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Associated Press
a day ago
- Sport
- Associated Press
Broncos are confident as they start camp but contract questions hang over Sutton, Bonitto and Allen
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — The Denver Broncos returned from summer vacation Tuesday without the baggage they schlepped into training camp for most of the last decade. They're coming off a season in which they ended their protracted playoff drought, halted their long skid of losing campaigns and, most important, identified their first franchise quarterback — Bo Nix — since Hall of Famer Peyton Manning was still slinging footballs. The only player starting training camp on the physically unable to perform list is wide receiver A.T. Perry (ankle). That's not to say there aren't any storm clouds brewing over the Rocky Mountains as colossal contracts loom for wide receiver Courtland Sutton, linebacker Nik Bonitto and defensive end Zach Allen. The first of their ramp-up workouts is on Wednesday and all eyes will be on that trio to see if anyone will skip practices while awaiting a new deal. At his football camp for kids over the weekend, Bonitto said contract talks between his agent and Broncos general manager George Paton 'are happening right now, but I kind of just' stay out of it. 'My focus is just winning and trying to get a championship.' Bonitto said he had no deadline to get a deal done, either, stressing, 'I know these things can happen tomorrow or happen months from now.' Fellow elite edge rushers have cashed in of late. T.J. Watt's three-year deal averages $41 million, Myles Garrett's four-year, $160 million contract includes $123 million guaranteed, and Nick Bosa's contract has a total value of $170 million. The next wave of younger edge rushers about to reset the market include Cowboys star Micah Parsons, Detroit defensive end Aidan Hutchinson and the 25-year-old Bonitto, who had 13 1/2 sacks in a breakout 2024 season, helping Denver lead the league with a franchise-best 63 QB takedowns. 'Yeah, I mean, the edge market is kind of crazy right now knowing that everybody's getting these big deals and it's only getting bigger and bigger,' Bonitto said. 'Luckily for me, I'm in a good position right now where the market's kind of in my favor.' Sutton, who has 18 touchdown catches over the last two years, is due to make $14 million in 2025, the final year of his four-year, $60.8 million deal. Like Bonitto, Allen is coming off a career year and he's due to make $12.7 million this season, the final year of a three-year, $46 million deal. Optimism is, well, sky high in the Mile High City after Nix's successful rookie season, which was followed by an offseason that featured free agent additions Talanoa Hufanga and Dre Greenlaw. Right tackle Mike McGlinchey played with the duo in San Francisco and is excited for their reunion in Denver. 'I think 'Huff' and Dre are two of the best at their positions across the league, and they're monstrous additions for us defensively,' McGlinchey said. 'Those two are going to help us tremendously this year, and I'm happy to be back on the same side as them.' The Broncos also selected Texas cornerback Jahdae Barron, the 2024 Jim Thorpe Award winner, in the first round of the draft, followed by UCF running back RJ Harvey in Round 2. Harvey will pair with free agent pickup J.K. Dobbins in the Broncos' revamped backfield. The Broncos are coming off a 10-7 season that ended with a wild-card playoff loss at Buffalo, but McGlinchey laughed when asked if the Broncos saw themselves as championship contenders even though Kansas City has won the AFC West every year since 2016. 'We haven't even practiced yet,' McGlinchey said. 'We certainly feel like we could be, but we have to put in the work day in and day out. We're obviously very excited about what we have here. Everybody feels a little bit more comfortable with the experience we gained last year, with the year that we had and knowing that's still not good enough.' Denver's defense was already elite in 2024 when cornerback Patrick Surtain II won the Defensive Player of the Year award, and the additions figure to make the Broncos even better in 2025, taking more pressure off of Nix and helping him avoid the second-year pitfalls that bedevil so many quarterbacks. 'Bo, he's even more confident going into this year,' Surtain said. 'Obviously with Year 1 under his belt, a lot more confidence rises upon that. The team, we have Bo's back the whole way through. He's a tremendous leader out there, and a tremendous player. This year he's going to make a lot of noise.' ___ AP NFL:
Yahoo
