When Russell Wilson signed a five-year, $242.5 million contract extension with the Broncos on the eve of the 2022 season, the team spoke optimistically about how the structure of the deal would allow it to add to the roster and, just as importantly, get extensions done with other key players who were already on it.
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“I believe this deal is a win-win for everyone,” Broncos general manager George Paton said at the time. “This allows us to continue building and maintaining a championship roster.”
Instead, the contract became an anchor. Just two seasons after signing the extension — and before any of it had kicked in — Wilson was released, leaving the Broncos with $85 million in dead money that has forced them to take a different approach to building the roster. No Broncos player has signed an extension with the team since Wilson signed his deal. Two prime candidates for such deals, outside linebacker Bradley Chubb and wide receiver Jerry Jeudy, were traded and soon signed those extensions with their new teams. The Broncos allowed other extension candidates, like center Lloyd Cushenberry and linebacker Josey Jewell, to leave in free agency.
As the Broncos have begun the post-Wilson era, they are counting on younger players at key positions, most notably with the addition of first-round quarterback Bo Nix. If he can excel while playing on a rookie contract — a scenario that entices so many teams to draft first-round passers each year, including six in 2024 — it will give the Broncos a flexibility they weren’t going to enjoy while paying Wilson like a top-tier quarterback who wasn’t playing at that level.
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Either way, the Broncos aren’t turning off the extension faucet forever. Getting back into contention will have to mean drafting, developing and then retaining good players. The question then becomes who to extend and when. Below is an examination of players who could be considered for contract extensions with the Broncos across the next two years. How the Broncos prioritize those signings could give a window into the vision for how coach Sean Payton, Paton and owner Greg Penner ultimately want to construct a contending team.
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2025 free agents
G Quinn Meinerz
Cushenberry’s departure in free agency is best viewed in the context of Denver’s overall financial picture among its starting offensive linemen. In 2025, left guard Ben Powers and right tackle Mike McGlinchey will have a combined cap hit just north of $41 million. The Broncos will also have a new contract for a starting left tackle, whether that’s a new deal for Garett Bolles (more on him in a second), a veteran free-agent addition or a first-round rookie. Add in a potential extension for Meinerz, the 2021 third-round pick who is a bargain at $3.6 million this season, and it’s easy to see why the Broncos wanted to pursue a younger, more cost-effective route at center. They could turn to third-year player Luke Wattenberg, second-year lineman Alex Forsyth or budget veteran Sam Mustipher.
Payton has historically invested heavily into his offensive lines, particularly among interior players, and Meinerz fits the profile of a run-paving guard with a nasty streak who has made significant leaps as a pass blocker since entering the NFL from the Division II ranks three years ago. Meinerz started all 17 games last season on his way to being named an alternate for the AFC Pro Bowl team, and he’s missed only six games total during his three-year career.
“I love that he’s our right guard,” Payton said last month.
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The four-year, $51.5 million contract the Broncos gave Powers in 2023, which included $28.5 million guaranteed, would probably serve as the floor in any extension negotiation. Robert Hunt (Panthers) and Mike Onwenu (Patriots) landed the biggest contracts for guards during this past free agency period at $20 million and $19 million in average annual value, respectively, offering another measuring stick.
T Garett Bolles
Bolles is entering the final season of the four-year, $68 million extension he signed with the Broncos in 2020 and counts a team-high $20 million against the cap in 2024. During an offseason in which the Broncos needed to shed significant salary ahead of the new league year, in part to digest $53 million worth of dead money stemming from Wilson’s release, Bolles’ contract offered an opportunity for big savings, whether that was by releasing or trading the 32-year-old or by signing him to an extension that would lower this year’s cap figure. The Broncos chose none of those paths, seemingly content to let Bolles play out the final year of his contract and then assess where to go at left tackle from there.
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“I think he had a good season,” Paton said of Bolles’ 2023 campaign. Bolles started all 17 games returning from a leg fracture that wiped out most of his 2022 season. “I think he played well. Obviously, there’s always things you can improve on. But shoot, Garett, I think he’s 31 or 32, and he still moves like he’s 25. I thought he had a good year.”
The Broncos need another strong season from Bolles as they will debut yet another different Week 1 starting quarterback. It will be the seventh new quarterback in the eight seasons Bolles has been the team’s starting left tackle. He has been a constant in a sea of change, but it won’t be surprising if the Broncos let the season play out before deciding whether to sign Bolles to a third contract since making him a first-round pick in 2017.
DL DJ Jones
Jones, who signed a three-year, $30 million contract with the Broncos in 2022, was viewed entering the offseason as a potential cap casualty given the salary the team needed to shed in the wake of Wilson’s release. Instead, the Broncos kept Jones, who had two sacks and a career-best three forced fumbles last season, and gave him significant help on the defensive line with the additions of John Franklin-Myers and Malcolm Roach. Though Roach could be ultimately viewed as a replacement for Jones after this season, there’s also a scenario in which they transform their defense based on a sturdier line and want to lean into the continuity of that group heading into 2025.
