George Paton wants to keep Nik Bonitto extension talks quiet

George Paton and the Denver Broncos have dished out a lot of money this offseason to build up a roster that overachieved a season ago and is set for a bright future. From keeping talented guys in the house like Courtland Sutton to bringing in new faces like Talanoa Hufanga, the Broncos brass has done a good job of improving spots on the roster that were exposed in the playoffs last year.

While there’s been a lot of money to hand out, arguably the most important contract is yet to be signed ahead of the season — Nik Bonitto. The 25-year-old is one of the brightest young talents on the entire team, but only has one year left on his rookie contract that he signed back in May 2022. Other pass rushers around the league have been getting paid, and the longer that the two sides wait on this deal to get done, the more expensive it will be for Paton and the Broncos.

When asked about a potential extension for Bonitto on Thursday, Paton kept it short.

“We’ve done a good job of keeping these things quiet and respectful. We’re just going to keep it that way,” Paton said.

The fifth-year general manager was also asked if he was waiting for the Dallas Cowboys to ink their star pass rusher, Micah Parsons, to an extension. He didn’t even acknowledge that.

Paton and the Broncos have generally been good about being ahead of the curve on contract extensions over the last few seasons, especially with Pat Surtain II, who is now just the fourth-highest paid cornerback in the NFL after his Defensive Player of the Year campaign in 2024. The guys who are above him on that list are not worth as much money as Surtain is.

However, the more that the orange and blue wait on Bonitto, the higher that price tag will be. The Cincinnati Bengals just signed their top rusher, Trey Hendrickson, to a deal that bumped his 2025 salary up to $30 million for the final year of his contract. With Bonitto being five years younger than Hendrickson as well, he carries a little more value in the long-term investment department.

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In 2024, Bonitto’s 13.5 sacks were the third-best mark in the league, and he had two very memorable touchdowns late in the season that had him right there with Surtain in the DPOY talks for a short period of time.

There’s no word on what the hold up is, whether it’s money or years or guarantees or what, and all signs point to Paton keeping that information locked away. As of Thursday, the Broncos have over $77 million in cap space for the 2026 season, the first year that a potential Bonitto extension would kick in. While there’s plenty of other things they need to allocate some of that money to, it should be enough room to get a deal done should that should make both sides, along with Broncos Country, happy.