a day ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Broncos are confident as they start camp but contract questions hang over Sutton, Bonitto and Allen
FILE - Denver Broncos cornerback Pat Surtain II (2) returns interception during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File) ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — The Denver Broncos returned from summer vacation Tuesday without the baggage they schlepped into training camp for most of the last decade. They're coming off a season in which they ended their protracted playoff drought, halted their long skid of losing campaigns and, most important, identified their first franchise quarterback — Bo Nix — since Hall of Famer Peyton Manning was still slinging footballs. Advertisement The only player starting training camp on the physically unable to perform list is wide receiver A.T. Perry (ankle). That's not to say there aren't any storm clouds brewing over the Rocky Mountains as colossal contracts loom for wide receiver Courtland Sutton, linebacker Nik Bonitto and defensive end Zach Allen. The first of their ramp-up workouts is on Wednesday and all eyes will be on that trio to see if anyone will skip practices while awaiting a new deal. At his football camp for kids over the weekend, Bonitto said contract talks between his agent and Broncos general manager George Paton 'are happening right now, but I kind of just' stay out of it. 'My focus is just winning and trying to get a championship.' Advertisement Bonitto said he had no deadline to get a deal done, either, stressing, 'I know these things can happen tomorrow or happen months from now." Fellow elite edge rushers have cashed in of late. T.J. Watt's three-year deal averages $41 million, Myles Garrett's four-year, $160 million contract includes $123 million guaranteed, and Nick Bosa's contract has a total value of $170 million. The next wave of younger edge rushers about to reset the market include Cowboys star Micah Parsons, Detroit defensive end Aidan Hutchinson and the 25-year-old Bonitto, who had 13 1/2 sacks in a breakout 2024 season, helping Denver lead the league with a franchise-best 63 QB takedowns. 'Yeah, I mean, the edge market is kind of crazy right now knowing that everybody's getting these big deals and it's only getting bigger and bigger,' Bonitto said. 'Luckily for me, I'm in a good position right now where the market's kind of in my favor.' Advertisement Sutton, who has 18 touchdown catches over the last two years, is due to make $14 million in 2025, the final year of his four-year, $60.8 million deal. Like Bonitto, Allen is coming off a career year and he's due to make $12.7 million this season, the final year of a three-year, $46 million deal. Optimism is, well, sky high in the Mile High City after Nix's successful rookie season, which was followed by an offseason that featured free agent additions Talanoa Hufanga and Dre Greenlaw. Right tackle Mike McGlinchey played with the duo in San Francisco and is excited for their reunion in Denver. 'I think 'Huff' and Dre are two of the best at their positions across the league, and they're monstrous additions for us defensively,' McGlinchey said. 'Those two are going to help us tremendously this year, and I'm happy to be back on the same side as them.' Advertisement The Broncos also selected Texas cornerback Jahdae Barron, the 2024 Jim Thorpe Award winner, in the first round of the draft, followed by UCF running back RJ Harvey in Round 2. Harvey will pair with free agent pickup J.K. Dobbins in the Broncos' revamped backfield. The Broncos are coming off a 10-7 season that ended with a wild-card playoff loss at Buffalo, but McGlinchey laughed when asked if the Broncos saw themselves as championship contenders even though Kansas City has won the AFC West every year since 2016. 'We haven't even practiced yet,' McGlinchey said. 'We certainly feel like we could be, but we have to put in the work day in and day out. We're obviously very excited about what we have here. Everybody feels a little bit more comfortable with the experience we gained last year, with the year that we had and knowing that's still not good enough.' Denver's defense was already elite in 2024 when cornerback Patrick Surtain II won the Defensive Player of the Year award, and the additions figure to make the Broncos even better in 2025, taking more pressure off of Nix and helping him avoid the second-year pitfalls that bedevil so many quarterbacks. Advertisement 'Bo, he's even more confident going into this year,' Surtain said. 'Obviously with Year 1 under his belt, a lot more confidence rises upon that. The team, we have Bo's back the whole way through. He's a tremendous leader out there, and a tremendous player. This year he's going to make a lot of noise.' ___ AP NFL:
