Mile High Report
The Denver Broncos have been busy signing key pending free agents to contract extensions this summer. Early in training camp, the team signed veteran wide receiver Courtland Sutton to a multi-year contract extension, and soon after, they signed star defensive lineman Zach Allen to a mega-deal. Now, with the start of the regular season right around the corner, the team appears to be working on a contract extension with star edge rusher Nik Bonitto.
He met with the media after today’s practice and told reporters that he isn’t worried about a deal getting done because he knows how the Broncos feel about him, and that it’s not a matter of if, but when they will get a deal done.
Nik Bonitto is coming off a breakout season for the Broncos, where he totaled 13.5 sacks, had two pick-six/fumble returns for a touchdown, and was named an AP Second-Team All-Pro player last season. He was the key pass rusher on the Broncos’ defense that led the league in sacks and figures to be a key part of that unit moving forward. The former second-round selection turns 26 years old in September and is entering the prime of his career, and it is a no-brainer for the Broncos to get a deal done with their young pass rusher.
With the Walton-Penner Ownership Group in place, the Broncos have been taking care of their own players with little to no drama happening with these deals. Plays like Pat Surtain II, Zach Allen, Courtland Sutton, Quinn Meinerz, Jonathon Cooper, Garett Bolles, D.J. Jones, and others all have received extensions from the Broncos in recent years, and I would anticipate Bonitto to join this list sooner rather than later.
Could we see a deal done before the start of the season? Perhaps.
Locking up Surtain II, Allen, Cooper, and Bonitto would keep the nucleus of the Broncos’ defense together for the foreseeable future and hopefully keep the unit dominant for years to come. On top of that, they will have signed their top 3 pending free agents, leaving John Franklin-Myers and Malcolm Roach looking for new deals from the team.
The way the team and Bonitto talk publicly about these contract talks, I believe we’ll have an agreement on a deal sooner rather than later.
