On Thursday, the Broncos outside linebacker signed a four-year contract extension worth $106 million, a hallmark of the road he’s traveled since his struggles as a second-round rookie in 2022. It brought an explosive end to negotiations conducted in the shadows, Bonitto channeling his attention to football over the summer months and leaving any discussions with Denver’s front office to agent Tory Dandy. No hold-ins or hold-outs. No public fuss.

When the deal was finalized, though, the 25-year-old Bonitto let loose. He talked to his father, Vince. He talked to his mother, Sandra Penn. He talked to his brother, Gerrard. And he hopped on Instagram, blasted Rod Wave’s “Richer,” and started belting the lyrics.

I’m richer than I’ve ever been, I’m richer than I’ve ever been. 

“There’s no amount of gratitude that can show, just like, how appreciative I am of everybody involved,” Bonitto told reporters Thursday, shaking his head, nearly out of breath with excitement.

The deal can rise as high as $120 million if all incentives are reached, and it comes with $70 million in guarantees, multiple sources told The Post on Thursday morning. It makes Bonitto the highest-paid non-quarterback in Broncos history, moving him past teammate Zach Allen, who signed a four-year, $102 million extension last month.

Bonitto was entering the final year of his rookie contract. By adding four years to his deal, he is now tied to the Broncos through the 2029 season.

“Let’s go win this (expletive) chip now!” Bonitto tweeted Thursday morning.

The ink will dry on Bonitto’s new deal just a few days before the Broncos host the Tennessee Titans for their home opener, ensuring the 25-year-old outside linebacker has long-term stability with a franchise that’s shown considerable loyalty to its core pieces. Denver locked up receiver Courtland Sutton in late July, followed with Allen in early August, and finished their run of preseason extensions with Bonitto — no deal coming with even a tinge of public spat.

“Just the communication that my agent had with the front office, I felt like, was a big thing to where we didn’t need to make it anything other than, ‘Just play football, and we’ll handle the rest,'” Bonitto reflected.

Bonitto said Dandy told him an extension would likely get done leading up to Week 1. And the money itself was never a stressor for Bonitto, even as his future dangled this offseason, his longtime pass-rush trainer Javon Gopie reflected. It represented more of a personal pressure to continue proving himself, a journey he’s been on since he redshirted as a freshman eight years ago at Oklahoma.

“I know Nik to be a guy who thinks a lot,” Gopie told The Denver Post on Thursday morning. “So, for him to free his mind going into this season and not have to worry about playing for an opportunity to get paid, I think now we will truly see the best version of him, where he can just play free.”

After a second-team All-Pro finish in 2024, Bonitto will now be rewarded as one of the foremost talents at his position. The base value of the deal puts Bonitto’s average annual salary at $26.5 million average per year, below the very top tier but into the top 10 at the position league-wide. His $70 million guaranteed is seventh among outside linebackers.

A Bonitto extension seemed only a matter of time after star pass-rusher Micah Parsons blew the doors off the edge-rusher market, signing a four-year deal worth $186 million ($46.5 million a year) following a seismic trade to the Green Bay Packers. The Parsons deal upped the average annual value of top-five edge rusher deals to $39.7 million a year — aided by monster offseason extensions for the Steelers’ T.J. Watt, Browns’ Myles Garrett and Raiders’ Maxx Crosby.

That explosion at the top end of the edge market drove the No. 5 mark before Bonitto’s deal up 42.2% in the last year alone. The top-10 mark moved up a more modest 11% over the past year, but Bonitto pushed that higher by checking in at No. 10 among edge rushers.

Still, Bonitto landed below the Jaguars’ Josh Hines-Allen and Giants’ Brian Burns in average value per year. Those two edge rushers have never made an All-Pro (as Bonitto has), and they recorded fewer than 10 sacks in 2024 (Bonitto had 13.5). The Broncos outside linebacker made clear he’d known he could attract more money on the open market in 2026 with a strong fourth year, but prioritized security with Denver’s organization.

“Just being around a team like this that����ap continuing to get better and better — why wouldn’t I want to set myself up to play here now?” Bonitto said.

All of this is a far cry from where he began in Denver, logging just 1.5 sacks in 2022. He saw sporadic playing time in the second half of his rookie year, as the season fell apart and coach Nathaniel Hackett got fired. He began to show signs in his first year under now-defensive coordinator Vance Joseph, logging 8.5 sacks in 2023 and showing he could be trusted to stay on the field more frequently.

Bonitto, a Fort Lauderdale, Florida native, really took off in 2024, however. He didn’t even start the year off as a starter, finding himself behind Jonathon Cooper and Baron Browning. By Week 3, however, he was on to the top line and finished the year with 13.5 sacks.

The Broncos felt good enough about his performance that they traded Browning midseason, extended Cooper, and set the stage for the pair to be anchors off the edge for Denver for years to come.

“He’s a problem,” Joseph said of Bonitto Thursday. “If teams don’t have a plan for him, he can rip your game up.”

Denver’s now committed over $300 million in future money across offseason extensions for Bonitto, Allen and Sutton, three pillars of the Broncos’ recent turnaround. And Bonitto now has the cash to back up his breakout, with the organization and Bonitto himself expecting plenty more from the fourth-year edge.

“I know there was plays I missed out on that I could even, had more sacks on,” Bonitto told The Post in late July. “So that kinda stuff just gives me more fuel to be better.”

Like Lucy, Payton keeps promising Estime the football.

“We knew we wanted two-thirds of the game to get to Blake (Watson) and Audric, and I think we were able to accomplish that,” Payton said after the Broncos stomped Arizona, 27-7, in the Backup Bowl on Saturday at Empower Field.

“It’s not an exact science. But those guys got a lot of work. I thought they did a good job with their opportunities.”