Al Arabiya
a day ago
- Sport
- Al Arabiya
Broncos are confident as they start camp but contract questions hang over sutton, bonitto and allen
The Denver Broncos returned from summer vacation Tuesday without the baggage they schlepped into training camp for most of the last decade. They're coming off a season in which they ended their protracted playoff drought, halted their long skid of losing campaigns, and most important, identified their first franchise quarterback — Bo Nix — since Hall of Famer Peyton Manning was still slinging footballs. The only player starting training camp on the physically unable to perform list is wide receiver A.T. Perry (ankle). That's not to say there aren't any storm clouds brewing over the Rocky Mountains as colossal contracts loom for wide receiver Courtland Sutton, linebacker Nik Bonitto, and defensive end Zach Allen. The first of their ramp-up workouts is on Wednesday, and all eyes will be on that trio to see if anyone will skip practices while awaiting a new deal. At his football camp for kids over the weekend, Bonitto said contract talks between his agent and Broncos general manager George Paton are happening right now, 'but I kind of just stay out of it. My focus is just winning and trying to get a championship.' Bonitto said he had no deadline to get a deal done either, stressing, 'I know these things can happen tomorrow or happen months from now.' For all the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app. Fellow elite edge rushers have cashed in of late. T.J. Watt's three-year deal averages $41 million, Myles Garrett's four-year $160 million contract includes $123 million guaranteed, and Nick Bosa's contract has a total value of $170 million. The next wave of younger edge rushers about to reset the market include Cowboys star Micah Parsons, Detroit defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, and the 25-year-old Bonitto, who had 13 1/2 sacks in a breakout 2024 season, helping Denver lead the league with a franchise-best 63 QB takedowns. 'Yeah, I mean, the edge market is kind of crazy right now knowing that everybody's getting these big deals and it's only getting bigger and bigger,' Bonitto said. 'Luckily for me, I'm in a good position right now where the market's kind of in my favor.' Sutton, who has 18 touchdown catches over the last two years, is due to make $14 million in 2025, the final year of his four-year $60.8 million deal. Like Bonitto, Allen is coming off a career year, and he's due to make $12.7 million this season, the final year of a three-year $46 million deal. Optimism is well sky high in the Mile High City after Nix's successful rookie season, which was followed by an offseason that featured free agent additions Talanoa Hufanga and Dre Greenlaw. Right tackle Mike McGlinchey played with the duo in San Francisco and is excited for their reunion in Denver. 'I think Huff and Dre are two of the best at their positions across the league, and they're monstrous additions for us defensively,' McGlinchey said. 'Those two are going to help us tremendously this year, and I'm happy to be back on the same side as them.' The Broncos also selected Texas cornerback Jahdae Barron, the 2024 Jim Thorpe Award winner, in the first round of the draft, followed by UCF running back RJ Harvey in Round 2. Harvey will pair with free agent pickup J.K. Dobbins in the Broncos revamped backfield. The Broncos are coming off a 10-7 season that ended with a wild-card playoff loss at Buffalo, but McGlinchey laughed when asked if the Broncos saw themselves as championship contenders even though Kansas City has won the AFC West every year since 2016. 'We haven't even practiced yet,' McGlinchey said. 'We certainly feel like we could be, but we have to put in the work day in and day out. We're obviously very excited about what we have here. Everybody feels a little bit more comfortable with the experience we gained last year with the year that we had and knowing that's still not good enough.' Denver's defense was already elite in 2024 when cornerback Patrick Surtain II won the Defensive Player of the Year award, and the additions figure to make the Broncos even better in 2025, taking more pressure off of Nix and helping him avoid the second-year pitfalls that bedevil so many quarterbacks. 'Bo, he's even more confident going into this year,' Surtain said. 'Obviously with Year 1 under his belt, a lot more confidence rises upon that. The team we have, Bo's back the whole way through. He's a tremendous leader out there and a tremendous player. This year he's going to make a lot of noise.'
