Broncos Urged to Pay Up for ‘Breakout’ Playmaker With Rising Stock

Bonitto is joined by several prominent Broncos in need of contracts, including fellow defensive starters John Franklin-Myers and Zach Allen.

However, Bonitto’s position and age could make him the priority, as Moton suggested.

Broncos GM George Paton’s Comments About Nik Bonitto Loom Large

Broncos general manager George Paton praised Bonitto in comments made during the annual owners meeting.

“You look at the day-to-day, you look at the practice, and you look at the skill set. Is there one trait? What’s the dominant trait? Nik Bonitto, man, we knew he had a dominant trait. When was it going to click? When was the light going to turn on? And so, you can see it in practice. You can see it by how, again, day-to-day, how they are in the weight room, in the conditioning drills,” Paton told reporters in March.

“Nik, man, he always worked hard. You just – you felt like it would come, and he got his opportunity. And, shoot, we traded a good player away in Baron Browning because we could see Nik in practice, what he was doing. And so, you just look for those little traits, and you just – it’s hard to give up on a player like that.”

Paton also expressed a desire to re-sign Bonitto during his season-ending press conference; however, he had no timeline for when.

Kosmider warned about the “downside” of Paton and the Broncos waiting to get a deal done with Bonitto.

“A quick accumulation of sacks at the start of season could further drive up his asking price — and it would be counter to how the Broncos have recently done business with their young premium position players,” Kosmider wrote. “Though the status of the negotiations has been kept quiet by both sides, it’s fair to assume talks will heat up as training camp approaches based on Denver’s recent financial maneuverings.”