What opportunities?

In the third quarter, Estime carried the rock just twice, netting minus-1 yard. Watson, one of Audric’s primary competitors to make this roster as a third or fourth running back, logged four totes for 21 yards on the ground while catching two more passes.

For the evening, Watson wound up with 14 touches for 54 all-purpose yards. Estime had nine touches for 20 yards. While his peers ran with authority, he plodded.

“All of ‘em, I thought, played well,” Payton said of his backs. “Which, I don’t know if (that) clears up our (competitions), but — look, I thought we got into the defense, we got downhill into the defense a number of times … and I thought as the game wore on, our down and distances, our third down(s), were much more favorable than theirs.

“The plan was, early on, it was RJ (Harvey), and then it was going to be RJ, obviously (Tyler) Badie was going to get work. Then Jaleel (McLaughlin), Audric, and then Blake.”

Only the rotation was Harvey, then Badie, then McLaughlin, then Watson …  , Snap, Crackle, Pop … and then Estime. The latter sat until there was 11:23 left in the third quarter.

Once No. 23 checked in, he chugged for 2 yards on his first carry. On the next snap, Estime got a 9-yard gain off right guard, wiped out by an illegal shift penalty — Denver’s fifth pre-snap flag of the evening.

Blink and you missed him.

Arizona defenders sure didn’t.

You could argue with a straight face that Estime, the Broncos’ fifth-round pick from the 2024 draft, is being set up to fail. That he was stuck behind second- and third-team blockers. That a so-called big back, a power back, needs a village to move the chains consistently.

And that’s fair. On the other hand, every other tailback on the Broncos’ roster Saturday, playing with those same offensive line backups, also landed some kind of moment to hang on the wall.

Harvey found the inside seam on an 8-yard touchdown run, sprinting like a man possessed.

Tyler Badie ran a kickoff back 27 yards.

.

Estime?

Estime lost a contact lens. Allegedly.

“We all push each other each and every day during practice,” offered Harvey, the second-round pick out of Central Florida. “And it’s a joy to be around all those guys. We all get along, and I want to see everybody go out there and make plays. It’s real good to be in a room full of great backs.”

One of them’s got to go. J.K. Dobbins is one of those solid, all-around veterans you can trust to catch or block on third down. Harvey is the young workhorse. McLaughlin is the shifty home-run hitter. Badie is the special teams weapon.

Ask yourself this: What does Estime, right now, do well? Catch the ball? Convert on short yardage? On third-and-1 at the Arizona 33 with 5:21 left, the big guy took a shotgun pitch and immediately got swarmed for a 2-yard loss.

Maybe Payton’s running the best preseason subterfuge campaign ever to make Estime look bad on film. Maybe he’s trying to sneak the kid through waivers.

Or maybe Estime just isn’t meant for this roster. Maybe he’s this year’s Baron Browning, blessed with enough talent to stick on somebody’s 53.

Just not this one. Not now.

Estime left the locker room late Saturday without talking to reporters. But if his dauber’s down, he sure hasn’t shown that to Harvey.

“He’s still young. I’m young too. We’re just learning,” the rookie told me. “And whatever questions I have, he comes with answers and he’s willing to help me …”

“Like a big brother?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Harvey replied with a grin. “But I’m actually older. We’ve been messing with each other about that.”

Harvey’s 24. Estime’s 21, with a birthday coming up on Sept. 6.

With the latter, that raises questions about ceiling, about potential, about mileage and tread. About not giving up on a young back too soon.

And yet Broncos radio reported during the game that Estime, at one point, couldn’t enter the fray because he’d … misplaced a contact.

And it doesn’t take 20/20 vision to see where Payton’s going next.

What’s your take on the lack of love for Bo Nix for Season 2? I feel like it’s been underplayed what a rare rookie season this guy had. Maybe it’s the Jayden Daniels effect and how Washington transformed. Maybe it’s that so many pundits thought Nix wasn’t a first-round talent and don’t want to acknowledge that Payton was right. I just don’t know how you can look at what Nix did after those first four games finding his footing and not see more to come.

David, Charlotte, N.C.

Hey David, thanks for writing and for getting us going this week. I wonder if your view about Nix is a commonly held one. Not saying you’re wrong, just that I haven’t got the sense this offseason. Maybe that means I’m not giving Nix enough love, too?

There could be a couple of things at play here. One is that, you’re right, Jayden Daniels had such a terrific rookie season that he gets talked about more. Caleb Williams is obviously a big story because he was the No. 1 overall pick in 2024 and the Bears hired Ben Johnson as their head coach. In fact, you could rightly say that Daniels turned into a superstar, and the other four rookie quarterbacks heading into Year 2 all have more drama/turnover/big storylines than Nix and the Broncos. It’s just kind of, if not quiet, then at least stable in Denver. That’s not a recipe for spinning the ratings wheel on ESPN or NFL Network, but I bet the Broncos are fine with it.

Another element: There are just so many terrific quarterbacks in the AFC. Nix could have a great second season and slot in behind, what, five guys at least? We run through the list a lot, but it’s hard to wrap your mind around it still: Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson own five of the league’s past seven MVPs (new/very old Pittsburgh QB Aaron Rodgers has the other two). Joe Burrow belongs with that first trio but hasn’t won an MVP… yet. Then there’s Justin Herbert, C.J. Stroud, Rodgers, etc. Nix did some pretty rare things as a rookie, but how strong is the argument to put him ahead of anybody on that list besides the 41-year-old right now?

That said, Nix and the Broncos are confident for good reason. He generated three touchdowns in his first four games as a rookie and then 30 (28 passing, two rushing) over Denver’s final 13 games. Nix turned the ball over just eight times and was sacked 20 times in those final 13 games. Plus, he, Payton and pretty much everyone else in the building express extreme confidence that, as you suggested, Nix is just getting started.

