Nik Bonitto, by trade, is an edge.
Nik Bonitto, in life, is a vibe.
He is so chill, radiating positivity, on an overcast Wednesday at a local Safeway.
The Bonitto Family Foundation partnered with the grocery chain and Food Bank of Rockies to launch “Team to Tackle Hunger” supporting local children who face uncertainty about where their next meal is coming from when school is not in session.
“It is important to help them,” Bonitto said. “We need to make sure they are fed.”
Bonitto boasts a $106 million contract, signed before last season, but he has not gone corporate. He just wants to make a difference. As Bonitto competed with kids bagging groceries — “I had a reach advantage,” he admitted — and building a cereal castle, he made conversation and took pictures.
His smile comes easily. Imagine Aaron Gordon as a football player, and you are getting close.
The laid-back personality masks a fierce competitor, one who knows he has to be better for the Broncos to win the Super Bowl.
His right wrist is a reminder of the fire required, and how his intensity must be channeled for a 26-year-old to take another step forward in his promising career.
When the Colts walked off the Broncos in Week 2 on a field goal after the officials called a leverage penalty on Dondrea Tillman, giving kicker Spencer Shrader a mulligan, Bonitto erupted. He slammed his fist into the Astroturf so violently, he damaged his wrist.
“I was so mad in the moment. I thought I was OK, then the next day when I showed up to the facility, I knew something didn’t feel right,” Bonitto said. “I am not usually like that. Lesson learned.”
Bonitto played the rest of the season with a club. He does not require raw strength to win at the point of attack. His first-step speed makes running backs blush. But the club was annoying.
He underwent offseason surgery and could continue to wear the protection in training camp as a precaution.
If nothing else, feeling healthy will ease the mental toll he dealt with after having bone spurs removed from his foot last preseason and injuring his elbow in December.
It helps, he believes, that the Broncos kept the band together.
“We have kind of had the same core group for quite a while now, since coach Payton got here. Each year we continue to build off that, and bring guys back. Itap only going to get better for us,” Bonitto said. “There’s no reason we shouldn’t be good.”
The Broncos need Bonitto to be great. He knows it.
He also understands he will no longer sneak up on anyone. As a former All-Pro and a two-time Pro Bowler, opponents are designing ways to stop him. He is what Von Miller used to be. And he is entering his prime.
Everything seems possible — reaching 30 quarterback hits, 80 pressures, challenging Miller’s single-season franchise record of 18.5 sacks. Bonitto posted a career-best 14 last season.
Opponents like to make a team play left-handed, and in the case of Bonitto, he did — and still delivered.
“I still have a lot of room to grow in my game in all facets. In the run and in the pass,” Bonitto said. “Itap really about being disruptive. That’s the main thing. Being able to affect the quarterback is the most important thing in football. If they can’t stay on their spot in the pocket or they are running for their life, itap going to be a hard day for the offense.”
Bonitto can write a diary of havoc. But can he repeat it?
Over a 10-week stretch from the Giants game to a Christmas night visit to Kansas City, he netted only 4.5 sacks.
He finished with 2.5 over the final three games, counting the playoffs.
Education followed his fourth season.
Bonitto studied top pass rushers, like Myles Garrett and Micah Parsons, after he got double-teamed on nearly 20 percent of his rush attempts in the second half of last season.
“I did watch a lot of the top guys,” said Bonitto, who spent his offseason in Denver, save for a trip to New York where he enjoyed sampling the city’s food. “I see how they attack those things and how they work well with the other defensive linemen when it comes to running stunts off those chip (blocks) and working off them.”
Complicating matters is the uncertainty on who will line up opposite of Bonitto. Jonathon Cooper has a court hearing Friday, but resolution on a felony assault charge is not expected before veterans report to training camp on Tuesday.
Bonitto has started every game of his career alongside Cooper. If he is not available — Cooper could face a suspension from the league even without a conviction — backups will assume a big role. Bonitto believes they are ready, if needed.
“We shouldn’t be surprised by any of them. Each one of them, when they have had the opportunity, they have made plays. You have seen it,” Bonitto said. “Jonah (Elliss) for two years. Till (Dondrea Tillman) is as reliable as ever in the run and pass game. And you’ve got Que (Robinson). In limited opportunities last year, he really flashed as well.”
Robinson bears watching. The Broncos set a franchise record with 68 sacks last season, but Cooper only had two over the final 10 regular-season games. His impact is viewed through a wider lens because of his ability to set the edge in the run and provide leadership.
Robinson, however, may be needed in bursts to give Bonitto more one-on-one matchups.
“I feel like I see a lot of myself when it comes to Que. He approaches everything the right way. He is so locked in in the film room, so locked in when it comes to practice. He is doing the things he needs to do,” Bonitto said. “So when it matters, when he gets his opportunity, I have no doubts he’s going to make that jump as well.”
No player has blossomed over the last three years like Bonitto. He could barely get on the field as a rookie, a status he changed with relentless work and the belief instilled by defensive coordinator Vance Joseph.
How much his life has changed because of his superstar turn became clear Wednesday. As Bonitto stood in the parking lot, fans asked for autographs and one man gave him a “Boomer Sooner” cheer.
Bonitto was in no hurry to leave. With the Broncos leading the league in disrespect this offseason, the biggest rush of his career awaits.
“Man, we have already kind of been there before. I remember two years ago, we were voted the worst roster in the NFL and you see how we responded to that,” Bonitto said. “We know what kind of team we have, we just have to go prove it.”
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