Report: Broncos won’t extend their own key guys until after NFL Draft

The Denver Broncos have several key players looking for contract extensions this offseason.

That won’t happen until after the NFL Draft at the earliest, according to a new report from Chris Tomasson of The Denver Gazette.

Source says the #Broncos at this point do not plan to delve into contract extension negotiations with players until after the April 24-26 draft. Those notable in line for possible extensions are Courtland Sutton, Nik Bonitto, Zach Allen, John Franklin-Myers and Malcolm Roach.

— Chris Tomasson (@christomasson) March 26, 2025

The biggest names on that list are Zach Allen, Nik Bonitto and Courtland Sutton, all scheduled to be free agents after this season.

Allen and Bonitto were monsters on a Denver defense that largely overachieved last season. Allen had 61 tackles, 15 of which went for a loss and 8.5 sacks.

Bonitto, who was thought of as a candidate for NFL Defensive Player of the year at times, recorded 13.5 sacks, two forced fumbles and scored two touchdowns. Both of those were electric moments against the Browns and Colts in crucial late season games.

Allen is in the last year of a deal that will pay him a healthy $19.795 million, but still could be in line for a raise that makes him one of the highest paid defensive lineman in the league.

Bonitto would be playing on the last year of his rookie deal, worth $5.695 million. That’s a ton of money in the real world, but vastly underpaid by professional football standards. It’s beyond obvious he’s worth more than that, and he and his agent are likely looking for a payday from the Broncos.

Meanwhile, Sutton is entering the last year of a contract that is slated to pay him $20.2 million. Last offseason, Sutton wasn’t a happy camper, looking for more from the team. Denver eventually gave him some incentives, which he met, but Sutton is undoubtedly hoping for a new deal that could let him finish his career with the Broncos.

And don’t sleep on John Franklin-Myers and Malcolm Roach, who both had solid years and will be free agents in the spring of 2026. Head coach Sean Payton and GM George Paton certainly have some tough decisions ahead of them.

This is an interesting strategy by the Broncos’ front office. On one hand, it makes sense to focus on the NFL Draft and see what needs they can fill. On the other hand, the representatives for Allen, Bonitto and Sutton could easily argue Denver isn’t finding any rookies that can come close to replacing the production of their guys.

It’ll be worth keeping an eye on as the calendar flips to May and negations heat up. If no new contracts are reached, we could potentially see some holdouts for minicamps and OTAs that could get tense before training camp.

There’s still a lot of time, but according to this report, don’t expect anything to get done with these players over the next month.