Final thought on this: It’s possible that if Nix is being under-hyped this offseason, it’s because the Broncos are a complete team. The defense gets a lot of love and rightfully so. The offensive line should be one of the best units in football. They’ve added playmaking and youth at running back and tight end. Nix shouldn’t have to do everything. That’s a good thing and it’s part of the reason the Broncos are widely expected to be right back in the playoff picture this fall.

Hello from Finland! I’m back! Last season, the Broncos had Donald Parham as a TE, a big guy. Caleb Lohner is quite big, too. Is there a continuum regarding the type of player they’re looking for? Maybe especially red zone in mind?

Jude, Lahti, Finland 

Jude! Thanks for writing and good question. There’s like a 21 out of 24 chance you’ll read this in the daylight, considering we’re just about to the summer solstice. Checked out of curiosity and Thursday’s sunrise and sunset times for Lahti are 3:40 a.m. and 10:56 p.m., respectively. That, of course, has nothing to do with Donald Parham, but it is cool.

It was sort of interesting last year that the Broncos never used Parham off the practice squad, even though he’s 6-foot-8 with some track record as a red zone guy in the NFL and given Denver’s overall lack of production at tight end. Seems like they just got in a pretty good rhythm with what they had offensively, and there was no real need to disrupt the flow.

Lohner, the rookie seventh-round pick and former hooper out of Utah, is tall but not Parham tall. And yeah, there’s definitely something to that conversation. It’s like anything: If you don’t have something on your roster, you’re going to look for it. And if you’re looking for it in lower-probability ways — late-round picks, the bargain free agent aisle, etc. — you’re going to be betting on traits rather than acquiring a sure thing.

Lohner is a traits-based bet. He’s big, athletic and has the basketball skillset that sometimes translates well to the NFL. The Broncos are betting they can help refine his football skills into a useful player, not just in the red zone. At the same time, though, you don’t necessarily have to have that physical prowess in order to be dynamic in the red zone. Evan Engram, for example, isn’t nearly as tall as Lohner, but he’s going to help the Broncos in that area. Brock Bowers in Las Vegas and Sam LaPorta in Detroit aren’t the biggest tight ends out there, but they’re dynamite. True “Jokers,” to use Payton’s parlance.

Several times since late March, this one quote from George Paton at the owners meetings in Florida has come to mind. It’s in the ballpark for this question, so here it is. He was asked about being patient with players as they develop and what he looks for in terms of when to bet that patience will pay off. He used Nik Bonitto as an example. Bonitto had 1.5 sacks as a rookie, 8.5 in Year 2 and then really broke out in Year 3 last fall.

“When you look at the day-to-day, you look at the practice and you look at the skillset, is there one trait? What����ap the dominant trait? Nik Bonitto, man, we knew he had a dominant trait. When was it going to click? When was the light going to turn on? So, you can see it in practice. You can see it by how they are day-to-day and how they are in the weight room and in the conditioning drills.

“Nik, he always worked hard. You felt like it would come. He got his opportunity and shoot, we traded a good player away in Baron Browning because we could see Nik in practice with what he was doing. So you just look for those little traits. It����ap hard to give up on a player like that.”

Do you think the Broncos have enough talent and depth on the roster to overcome injuries and still push for a Super Bowl victory? And which player(s) would derail their season outside of Bo Nix or Pat Surtain II?

Larry Emanuel, Savannah, Ga.

Hey Larry, great question and one we’ll have a better feel for by the end of training camp.

At this point, it’s fair to say that the Broncos look like they’ve got better overall roster depth than they’ve had in recent years. Now, there comes a point where nobody can withstand a big run of injuries. Look at San Francisco last year. If you get hit with that kind of wipeout injury bug, at some point your options for recourse dry up.

Denver, though, has what looks like pretty solid depth at a lot of positions. They’ve fortified at inside linebacker and safety, though an injury at either spot could still cause issues. They’ve got good rotational depth on the edge and defensive line, but major missed time from any of Nik Bonitto, Jonathon Cooper, Zach Allen or John Franklin-Myers would still sting. Can you cover it for two weeks? Sure. Can you cover it for 10? Much tougher. Obviously, teams will happily live with that reality because it means you’ve got really good players.

Losing Allen or JFM for an extended period would really hurt. They’re not only terrific players in their own right, but they make each other better and they make life easier on D.J. Jones and on the edge rushers. Also, we saw Alex Palczewski hold up pretty well in Mike McGlinchey’s absence last fall, but then he got hurt, too. If either McGlinchey or left tackle Garett Bolles went down, Denver would have options with ‘Palcho,’ Matt Peart or Frank Crum, but it’s fair to call it an open question just how comfortable that would feel if it’s longer than a couple of games.

The Los Angeles Chargers, playing without running back J.K. Dobbins for the fourth straight week due to a knee injury, went three-and-out to start the Thursday night game.

Denver coach Sean Payton responded with an opening script straight out of a Run The Ball Guy fever dream: Seven rushes for 43 yards. Four different players carried the ball out of the backfield. A play sheet that literally said “Run It!!!” A bruising opening touchdown drive.

The Broncos had 11 carries for 73 yards on their first two drives and bullied their way to a 21-10 lead in the second quarter. Mike McGlinchey pumped his fists and roared as Denver grabbed early control in exactly the manner an offensive lineman would want.

Then all that run game razzle-dazzle fizzled. Denver mustered just 37 yards on 10 carries over the final 42:17 of game time despite leading until early in the fourth quarter. L.A. stormed back and won.

