The Denver Broncos have had an incredible offseason leading into the 2025 season. After handing out contract extensions to Courtland Sutton and Zach Allen, the team has just one more thing to cross off the checklist in order for the offseason to be perfect.
That would be to get a contract extension done on edge rusher Nik Bonitto.
Bonitto is coming off a huge 2024 season in which he registered 13.5 sacks and was elected to the Pro Bowl. He stands to earn a huge payday and if the Broncos don't give him that in the form of a contract extension before free agency starts in 2026, he will likely be headed elsewhere.
Spotrac currently estimates Bonitto, who will turn 26 years old in September, will make over $20 million annually on the free-agent market next season.
Alex Ballentine of Bleacher Report sees the Carolina Panthers as a team that could come and grab Bonitto next year. Though it would be a small measure of revenge for the Panthers, who lost Super Bowl 50 to the Broncos, it would give them one of the league's top young pass-rushers.
"The Panthers are one edge-rusher away from having a potentially elite defensive line. Adding Tershawn Wharton and Bobby Brown III to an interior that already has Derrick Brown has given Carolina a strength to build around. It's also fair to wonder if Patrick Jones II, D.J. Wonnum and rookies Nic Scourton and Princely Umanmielen can take advantage on the outside.
It's a lock that Nik Bonitto would be able to. The Broncos edge-rusher broke out with 13.5 sacks in his first full season as a starter for Denver.
His speed and bend around the edge are unlike anything the Panthers have on the roster right now and Denver hasn't extended him yet", wrote Ballentine.
I asked Broncos edge Nik Bonitto for a contract extension update pic.twitter.com/BrjzZF2dv7
— Chris Tomasson (@christomasson) July 20, 2025
The most important word included in Ballentine's assessment was the word "yet". The Broncos still have plenty of time to extend the contract of the former second-round pick, and after handing out big deals to Allen and Sutton, it makes sense that they want to take their time. But if Bonitto goes out and has another 13.5 sacks this season... or more, he is going to start to get out of Denver's price range.
READ: Former NFL GM thinks the Broncos are a Super Bowl contender in 2025
It's a situation George Paton and the Broncos' front office need to handle correctly. The last thing they want is for Bonitto to land in Carolina or worse, within the division where he'd be the one on the opposite side of Bo Nix.
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