, you have to factor in the play D’Ondrea Tillman, who as a rookie a year ago at 26, after 3 seasons in the UFL showed some real pass-rush promise late in the year with 5 sacks, the same mark posted by Jonah Elliss, their 3rd rounder out of Utah a year ago.
If the Broncos are willing to trade Bonitto, odds are the public won’t here about it until the deal is done, because there’s no reason to float that out there and risk upsetting the locker room and moreover upsetting your best young pass rusher.
That brings us to Courtland Sutton. Last year, the 29-year-old had his most productive season since his Pro bowl campaign in 2019. After holding out last Spring, Sutton received a modest pay raise of about $1.5 million. This past off-season, he showed up to the off-season program in good faith, with the expectation that a new deal is forthcoming. In this final year of his 4-year $64 million deal, the 8-year-vet is slated to earn just over $15 Million with another half-a-million in incentives. That slots him 22nd amongst wideouts in terms of average annual value. Last season, his 1,081 yards were 16th best in the NFL, his 8 TDs were 13th best(reminder: he had 10 TD grabs in 2023) and his 81 catches tied Tyreek Hill for 21st best. Thus, a new deal makes sense, especially when you factor in his contributions in the run game, and his value off the field as a team captain for four straight years. What does that deal look like, is the real question. It feels like it’ll be a 3-year-deal at most valued around $70 million tops, and perhaps a little less, with 60 percent guaranteed. It’s possible that a 2 year deal with a big guarantee(and nice signing bonus) makes more sense for General Manager George Paton to offer, but new money for the 2nd longest tenured Bronco does feel like it’ll happen sooner than later.
So, if you’re keeping score, Sutton’s new deal feels most likely to get done first, perhaps before the pads even come on early next week. New deals for the interior D-Lineman, if they happen, still seem more likely to be handed out before the regular season starts. Because there’s no real rush on Bonitto, there’s a potential trade option, as well as the franchise tag available, the Broncos hold all the cards. Based on Bonitto’s laid-back personality, and the upward financial trend for edge rushers, Bonitto is just fine with letting the season play out and cashing in when the time is right, “Luckily for me, I’m kind of in a good position right now, where the market is kind of in my favor.”