For all the slick design deployed and mojo built in that opening blast, the sequence only temporarily masked what by that time was long clear in Denver: The Broncos had a bunch of guys at running back, but not the guy.

In the six months since, the Broncos let Javonte Williams walk and drafted RJ Harvey, but that job title remains open.

This week, Denver brought Dobbins in for a free-agent visit to see if he might be a good veteran option to add to the mix. He left without a contract and no signing imminent, a source told The Denver Post, though nothing is ruled out for the future.

After all, a resurgent Dobbins in 2024 ran 195 times for 905 yards and caught 32 passes for 153.

The total production from the Broncos’ four returning backs — Jaleel McLaughlin, Audric Estime, Tyler Badie and Blake Watson — last season: 204 carries for 902 yards, plus 33 catches for 114.

What����ap interesting about the specter of signing a veteran, however, is Payton and general manager George Paton have been down this road each of the past two offseasons and both times ended up better off letting young players play, learn and grow.

A year ago, they signed Josh Reynolds in the second wave of free agency — before they drafted Troy Franklin and Devaughn Vele. Reynolds was the Broncos’ second-leading receiver when he broke his finger against Las Vegas in Week 5. His stint on injured reserve was complicated because he sustained minor injuries in a shooting, but by the time he was eligible to return, the Broncos had decided they wanted Vele and Franklin on the field. They kept Reynolds practicing on injured reserve for the maximum three weeks just to guard against an injury elsewhere at the position, then released him.

The more similar example, though, came two years ago. Outside linebacker Baron Browning was going to miss time with a knee injury and the Broncos didn’t know quite what they had in Nik Bonitto (entering his second season) and Jonathon Cooper (entering his third). So they signed veteran Frank Clark to a one-year deal in June to fortify their depth.

From the start of training camp, the fit felt forced. Had it not been for $5.5 million guaranteed, Clark might have been jettisoned at the roster cutdown. Instead, the Broncos found ways to offload both he and Randy Gregory by October and turn the keys over to Bonitto, Cooper and Browning.

That turned out awfully well, not just over the rest of the 2023 season but as a launching pad into 2024 when Bonitto racked up 13.5 sacks and defensive player of the year consideration and Cooper earned a four-year, $60 million extension.

No two situations are the same, of course. Dobbins might be a much better fit than Clark. It����ap also possible none of the backs on Denver’s roster turn into Cooper or Bonitto-level staples.

But Payton made a comment Thursday that perked up the ears when asked if he agreed with the sentiment that he had a more mature football team this year than last.

“Yes, and part of that is a byproduct of playing young players a year ago,” he said.

Dobbins was in Denver as he said it, preparing for a Thursday workout at the Broncos’ facility after having dinner with team officials Wednesday night.

Will Payton and company decide to bet on the same approach this time around?

Payton is clearly excited about Harvey. He said Estime is going to get a lot of work. He mentioned Thursday that Badie is “really good” in pass protection — Could that give him a leg up on McLaughlin on third down? — and he watched McLaughlin give Denver an element last year that nobody else on the roster possessed.

Does that tilt the decision-making toward following what’s worked the past two years at edge and receiver — letting young players play and betting that the answer is already in the building?

The subplot will be a fascinating one to watch for a team that needs a fast regular-season start and has real external expectations for the first time in quite a while.

Caleb Lohner is such a fascinating pick to me. He’s like Julius Thomas with the basketball background but without as much football experience. Do you think he’ll get much playing time this year or will he be a project much like Thomas was his first few seasons in Denver?

— Mike, Denver

Hey Mike, thanks for writing in and getting us going this week. Lohner is definitely one of the most interesting incoming players for the Broncos this offseason. Take nothing away from first-round pick Jahdae Barron, but to me, running back RJ Harvey and Lohner are Denver’s most intriguing rookies as the group prepares to arrive in town to get their professional careers started.

I know Lohner didn’t start his last couple of years at Utah, but the guy is a legit Division I basketball player. You don’t play in 153 games and start 46, even with modest scoring production, if you can’t hoop.

It����ap entirely too early to know if he’ll play much or at all for the Broncos this fall. He’s one of the guys I’m most interested to get eyes on this weekend at rookie minicamp, but even that����ap only one small step toward Week 1 in September.

Denver has all of its tight ends back from last year and brought fullback Michael Burton back, too, so it’ll be interesting to see how the battle for roster spots shapes up. Sometimes developmental players like Lohner end up in an interesting spot as it pertains to the roster. The Broncos drafted him in the seventh round to ensure they didn’t have competition while trying to sign him as an undrafted free agent. And what teams perceive as a player’s market in the post-draft process sometimes influences decisions at the roster cutdown. For instance, undrafted running back Blake Watson made the roster last year and head coach Sean Payton indicated part of the reason was because Denver knew there were half a dozen teams or more that tried to sign him after the draft. That might impact the likelihood that a player clears waivers. Same thing could end up applying to Lohner this summer if he’s on the roster bubble.

It would obviously be a surprise if Lohner has the kind of polish and nuance to his game that allows him to play a big role right out of the gate. We’re talking about a guy who has played 52 snaps since middle school. At the same time, Utah thought enough of him to use him as a red zone threat last year, and his four catches each went for touchdowns. So, unlikely? Yeah. Impossible? Of course not.

Ideally, if you’re the Broncos, you’re able to let him learn and develop and then deploy him as he’s ready to roll. That may or may not take a little roster finagling this fall.

Do you think Denver will host the draft any time soon? I’d love it to come to our city. Maybe they’ll try and pair it with the opening of the new stadium?

— Ryan, Denver

Hey Ryan, yeah, good question. Never say never, but the impression I’ve got is that hosting a draft is not currently high on the Broncos’ priority list.

