Pat Surtain says it’s now “all about the playoffs” after winning Defensive Player of the Year
Mar 6, 2025, 3:22 PM | Updated: 3:25 pm
Pat Surtain II has cemented himself as the NFL’s best defensive back after winning Defensive Player of the Year in 2024, a season in which he totaled four interceptions (one pick-six), 11 passes defended and 45 total tackles. With him being under contract with Denver through the 2029 season, the Broncos don’t have to worry about his side of the field for the next five years.
For Surtain, the individual accomplishments are good, but he has his eyes set on larger goals.
“Now it’s just all about the playoffs and reaching more into the playoffs,” Surtain said on the Rich Eisen Show this week. “We talking about Super Bowl, we talking about finishing the playoffs out the right way. I know last year wasn’t the result we wanted to end it with, but I think we capped it off a good way by reaching the playoffs for the first time in like seven years.”
It’s not easy for any team to show up in the postseason for the first time in years, and there’s no reason to call the Broncos’ season a negative one after losing at Buffalo (one of the toughest places to play in the NFL) in the Wild Card Round. Take the Philadelphia Eagles as an example. In Jalen Hurts’ first playoff appearance in 2021, the team lost in the Wild Card Round in a game that wasn’t close, and then has responded with two NFC Championships and a Super Bowl victory in the following years.
This isn’t saying that the Broncos will summit the mountaintop in three years, but showing that it’s part of the process for young teams to not excel right away. Not everyone is the Kansas City Chiefs.
“We learned from that [Buffalo] game and we know now what it takes to reach that stage, but to also finish out the right way.” Surtain said.
The Broncos have a lot of good players on both sides of the ball, and will likely get more with NFL Free Agency beginning next week and the 2025 NFL Draft following in April. With over $41 million in cap space and seven draft picks (starting with No. 20 overall), they have the tools to improve the roster in 2025.
“We got young talent all across the board,” Surtain said. “You know, we got Bo, who’s firing on all cylinders. We got a young offensive core, a young defensive core who’s hungry and determined. So, it’s a lot to be optimistic about, Broncos Country, and the season looking forward. I’m very positive on the future that we building here.”
Surtain signed a four-year, $96 million extension in September last year, making him a cornerstone of this team as they try to overcome the powerhouses in the AFC in pursuit of a fourth championship. If the team’s best player is all in, then everyone else also needs to be all in to reach the ultimate goal.