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Still, it appears from here that the Broncos would be more likely to wait until the end of the season instead of making a multiyear commitment to a defensive lineman who would be 30 years old when any new money kicked in.
RB Javonte Williams, OLB Jonathon Cooper, OLB Baron Browning
These 2021 draft picks could play their way into an opportunity to reach in-season extensions, even if the more likely path for each player is hitting free agency this offseason. Cooper, a seventh-round pick, has certainly merited a raise after leading the Broncos with 8 1/2 sacks last season. He is scheduled to count $3.14 million against the cap this season, a significant bargain given his production when jumping into a starting role at outside linebacker for the first time last season. If Cooper picks up where he left off, could the Broncos get ahead of the market and offer him an extension that could be viewed as a win for both sides?
The Broncos are betting that at least one of their young outside linebackers — Cooper, Browning, Nik Bonitto, Drew Sanders (currently injured), rookie Jonah Ellis — could blossom into a Pro Bowl-level player. If Cooper or Browning can emerge on that trajectory early this season, there is a chance the Broncos could make a long-term commitment, but there is no rush given the depth at the position. The Broncos will want to see how their young players at that spot develop.
Williams is the Broncos’ leading returning rusher, but he struggled down the stretch last season. He’s healthier now, another year removed from a gruesome knee injury in 2022, but Denver is in a wait-and-see mode at running back after adding a pair of rookies — fifth-rounder Audric Estimé and undrafted free agent Blake Watson — to the roster this offseason.
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Contracts running through 2025
CB Pat Surtain II
It would not be surprising if this were the first contract domino to fall for the Broncos, the deal around which they want to build all the other potential new deals. And it will be a massive one.
The Broncos in May picked up the fifth-year option on Surtain’s rookie contract. He’s scheduled to make $19.8 million in 2025, all guaranteed. It is max money on the option for his position, which Surtain earned via the two Pro Bowl appearances in his first three seasons to go along with a unanimous first-team All-Pro honor in 2022 and an all-rookie designation in 2021.
When gauging the potential figures on Surtain’s extension, it’s imperative to start at the top. The benchmark deal for corners was signed by Denzel Ward of the Browns in 2022. The five-year deal remains the top contract at the position in terms of total value ($100.5 million) and total guarantees ($71.25 million), according to Over The Cap, just edging the deal signed by Jalen Ramsey previously signed as a member of the Rams. Ward was 25 when he signed the contract. Surtain just turned 24.
Surtain was Paton’s first draft pick in 2021 with the No. 9 selection. He has been the team’s top defensive player since he arrived and is the best player on the roster. He’s been durable and dependable and, in short, has done everything asked of him. The questions about the contract come down to timing and the structure. In other words, it is when and not if.
“We want Pat here a long time,” Paton said.
WR Courtland Sutton
The negotiations between Sutton and the Broncos spilled into public view this offseason when the veteran wide receiver worked out away from the team during OTAs and then said while appearing at mandatory minicamp that he was frustrated by the “stalemate” he and the team had reached.
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As a quick review, Sutton has two years and $26.5 million left on his deal. Only $2 million is guaranteed, but his $13 million base salary for 2024 will become guaranteed if he’s on the roster in Week 1. Payton seemed to erase any doubt as to whether that would be the case after he and Sutton had a long meeting at the end of minicamp.
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“He is important to what we are doing,” Payton said, ” … and I think he knows that.”
Still, the Broncos don’t appear to be in a hurry to commit new money to Sutton, who still has two years left on his deal. Time will tell whether Sutton continues to press the issue by holding out of training camp. “We’ll see,” he said when asked that question directly last month.
2022 draft picks
OLB Nik Bonitto
The Broncos weren’t alarmed by Bonitto’s relatively quiet rookie season in 2022. He was a late second-round pick who needed to get stronger, and his playing time was limited before the team traded Bradley Chubb at midseason. Bonitto made a big jump last season, finishing second on the team with eight sacks — a major uptick after he notched 1 1/2 as a rookie. If he continues on that same trajectory, becoming a double-digit sack producer in Year 3, buzz about an extension will heat up entering the final year of his contract.
But the bottom line is there is still much to prove for Bonitto, especially with so many young options for the Broncos at outside linebacker.
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TE Greg Dulcich
Any talk of a contract extension is entirely hypothetical until Dulcich proves he can stay on the field. He missed seven games as a rookie with hamstring injuries and played in only two games last season — leaving early in both — with the same issue. And Dulcich was sidelined during the offseason program as he rehabbed a foot injury that cropped up toward the end of last season. There simply isn’t enough of a body of work to gauge where Dulcich fits into the big picture.
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The only reason Dulcich is worth considering as an extension candidate, perhaps two offseasons from now, is the opportunity in front of him. During the brief glimpses of Dulcich on the field, he’s been heavily involved. If he’s healthy, he can become a high-target tight end in Payton’s offense, a role that has typically produced big numbers, the kind a player’s agent runs to the negotiating table.
Still, it’s all projection for now. Dulcich must show he can stay healthy.
(Top photo of Pat Surtain II: RJ Sangosti / Getty Images)