Contrary to some reporting that����ap floated out there over the past year or so, the Broncos and city of Denver did not submit a bid to host the 2027 NFL draft, which was just awarded to Washington, D.C. Side note, that����ap going to be awesome. Plus, 2027 could be when Arch Manning and Jeremiah Smith are available. Start your tanking preparations now.

������’s what Broncos president Damani Leech told The Post just about a year ago as it pertained to 2027: “There’s been no official submission on our behalf for hosting the draft. Now, it����ap a major NFL tentpole event and it����ap really, really exciting, but it����ap not something that we’re currently working on.”

My sense is that sentiment hasn’t changed regarding future years at this point, either. That doesn’t rule out the Broncos and Denver hosting one down the road, but they do have a lot of other irons in the fire currently with their current headquarters construction project, the decision-making process regarding their stadium and all the rest.

Any news about the Ring of Fame? I want to see Demaryius Thomas get his day.

— Tim M., Arvada

Hey Tim, thanks for writing. No news yet. Last year, the Broncos announced their class in late May, lining it up with one of the team’s OTA weeks. So it����ap getting to be the part of the calendar where the selection committee usually does its work.

Thomas is obviously going to be elected at some point and it wouldn’t be a surprise for it to happen this year. There are other deserving candidates eligible for the first time, too, like cornerback Aqib Talib, along with a few others. So maybe the question is just about whether Thomas, the Super Bowl champion and five-time Pro Bowler who died in 2021, gets his own year or if he goes in as part of a small class.

Last year’s class of safety Steve Foley and tight end Riley Odoms marked the first players inducted into the Ring of Fame in the Walton Penner Family Ownership Group era. It also represented the first time multiple players had been part of the same class since 2016.

The Broncos’ Ring of Fame committee includes CEO and owner Greg Penner/the team’s ownership group, Hall of Fame safety Steve Atwater, former vice president of communications Jim Saccomano, play-by-play announcer Dave Logan and former head coach Mike Shanahan.

When is Mike Shanahan going into the Pro Football Hall of Fame? It seems like he keeps getting snubbed despite his impressive resume. Bill Belichick seems to be the odds-on favorite for 2026, so maybe 2027 for Shanny?

— Lewis K., Lakewood

Hey Lewis, think you’re on the right track with Belichick in 2026 and then somebody else — Shanahan potentially — in 2027. He’s clearly more than deserving.

Mike’s son and 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan put it pretty well this spring when asked about it at the NFL spring owners meetings in Florida.

“There’s a number of good coaches in line,” Kyle Shanahan said. “I think all of them will get in eventually. You could sit here and be upset about the order it goes or whatever, but I know he deserves it. I know other people do, too, and hopefully, he’ll be in sooner than later.”

The process itself for coaches and contributors has changed and is a tough one to really understand. The list of candidates gets whittled pretty far down and then a blue ribbon committee votes on a finalist to move to the full Pro Football Hall of Fame induction committee. Then the finalist has to get 80% of the vote. That����ap a high bar, and in recent years, coaching candidates have not cleared it. Mike Holmgren was picked as the finalist over Shanahan and several others last year, . The year before, the same thing happened to Buddy Parker.

It used to be that a coaching finalist put forth just had to get a ‘yes’ vote from the full committee. Now the coaches are grouped together with seniors and contributors and have to get 80%.

So, first you have to make it to finalist status and then you need the full group to vote you in. And likely everybody at the moment is waiting in line behind Belichick.

Hi Parker, what are your thoughts on Drew Sanders this year? It’s make or break for him, isn’t it? The draft gurus made it sound like he was a steal in the 2023 draft, but he hasn’t done a whole lot in Denver. And not a Broncos question, but who do you think will be the Browns’ starting quarterback in Week 1?

— Mark, Arvada

Hey Mark, thanks for the questions, as always.

I don’t know if I’d call it make-or-break, but it����ap certainly an important summer and upcoming season for Sanders. He obviously didn’t have any control over rupturing his Achilles last spring, an injury that cost him a big chunk of his second year.

When he returned to practice, he did so originally as an outside linebacker. But the edge group blossomed into such a strength that the Broncos not only traded Baron Browning, they also moved Sanders back to the inside for the stretch run.

So Sanders started out as an ILB, moved during the season to OLB, thought he was going to settle there, got hurt, returned as an OLB, and then slid back to ILB.

Now the Broncos say he’s going to be an ILB going forward.

If there’s a silver lining to new free agent signee Dre Greenlaw missing a chunk of the offseason program going forward due to a quad strain, maybe it����ap that Sanders will get a ton of reps. The inside linebacker group also features a rehabbing Alex Singleton, so Sanders will get all the work he can handle while the veterans try to get fully healthy.

We’ve seen the glimpses of Sanders’ traits and ability. He made plays sideline to sideline during training camp his rookie season. He recorded a sack as a sub-package blitzer on his first defensive snap of the 2024 season after missing the first 13 games.

But there’s a difference, obviously, between showing flashes and becoming the kind of player who can be left in the middle of the field on all three downs. Sanders, it����ap fair to say, hasn’t had a long or consistent runway to try to make that leap. Now he’s got it. Let����ap see what he does with it.

On the Browns, the amazing thing is they’ve added four quarterbacks since March. They traded for Kenny Pickett in March, signed Joe Flacco in mid-April and then drafted Dillon Gabriel in the third round of the draft and Shedeur Sanders in the fifth. The only guy who definitely won’t start Week 1 is the one with the massive guaranteed contract in Deshaun Watson, who is rehabbing a torn Achilles. Let����ap throw a dart against the wall and say Pickett Week 1 but at least two others over the course of the season — including Shedeur Sanders.

The Broncos general manager has plenty of good reasons for good vibes.

