A day after locking up Mr. Irrelevant, the Broncos have finalized a deal with Sean Payton’s dubbed “Vice President of Mr. Irrelevant.”
Denver and seventh-round tight end Dallen Bentley have officially agreed to terms on his rookie contract, a source confirmed to The Denver Post on Wednesday morning. Bentley, a Utah product, was the second-to-last pick of the NFL Draft at No. 256.
According to slot values assigned for each pick of the draft, Bentley’s deal will run for four years with a total base value of $4.37 million and a signing bonus of $120,488. It’s the same contract the Broncos agreed to Tuesday with Buffalo’s Red Murdock, who Denver selected with the last pick of this year’s NFL Draft.
Bentley is a seventh-round upside play for the Broncos, a 6-foot-4, 253-pound tight end who ran a 4.62-second 40-yard dash. After struggling with injuries and playing in a reduced role for much of his Utah career, Bentley broke out as a senior with 48 catches for 620 yards and six touchdowns in six games.
“He’s not pigeonholed into just blocking, or flexed-out, receiving,” former Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham, now the coach at Michigan, told The Post. “He’s a guy that can hold his own in every aspect of the tight end position.”
That’s now two of seven draft picks down for Denver, and all should sign before training camp, barring unforeseen circumstances. Last year, second-round pick RJ Harvey officially agreed to terms on his rookie deal a day after rookies were required to report in July, after being caught in a league-wide standoff over negotiations around guaranteed money for second-round picks.
At the moment, seventh-round pick Miles Scott, fifth-round pick Justin Joly, fourth-round picks Kage Casey and Jonah Coleman, and third-round pick Tyler Onyedim still remain unsigned for the Broncos as rookie minicamp approaches this weekend.
