Bo Nix fiddled while iPhones burned. The Broncos quarterback n a pair of blue slides Tuesday as he leaned on a podium in front of him. Left. Then right. Left. Then right again.
Throughout a 16-minute news conference at Dove Valley under a sun so sweltering that it actually shut down some reporters’ smart phones, Nix was careful. With his thoughts, mostly. With his answers, certainly. But also by not appearing to put too much pressure on that surgically-repaired right ankle, the joint that’s bent so much of apountry out of shape.
After all, isn’t $60 million pressure enough?
Because that’s what’s at stake.
For Nix. For the Broncos. For an NFL orange-and-blueblood at the apex of a Super Bowl window, wondering if the thing that had eluded them for nearly a decade, a franchise quarterback, has a second act after January surgery.
“Well, my concern is, they say it’s back, healthy, as good as new, and I hadn’t really been like that in a couple years,” the Broncos’ recovering signal-caller told us after Day 1 of mini-camp. “So my concern is, (I) may move around a little bit better.”
Nix smiled.
We laughed.
Meanwhile, the building going up at Bo’s eyeline, over on the other side of the practice fields, is part of a $175-million facelift of the Broncos’ training facilities.
If No. 10 lands a long-term deal at the market rate for an NFL QB1, his next contract could be valued at twice that.
Spotrac.com’s “Calculated Market Value”
Is Bo worth that?
This is the season we find out.
Is the mobility there? The speed? The mojo? The comfort? Nix’s rookie deal is up after 2027, which means if the clock on negotiations for Bo’s second NFL contract isn’t seriously underway, it will be soon.
Broncos coach Sean Payton is signed through 2030. Kansas City reportedly just gave Patrick Mahomes a new eight-year deal that runs through the 2033 season.
Burnham Yard is slated to open in 2031. Are you the guy, I asked Nix Tuesday, who leads that roster out onto the field, five years and several miles down the road?
“Yeah, I think that question sort of answers itself,” Nix replied. “I think everybody that’s in the league wants that long-term extension, wants to play for their home team.
“And for me — I love being here. I love where I’m at. I love this team. And, you know, I’ll play as long as they want to have me.”
Bengals signal-caller Joe Burrow in 2023 signed an extension worth $275 million over five years, at $55 million per season. Mahomes’ new pact in Kansas City is worth $504.75 million — or $63.1 million per year.
If you’re the Walton-Penner Group, you’re not paying that kind of money for a “mobile” QB who can’t run and plant and cut anymore. Not after the Russell Wilson Experience.
Or for a signal-caller who loses the clutch and swagger genes that helped the Broncos post a 24-10 record over the last two regular seasons.
“I’m pleased with his ability to lead our team,” coach Sean Payton said. “I’m super excited. I think I mentioned this last week, and I think this is important. I don’t think when he’s fully recovered and he’s out here participating, (that) you’re going to see someone that doesn’t move. All of that, some of his superpowers, his ability to move and not get sacked, find throws — I don’t think any of that will be impacted at all. I think he’s working extremely hard on this recovery. I think he’s more than ahead of schedule.”
Nix doesn’t have to be Superman. . But this Broncos’ offense will only fly as far and as fast as Bo can carry it.
“Win a playoff game (this past season), and it sort of allows you to go into the next season, really; the whole entire season led us up to this,” Nix said. “But once you win a playoff game, you really feel like you can do sort of anything. Especially with the team that we have coming back, we feel very confident that we can start winning these playoff games and host (postseason games) for longer.
“So it builds your confidence in a way that you can’t get anywhere else. And so just from my experience to be able to play in a game like that … it’s a challenge, but like I said, the pressure, it’s a privilege. And I just really enjoy it. And I really enjoy being in those positions. And I really enjoy having the football at the end of the game.”
Few NFL QBs evade pressure the way a healthy Nix does. But a $300 million future hanging over your head, and the questions over the next six months as to whether you’re worth it, will be hard for anybody to escape.