Denver is coming off its first playoff appearance in nearly a decade. The franchise appears to have a long-term answer at quarterback in Bo Nix. And the Broncos have their first four picks in this week’s NFL draft for the first time since Paton’s first draft as general manager, in 2021.

That year, Denver selected two future All-Pros in CB Pat Surtain II and RG Quinn Meinerz, OLB Jonathon Cooper and a pair of now-departed multi-year starters in RB Javonte Williams and OLB Baron Browning.

Plus, Paton is going into his third draft paired with head coach Sean Payton.

“You just look back to our first draft (together), I feel so much more settled,” Paton said during Denver’s pre-draft news conference. “And I feel like this is the most prepared I’ll be for a draft in large part because of the continuity we’ve had.”

That sense of preparedness and continuity, though, did not come as easily as it might seem this spring.

In the days after losing to Buffalo in the Wild Card round, Paton and Payton thought they’d mostly get the band back together. Sure, some assistant coaches would be targets from other teams and perhaps a front-office member or two would attract attention, too.

Overall, though?

“We play that Buffalo game and we’re like, ‘Ok, we’re going to bring everything back,’” Paton told The Post recently. “And then boom.”

On Jan. 25, assistant general manager Darren Mougey got the New York Jets’ general manager job.

Five days later, senior personnel executive David Shaw went to Detroit as the team’s passing game coordinator along with Johnny Morton, who got the offensive coordinator job there after two years on Payton’s staff.

Then Feb. 4, the Broncos lost Mark Thewes, one of the longest-running members of the front office, to Las Vegas. Former Broncos scout and new Raiders general manager John Spytek hired Thewes as his vice president of football operations.

The next day, Paton’s nephew and Denver national scout Robbie Paton was named Mougey’s co-director of player personnel in New York.

Denver was already operating in the early offseason without special assistant to the general manager and executive director of football operations Kelly Kleine Van Calligan, who welcomed a son in January.

“When everybody first left, it was a little overwhelming: Who’s going to do what?” Paton said. “But we gathered and everyone’s done a hell of a job.”

If that wasn’t enough, Paton said with a laugh, “Reed (Burckhardt), our director of player personnel, had a baby Monday of the (free agency) negotiating period. I was like, ‘This is unbelievable.’ But it����ap also cool.”

So for a couple of weeks in the heart of draft prep, the Broncos were down six key front office members. Burckhardt returned later in March, and Van Calligan earlier this month, but it����ap still taken a lot of adjusting from a lot of people to get the draft prep job done.

“From Reed to (VP of player personnel) Cody Rager, Brian Stark,” Paton said. “(Stark’s) had to take the brunt of it, the college scouting director, because the draft has obviously been the focus. He’s had to organize it, and he’s been great. All the scouts, really, have stepped up.

“(Midwest national scout) Bryan Chesin, (assistant college scouting director) Nick Schiralli, (Western national scout) Sae Woon Jo. Just the communication’s been different. Now they’re pretty much just talking to me. ‘Moug’ was kind of a buffer — I mean, I talked to them all the time, but it����ap just different.”

Some have picked up extra pro day coverage around the country. They’ve been asked to have bigger voices in the Broncos’ scouting meetings. Payton and Paton like having scouts and coaches get together to work through clusters of players, either by position or with similar grades across the board, and then report back.

“It����ap been fun to watch everybody kind of develop,” Paton said. “Once you get the opportunity, take advantage of it.”

There will be opportunities, too, after the draft, when most front office movement tends to happen. Perhaps there will be more attrition. Certainly, Paton and Payton will be looking to promote, re-stock and perhaps shuffle the ranks.

Payton, of course, ended up firing two assistant coaches right after the season, losing three to coordinator roles and then also later firing outside linebackers coach Michael Wilhoite.

“I felt like every time I left town, when I came back, another coach was gone,” Payton said last month.

Continuity, then, is a funny concept among the staff and front office.

At the top of the organization, though, Denver still has it with Payton and Paton.

“Everybody knows what we’re looking for and what a Denver Bronco player should look like,” Paton said. “They know what works for us. What type of player. It����ap good, but it����ap taken — it����ap good to have continuity with Sean and his staff. Now, he’s lost some people, too, but it all starts with Sean, and he does a really good job of evaluating what he wants.”

Thanks to that pair and plenty of on-the-fly maneuvering from the coaching and scouting staffs, Paton feels good heading into his fifth draft as Denver’s general manager.

After the dust settles, there will be more work to do to replace the folks who have already left and any more who could.

“But that����ap great. That����ap what it����ap all about,” Paton said. “If we can’t promote somebody from within and they can get a better opportunity somewhere else, that����ap what it����ap all about.

“Create a really good culture and keep developing your young talent, whether it����ap players or your staff. That����ap what we do.”

How likely do you think the Broncos will trade out of the No. 20 spot? I’m in the best-player-available camp after the pickups this offseason. If someone wants to give us several picks to move down, I think we have to jump on it. I’d love to have another third-rounder if that means we drop down to the bottom of the first or into the second round. What do you think?

— Mike, Denver

Hey Mike, thanks for writing in and for getting us going this week. The draft is, at long last, almost here. Next week, we settle in for three days that promise to be fascinating. The Broncos are set at quarterback, but this is a critical draft nonetheless — really, they all are.

Denver’s got its first four picks still in hand, the first time that����ap been the case since 2021, George Paton’s first draft as the general manager. You’ll remember that class started out with Pat Surtain II, Javonte Williams, Quinn Meinerz and Baron Browning and finished with Jonathon Cooper in the seventh round. Two All-Pros, a cornerstone edge rusher and two now-departed regular starters beset by injury. Not too shabby.

