Wild Prediction for Broncos’ Projected $102 Million All-Pro on ‘Cusp of Stardom’

Over the course of NFL history, there have only been a few times where multiple NFL Defensive Player of the Year winners have been teammates.

In the 1970s, the Pittsburgh Steelers featured 3 winners — defensive tackle Joe Greene, cornerback Mel Blount and linebacker Jack Lambert. In the 1990s, the San Francisco 49ers had cornerback Deion Sanders and defensive tackle Dana Stubblefield.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had linebacker Derrick Brooks and defensive tackle Warren Sapp. The last time it happened, in 2011, the Baltimore Ravens trotted out 3 winners, with linebacker Ray Lewis, safety Ed Reed and edge rusher Terrell Suggs.

The thing all those teams have in common? They all won the Super Bowl — some of them multiple times.

The Denver Broncos might have that rare assemblage of talent on their roster right now with reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year in cornerback Patrick Surtain II and another NFL Defensive Player of the Year finalist in outside linebacker Nik Bonitto.

Bleacher Report’s Alex Kay singled Bonitto out as one of 5 players who could win their first NFL sacks title in 2025 after he finished third in the NFL with 13.5 sacks in 2024.

Bonitto Predicted to Land Mega-Contract

Bonitto has set himself up for a once-in-a-lifetime payday headed into the final season of the 4-year, $5.8 million contract he signed after the Broncos drafted him in the second round (No. 64 overall) in the 2022 NFL draft.

Projections on Spotrac for Bonitto’s presumed contract extension have ranged from a 4-year, $94.2 million deal to a 4-year, $102 million deal — but both of those guesses might be a tad low. Because Bonitto is only 25 years old, we can make a reasonable assumption he’s going to garner closer to $30 million per year.

In his first year as a starter in 2024, Bonitto showed he was one of the NFL’s dominant defensive players with 48 tackles, 13.5 sacks, 16 TFL, 21 QB hits, 4 pass deflections, 2 forced fumbles and 2 defensive touchdowns, with one on an interception return and one on a fumble return.

Broncos’ Core of Young Defensive Superstars

Bonitto and Surtain are just 2 out of a group of young superstars on Denver’s defense — on the defensive front alone there’s also Jonathon Cooper, John Franklin-Myers and NFL All-Pro Zach Allen.

That defense was what propelled the Broncos into the playoffs for the first time since 2015 season — a formula head coach Sean Payton has seemed to double down on in the 2025 offseason.

The Broncos went out and got 2 high profile free agents from the San Francisco 49ers in linebacker Dre Greenlaw and NFL All-Pro safety Talanoa Hufanga, then went even deeper in the bag when they selected University of Texas defensive back Jahdae Barron in the first round (No. 20 overall) of the 2025 NFL draft.