Sean Keeler: If Broncos won't pay Nik Bonitto, another NFL team will, analyst says

Sean Keeler, The Denver Post on Jul 22, 2025

Published in Football

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DENVER — For a garbage-time artist, Nik Bonitto sure is becoming a serious paint in the grass.

Since 2023, the Broncos’ 25-year-old edge rusher has averaged a sack every 57.3 snaps. That’s a better clip, if you’re curious, than TJ Watt (61.3), Myles Garrett (58.5) and Danielle Hunter (60.4).

Watt just landed an extension from Pittsburgh worth $41 million per year. Garrett’s contract with Cleveland averages $40 million. Hunter’s on a 1-year, $35.6-million deal with Houston.

“I’ve got to imagine (Bonitto) is looking at more than $30 million per year,” former NFL agent and current CBS Sports analyst Joel Corry told me by phone Tuesday.

“When you have multiple guys over $40 million per season — (Micah) Parsons will get there, (Aidan) Hutchinson (too) — (he’s thinking), ‘I need to reap the benefits of that.'”

If it’s me, I make Bonitto wait. I pay wide receiver Courtland Sutton and defensive end Zach Allen first as a reward for services rendered. I’m tempted to give Allen the bag and Bonitto the franchise tag. Do it one more time, kid. One more double-digit sack season, then I’ll back up the Brink’s truck.

Corry chuckled at that. He got it. But then he kindly pointed out one problem with that plan: The open market.

If I don’t pay Bonitto now, the analyst noted, I’m letting someone else — probably Dallas with Parsons, maybe the Lions with Hutchinson — set No. 15’s asking price going forward. Especially if Bonitto repeats his Pro Bowl numbers (13.5 sacks, two fumbles forced, four pass break-ups) from 2024.

“I don’t think (the Broncos) want to go there,” Corry said.

He also thinks they don’t want to bump the former Oklahoma Sooners star’s base salary from the $5.346 million he’s due this fall to something in the $30-million-ish neighborhood without seeing him do it again.

“They may look at it from the standpoint (of), ‘We want certainty,'” Corry noted. “Obviously, the earlier you do a deal, the cheaper it’s going to be. But if you’re not certain that what you see is what you’re going to get, maybe you wait.”

But there’s a darned good reason why you don’t. The Broncos got ahead of the market on cornerback Pat Surtain II, giving him a four-year contract last September before his 25th birthday worth $96.2 million — $77.5 million of that guaranteed.

Talk about a bargain. PS2 responded with the best season of his career. Surtain won NFL Defensive Player of the Year honors and provided the kind of cover that helped Vance Joseph’s defense pile up the most sacks in a season in franchise history.

“That’s a prime example,” Corry continued, “of why you do a great player (extension) as soon as possible.”

“So let’s cut to the chase,” I countered. “Is Bonitto great — or very good?”

A pause.

“Let’s put it this way,” Corry replied. “He’s not to edge rushers what Pat Surtain II is to cornerbacks.”

“OK, so how close is he to say, TJ Watt?”

Another pause.

“I wouldn’t put him (up) there yet either,” Corry said. “He’s done it once. But sometimes all you need is once to get paid.”

It’s easy to understand the arguments against breaking the bank for Bonitto. The fourth-year linebacker is as lean (6-foot-3, 240 pounds) as he is mean. He’s still a too-frequent target for opponent rushing attacks — Pro Football Focus last season graded him 48th in run defense out of 72 NFL edge rushers who logged at least 500 snaps. And while 10% of Watt’s sacks and 21% of Garrett’s sacks the last two seasons have come while their teams were playing with a lead of nine points or more, they’ve accounted for 39% of Bonitto’s quarterback takedowns.

“I’d probably have a hard time doing $30 (million) for him right now,” Corry said. “I could go under (Jacksonville’s Josh) Hines-Allen’s $28.3 million, but over $25 million … I could be amenable to that. Maybe throw in some incentives for outstanding performance that get you where you want to go.

“It depends on how badly they want to sign him. Are they like, ‘We need to have this guy.'”

If there’s hope for a deal getting done soon, it’s in the fact that PS2 and Bonitto have the same agent. Everybody’s done this dance before.

Which is good, because remember that open market? It’s not waiting around. The Chiefs recently handed defensive end George Karlaftis a four-year extension worth $23.3 million per year. He’s closer to Allen than he is, say, Bonitto, but we’re continuing to inch toward that $30 million number Corry underlined.

“Who’s a better investment?” I wondered. “Bonitto or Karlaftis?”

Corry laughed again.

“Well, Karlaftis hasn’t been to a Pro Bowl. Karlaftis hasn’t been named to an All-Pro team by anybody,” he said. “One guy was among the top 10 in sacks, and one guy wasn’t. Garbage time or not.”

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