Put simply: Denver’s got capital to move around the board with.

Do I think they’ll move out of the No. 20 spot? Impossible to say from here — there are so many moving pieces ahead of the Broncos on draft night — but there’s an interesting set of conditions brewing.

First, this is a good time for the caveat that teams have substantially more information than we do and, of course, they’ve got an entire staff of scouts, coaches and executives tasked with putting together a plan independent of whatever consensus is out there. We talk to as many people as we can, think through scenarios and possibilities, rely on people we trust, etc., but we still, at the end of the day, are looking in from the outside.

All that being said, let����ap look in.

The Broncos could just stick and pick at No. 20. That����ap probably the most likely scenario.

There’s plenty of reason to go your direction, Mike, and trade down. Several talented draft analysts think this is a year light on elite, top-end guys but filled with quality players. So at 20, if you’re past the top of the bell curve and into a pool of players that are graded similarly, it makes sense to want to move back a few spots, get a player of similar caliber and also pick up picks.

But if other teams have the draft pegged along a similar track, then why would they want to move up? That����ap the practical inhibitor to moving back. It takes two to tango. The best bets from here seem like a team that is either quarterback or tackle needy and gets itchy to move up (or back into the first round) to get their guy.

Denver’s situated just ahead of Pittsburgh in the draft order and the Steelers could be in the QB market. So perhaps if a team wants to jump ahead of them, they’d at least call the Broncos and see what it would take.

������’s the other inhibitor to moving back: Sean Payton. He’s never traded back in the first round. Not in Denver. Not in all of those years in New Orleans. Nada. Zilch.

The Broncos also haven’t traded back, period, since he’s been here. They moved up for Marvin Mims Jr., Riley Moss and Troy Franklin, but they haven’t moved back.

Heck, general manager George Paton last year said he would have had a cake ready to celebrate the occasion if Denver had traded out of No. 76, a move they were considering if Jonah Elliss hadn’t been available.

Paton likes the darts. Payton prefers to focus almost solely on the target.

So, long story short, the conditions ahead of the draft look ripe for teams around Denver’s position to want to try to trade down. History tells us a Sean Payton-led organization is much more likely to trade up.

I’ve seen several mock drafts that have going to Denver in the second round. If we go that route, who would you like to see us pick in the first round?

— Marvin R., Fort Collins

Hey Marvin, that’s an interesting way to look at it. Let����ap assume no trades and Judkins is the pick at No. 51. Cool, he’s a good back. There are a ton of them in this class.

In that scenario, conventional wisdom would be that you’re talking about having drafted a tight end or a defensive lineman in the first round. Maybe a surprise like safety out of South Carolina.

But if you’re asking for ideal scenarios, let����ap say Michigan TE or Oregon DT .

With Judkins going at No. 51, the Broncos won’t be able to bank on getting a TE like LSU’s or even Littleton native and former Oregon standout Terrance Ferguson in the third round. Maybe, but no guarantee. Loveland’s more of a pass-catcher than a blocker and he dealt with a shoulder injury last fall. All the same, he’s widely considered one of the best players in the class. Putting him in the same room as 31-year-old Evan Engram gives you security long term, and in the short term, it turns a weakness last year into a potentially serious strength this fall.

Harmon’s just a high-quality, disruptive defensive lineman. Denver’s stacked there this year but will almost certainly have significant reps to replace after the 2025 season. There are other defensive linemen who could go in a similar range if the Broncos prefer a slightly different flavor.

Is there any shot we land or without having to trade up? Their stocks have been rising like crazy!

— Ryan, Lakewood

It����ap possible, though almost assuredly not with Jeanty. He’s likely to be long gone by the time the Broncos pick No. 20.

You’ll find consensus that Hampton is a really good prospect and less agreement on exactly whether he’s a bonafide first-round grade or whether he’s more in line with the second wave of backs. Remember, there might only be 15 players in a draft class who any given team grades as a true first-round talent. This year, there could be even slightly fewer than that.

All the same, Hampton could well be gone by 20. Or he could be there and then you’re weighing him against a defensive tackle, tight end or traditionally premium position that����ap more of a current strength on the Broncos’ roster like edge or corner.

Predictably, there’s been a lot of buzz about quarterbacks as the draft gets closer. If Miami’s goes No. 1 and Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders goes somewhere in the top 10, it will be interesting to see if teams decide they don’t want to risk waiting until Day 2 for Ole Miss’ Jaxon Dart, Alabama’s Jalen Milroe or even Louisville’s Tyler Shough.

Quarterbacks always go early. The fifth year of control is important. And the value is so outsized if you find your guy. The higher and higher second and third contracts go, the more incentivized teams are to keep swinging in the draft, even with an elevated rate of misses.

The ideal situation for the Broncos is a mini run on quarterbacks either early or in the middle of the round. If the Giants go position player at No. 3 and want to get back into the first round? Great. The Los Angeles Rams want to move up from No. 24? Terrific. New Orleans wants to go that route at No. 9? The more the merrier. Any of that would push talent down toward Denver at No. 20.

Jeff Schmedding was announced as the new Broncos inside linebackers coach by The Denver Post and others on May 21, 2025. As of this writing, they have yet to officially acknowledge him on the Broncos’ own website. Why is that, and do we actually have him as a coach?

— Areferee, Greeley

Hey, Ref, you’re right that the Broncos haven’t officially acknowledged Schmedding’s hire online as of Tuesday afternoon, but I’m told he’s on staff and working as expected.

Payton didn’t directly talk about Schmedding at the NFL owners meetings because he wasn’t asked about him, but he did in a way point to the hire when he said, “I think we’re full” on the staff.