New York Times
3 days ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Broncos' Nik Bonitto aware of lucrative pass-rusher market, but focus is on ‘upping the ante'
LITTLETON, Colo. — A subtle reminder of his growing fame found Nik Bonitto this summer inside a mall in South Florida. After another muggy offseason workout near Miami, the newly minted Pro Bowl and All-Pro outside linebacker for the Denver Broncos found himself being spotted and called to as he escaped into the air conditioning of a vast shopping plaza. Advertisement 'I was surprised just how many people recognized me,' Bonitto said Sunday as he prepared to host his first youth football camp in Denver, at Columbine High. 'In Denver, I kind of expect it a little bit. But in Florida, I'm like, 'Wow, that's pretty cool.' So, yeah, it's kind of changed a little bit, but my main focus is just football.' As he enters his fourth NFL season, Bonitto could soon experience a more bountiful reminder of how quickly his standing among the league's pass rushers has changed. The 25-year-old is coming off a season in which he produced 13 1/2 sacks — only Trey Hendrickson and Myles Garrett had more — scored two touchdowns and forced two fumbles. His breakout campaign earned him his first Pro Bowl berth and a second-team All-Pro berth. It also put him in line for a potential massive contract extension as the 2022 second-round pick enters the final season of his rookie contract. 'Those types of talks are happening right now,' Bonitto said of negotiations between his camp and the Broncos. 'I just kind of keep that with my agent and let him handle that. My focus right now is just winning and trying to get a championship. There's no time period. I know these things can happen tomorrow or happen months from now, so I just kind of take it day by day and keep the focus on football.' That doesn't mean Bonitto is unaware of the lucrative landscape he occupies. This offseason has been a fruitful one for elite pass rushers. Minutes before Bonitto arrived at his camp, where he took pictures with about 200 youth participants and then helped guide them through drills, Kansas City Chiefs pass rusher George Karlaftis agreed to a four-year, $93 million contract extension with the team, The Athletic's Dianna Russini reported. Earlier this offseason, Las Vegas Raiders pass rusher Maxx Crosby signed an extension that averages $35.5 million in average annual value. Days later, Garrett became the NFL's first non-quarterback to hit $40 million in average annual value on a new contract. Steelers star pass rusher T.J. Watt upped that mark with a three-year, $123 million extension ($41 million per year) last week. Advertisement Bonitto may not be in the upper-crust stratosphere just yet, but with 21 1/2 sacks across his past two seasons (tied for 10th in the league in that span), Denver's young edge rusher is poised to cash in soon. 'The edge market is kind of crazy right now, just knowing that everybody is getting these big deals and it's only getting bigger and bigger,' Bonitto said. 'Luckily for me, I'm in a good position right now where the market is kind of in my favor.' The reason it's easy for Bonitto to ignore the massive dollar signs ahead? The autopsy of his 2024 season, as impressive as it was, left the young edge rusher feeling like he 'left food on the table still.' It was the motivation for workouts in Arizona and Florida this offseason, where Bonitto said he 'upped the ante' in search of a more impenetrable pass-rush plan. 'Looking back at it, I feel like I left a lot of (opposing blockers) off the hook with how I was rushing,' Bonitto said. 'It's just about being able to put constant pressure on tackles and then stuff in the run game I know I can be better at. That's what I want to develop as I continue to grow.' Broncos head coach Sean Payton raised a few eyebrows during the offseason program when he said monitoring Bonitto's snap count was a priority for the coaching staff in 2025, saying the linebacker 'was at a pitch count that was borderline too high.' Defensive coordinator Vance Joseph later added that keeping all Denver's pass rushers fresh for what the team believes will be an important stretch run of the regular season — and beyond — is a priority, especially given the respective first-year impacts made by reserves Jonah Elliss and Dondrea Tillman last season. 'Obviously, you're always conscious of a guy playing too many snaps,' Joseph said during the team's minicamp in June. 