The Broncos and general manager George Paton continue to check off a flurry of in-house extensions after last week’s bye.
Denver has agreed to a three-year extension with reserve defensive lineman Malcolm Roach, sources confirmed to The Denver Post on Wednesday. The extension has a base value of $24 million with $14 million guaranteed, and is worth up to $29.25 million in incentives, a source confirmed.
It’s the culmination of a six-year NFL journey for Roach, who sat with his agent and father during the 2020 NFL Draft hoping but not expecting to hear his name called. He didn’t. His agent, Roach remembered Wednesday, gave him a message.
You’re going to make a lot of money in this league. Just do things right, and everything’s going to work out.
“Finally having that moment, it was big,” Roach said Wednesday of his extension. “And like I say, itap been a long time coming, but we finally got there.”
After four years with the Saints, Roach signed with the Broncos in 2024, becoming a key run-stopper on a dominant defensive line and a heartbeat of the locker room. He played in all 17 games in his first season with the Broncos, racking up 43 tackles and eight quarterback hits.
Roach missed the first five games of the 2025 season after suffering a Grade 2 calf strain. In six games since, he’s racked up 21 tackles and two sacks.
“There’s a lot of things — his flexibility position-wise, and then all the other things that he brings to the team, that was a good fit,” head coach Sean Payton said Wednesday on Roach’s extension.
General manager Paton and the Broncos moved quickly with Roach, as extension talks intensified Tuesday, a source told The Post. Payton told reporters on Monday that Denver had initiated conversations with a number of players in contract years, and Roach is the latest in a string of deals: the Broncos agreed to a three-year extension with kicker Wil Lutz last week, and re-upped with center Luke Wattenberg for four years and $48 million on Tuesday night.
Roach’s deal also continues a string of defensive-line extensions for the Broncos, dating back to outside linebacker Jonathon Cooper’s extension in November 2024. Denver re-signed nose tackle D.J. Jones to a three-year deal before the start of free agency, and agreed to long-term extensions with stars Zach Allen and Nik Bonitto before the start of the 2025 season.
The 27-year-old Roach has been a Payton favorite since carving out a role with the New Orleans Saints in 2020 as an undrafted free-agent rookie, and dubbed himself the “Sixth Man of the Year” in Denver, rotating behind starting defensive tackle Jones.
Multiple members of Denver’s defensive front noted that Roach’s sheer sideline presence was a contributor in a massive comeback win over the New York Giants in Week 7.
“I’m happy here,” Roach said. “I love it in Denver. My parents love me here, my family love coming out here, so it’s a great mix. And it’s just — everything came together at the right time.”
He can stay happy in Denver, now, locked up through the 2028 season.
