Nik Bonitto wants more after the best year of his career

LITTLETON, Colo. — Nik Bonitto is a known commodity now after exploding into the NFL limelight last year — and not just in Denver.

He learned that recently when he was back in South Florida, training to complete his preparation for training camp.

“I went to the mall. It was a big kind of mall in Miami,” he recalled Sunday just before guiding 200 area youngsters at a football camp at Columbine High School. “And I was surprised just how many people recognized me because, obviously, like, Denver, I kind of expected 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 that’s my main focus, just football, so.”

When Bonitto and the rest of the Broncos veterans report for training camp, the focus narrows. But in recent weeks, he could take a bit of time to savor the spoils that his breakthrough season wrought.

The true spoils, of course, are yet to come. Not just in terms of team accomplishments, but the massive second contract that appears imminent.

Negotiations between Bonitto’s camp and the team are ongoing, he confirmed Sunday, and while he deferred all details of such matters to his agent, he’s perfectly aware of the life-changing circumstance that appears set to befall him.

But whatever dollars end up in his bank account, he wants to be worth the expenditure.

BONITTO’S OFFSEASON FOCUS

When Bonitto examined his work from last season, he focused more on the plays he failed to make than the ones he did.

“Just my rushes just looking back at it, I feel like I kind of let a lot of guys off the hook, just how I was rushing and stuff like that,” he said. “So, just being able to put constant pressure on tackles and just stuff in the run game, little things that I know I can be better at.

“And that’s going to continually develop as I grow and grow in the league.”

Last year, a significant part of his step forward came from adding muscle in the weight room, which turned him from a sub-package pass-rush specialist into a contributor who could better set the edge and hold up against the run, turning him into an every-down contributor.

Maintaining that bulk in the coming season will help, Bonitto said, but he noticed something else, too, which led him to focus on “taking care of my body more” this offseason.

“I feel like as the season went on, [my body] was starting to break down a little bit. So just making sure I’m taking care of my body and just refining pass-rush skills and all that stuff,” he said.

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