'It's a long season and you want guys to be healthy. Especially up front, right? It takes energy to rush the passer. So having a rotation with those guys is important. But I'm looking forward to Nik making another jump like Nik's made with me from his first to his second year, when he made a huge jump. Now, he's going into his third year with me and it's going to be another huge jump. Nik's humble. Nik's a worker, man. If you ask Nik if he's a great player yet, he'd tell you no. That's what you want from great players. He knows there's a lot more in there he can give us as a rusher.' Advertisement Bonitto isn't necessarily asking for fewer snaps, but acknowledged that his body 'was starting to break down a little bit' as the 2024 season hit the backstretch. His workouts this offseason were geared toward creating a balance between creating more explosiveness and building the endurance that will carry him during critical pass-rush reps late in the season. Those critical battles, of course, are a long ways off. With training camp on the horizon, Bonitto spoke Sunday like someone who was excited about all that exists on the horizon but has the wisdom not to chase it all at once. It's a far cry from the mindset he carried into his first training camp three years ago. He has advice for the wide-eyed 22-year-old trying to prove it all at once. 'I would kind of tell him not to put too much pressure on himself,' Bonitto said. 'Every day I was like, 'Man, I need to do something to impress the coaches and the guys around me.' I feel like now it's just taking it day by day and running your own race. There's no reason to have all this pressure.'
Yahoo
03-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Broncos Star Edge Rusher Nik Bonitto Told to Bet on Himself in Hunt for New Contract
Broncos Star Edge Rusher Nik Bonitto Told to Bet on Himself in Hunt for New Contract originally appeared on Athlon Sports. The Denver Broncos had one of the best defenses in the NFL in 2024. They allowed the third-fewest points and seventh-fewest yards per game in the NFL, and were buoyed by a pass-rush that generated 63 sacks in the regular season — the most in the NFL. Advertisement A catalyst for the Broncos' success up front was edge rusher Nik Bonitto. The former 2022 second-round pick had a career-high 13.5 sacks in the regular season, the third-most in the league, and earned a Second-Team All-Pro nomination for the first time. Bonitto is a free agent after the 2025 season, and one NFL analyst had some key advice heading into a big year. Appearing on the 'DNVR Broncos Podcast', NFL Analyst Brian Baldinger joined the show to discuss whether or not the Broncos should pay Bonitto this offseason and offered some insight on the situation. Denver Broncos linebacker Nik Bonitto (15) celebrates his Chenoy-Imagn Images 'It's all business. He's put two real good years back-to-back. I would say the breakout came in 23, but certainly last year.' Baldinger said, before highlighting that as Bonitto's play grows, so does the attention that offenses give to stopping him. 'The chips that are coming, the slides that are coming, all of those things are now going to be coming Nik's way.' Advertisement As much as Baldinger hyped up Bonitto, he pointed out the fact that nothing comes for free in the NFL now. 'Teams aren't just going to throw you the top money at the edge rushing position, they're going to make you fight for it. Most teams are like that.' And that's the way the NFL works. Extensions have to be earned at the top level, especially when big money is being thrown around. The Broncos know Bonitto and his talent, but he has to keep working. However, Baldinger notably added this, 'I always feel like players should bet on themselves.' That's key. If Bonitto wants to be paid by the Broncos this season, he has to carry on being the player that got him into this position. He knows his worth, as does everyone who watched him dominate on the field in 2024. Losing Bonitto would be a blow to a Broncos team that is vying for the playoffs once again after finishing with a 10-7 record in 2024, and making the postseason for the first time since 2015. A deal might not be too far away, especially if Bonitto continues to bet on himself. Related: Broncos General Manager Reveals Real Feelings on Sean Payton This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 3, 2025, where it first appeared.
