The Broncos have officially agreed to terms with defensive lineman Tyler Onyedim on his rookie contract, the club announced Monday. Onyedim was Denver’s first pick of the 2026 NFL Draft out of Texas A&M, sitting near the top of the third round at No. 66.
It’s a standard four-year deal for Onyedim. According to NFL Draft pick slot values set by the league’s collective bargaining agreement, the contract is worth a total of $7.39 million and comes with a $1.83 million signing bonus.
With Onyedim signing, Denver has now officially agreed to terms with all seven of its 2026 draft picks — much quicker into the offseason than last year, when talks with 2025 second-round pick RJ Harvey didn’t wrap up until the start of training camp. After being picked on Day 2 of the draft in late April, Onyedim was one of a few third-round rookies staring up at quarterback Carson Beck’s contract talks with the Arizona Cardinals at pick No. 65, trying to negotiate for a percentage of guaranteed money in base salary.
Onyedim, though, won’t see any guaranteed base money, according to a source.
The 6-foot-3, 292-pound defensive lineman assumed John Franklin-Myers’ old No. 98 for Denver’s offseason program, and has been an early standout among both team newcomers and the interior defensive line while jockeying for immediate rotational reps. The Broncos see Onyedim as a potential short-term and long-term replacement for the departed Franklin-Myers, as the Texas A&M product is nearly Franklin-Myers’ exact measurements.
Onyedim finished with 8.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks, along with a forced fumble, in his senior season at A&M in 2025.
“He’s got the hard part kind of done,” Broncos defensive lineman Zach Allen said of Onyedim in mid-June. “You could definitely tell he’s got the physical traits, and then he’s got a good attitude about it. So he is always trying to learn, always asking questions. He really takes the film seriously, which is pretty rare for a young player. He’s been great.”
Training camp dates are set
The Broncos will kick off training camp on July 28, when veterans are required to report, according to a league schedule released by the NFL on Monday. Denver’s rookies will be required to report for camp a week earlier, on July 22.
The league also confirmed Denver won’t have a joint practice for the first time in the Sean Payton era, after Payton said as much last week.
Such scheduling is particularly notable in the context of Broncos outside linebacker Jonathon Cooper’s legal process. Cooper is facing four active charges in Douglas County District Court in a felony assault case stemming from a physical altercation with his girlfriend on June 4. Cooper is scheduled for a disposition hearing July 24; if that hearing proceeds to a jury trial, Cooper’s case could extend well into training camp.
“I think it’ll take a little bit of time, but we’re continuing to go through that process, and we take it very seriously,” Payton said last week, on the team’s handling of Cooper.