There were a lot of moving pieces this offseason for Payton, who said last month, “I felt like every time I left town, when I came back there was another coach gone.” Now the group’s in place and working with the front office and scouting departments to finalize the draft board.

Uncertainty abounds. Does Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders go in the top three picks or start falling toward the middle of the first round?

Is anybody itching to trade up? Or might this be a year in which most teams let the board come to them?

Who will be around at No. 20 when the Broncos are first slated to be on the clock?

A raft of mock drafts out there jumped to pair Denver with North Carolina running back Omarion Hampton after free agency. He’s widely — though not unanimously — considered the No. 2 back in the class after Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty, but that����ap where the consensus ends.

Respected draft minds differ on whether he’s a blue-chipper. NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah . . That����ap the difference between a true first-round grade and not.

The first time The Denver Post did this exercise after the opening phase of free agency, Michigan tight end Colston Loveland was the pick at No. 20. That still feels like a good fit — though there’s no guarantee Loveland will still be available — but what����ap the fun in just rolling out the same picks for Version 2.0?

So, this time around, let����ap assume the top two tight ends are off the board in Loveland and Penn State’s Tyler Warren. So, too, is Jeanty, and either somebody’s jumped at Hampton — looking at you, Dallas Cowboys — or Denver doesn’t consider him worthy of No. 20.

The rest of the parameters: No trades. Seven Denver picks. And a bonus: A dark-horse option for each of the first three rounds.

No. 20: RB TreVeyon Henderson, Ohio State

Is this early for Henderson? Maybe. Would it be ideal if Denver could move back a few spots and still nab him or even take him at No. 51? Absolutely. But the draft doesn’t always work out that way.

������’s one thing we know about Broncos head coach Sean Payton: If he loves a player, he’s not afraid to take him, regardless of any consensus notion of value. And there are several reasons the Broncos could end up loving Henderson.

The 5-foot-10, 202-pounder has home run ability out of the backfield, he’s a weapon in the passing game, and he’s a quality pass-protector. He’s got the ability to be the type of three-down back Payton and general manager George Paton said they’re looking for in this class.

Payton’s often referenced Detroit’s 2023 draft class because the Lions found two “Jokers” in the same crop. Part of that haul? Running back Jahmyr Gibbs, who went earlier than almost anybody expected at No. 12 overall and turned into a matchup nightmare. Henderson might not be exactly that caliber of prospect, but he’s got similarities and he’d profile as a great lead to pair with the bigger, powerful Audric Estime. If the Broncos think Henderson elevates the entire offense, then why not?

Dark horse: S Nick Emmanwori, South Carolina. Conventional wisdom is the Broncos will look for a back, tight end or maybe a defensive lineman in the first round. Emmanwori is none of those, but he’s an athletic marvel (4.38 seconds in the 40-yard dash, 43-inch vertical and 11-6 broad jump at the combine) and a unique talent. He’d be a fun player to watch defensive coordinator Vance Joseph deploy.

No. 51: TE Mason Taylor, LSU

The son of former NFL great Jason Taylor fits a lot of what Payton and company are looking for at tight end. He can run, and he’s a better blocker than most of the quality receivers available. Plus, the Broncos have a ton of familiarity with him.

Denver has always had good insight into LSU players, given the staff history there — Jamar Cain and Beau Lowery, among others — but also because new defensive QC Brian Niedermeyer coached him for a year at St. Thomas Aquinas High in Florida in 2021. The question is if he’ll be available at No. 51. Some metrics — — suggest the likelihood is high, but if Taylor is the third tight end off the board, it may be before this spot.

Dark horse: OLB JT Tuimoloau, Ohio State. The Broncos don’t need edge help given their current quartet, but if a difference-maker is available, any team will at least consider it. Denver’s dipped into the Buckeye well many times over the years defensively, including OLBs Jonathon Cooper and Baron Browning.

No. 85: DL Ty Robinson, Nebraska

Denver could address the defensive front line as early as the first round, but here they wait until later on Day 2. Robinson is an older player in the class after six years with the Huskers, but he put together the best football of his career last fall when he tallied seven sacks and 13 tackles for loss.

At nearly 6-6 and 288 pounds, Robinson ran 4.83 seconds in the 40 at the combine. He’s a versatile front-line player who could serve in a reserve role as a rookie and grow into starting work down the road.

Dark horse: CB Darien Porter, Iowa State. A big, long, fast cornerback? That����ap a player Payton and Paton could add to an already-strong group and hope it pays big-time, long-term dividends.

No. 122: WR Tory Horton, Colorado State

The Broncos took a swing at receiver early on Day 3 last year with Troy Franklin and it wouldn’t be a surprise if they did so again this spring. Horton was super productive for the Rams in 2022-23 before a knee injury limited his 2024 campaign. Still, he’s had a good predraft process. Denver wide receivers coach Keary Colbert was on hand for his pro day, and he’s got the kind of speed and vertical ability to give Bo Nix and company another weapon that makes defenses think twice about the deep ball.

No. 191: CB Korie Black, Oklahoma State

Black didn’t get invited to the combine, but he’s got experience after starting three years at OSU. He’s also got good size at 6-foot and, according to several outlets, he ran 4.35 in the 40 at his pro day.

No. 197: OL Hayden Conner, Texas

A three-year starter at left guard for the Longhorns, Conner checked into the combine at 6-6 and 314 pounds. That makes him the kind of big, rugged interior offensive lineman Denver likes. The Broncos should be looking for interior options for 2026 and beyond with center Luke Wattenberg entering the final year of his contract and left guard Ben Powers playing with no guaranteed money left on his deal.

No. 208: LB Jailin Walker, Indiana

A 30-visitor of the Broncos, Walker can really run. He ran in the 4.4-range at IU’s pro day and was productive in one year for the Hoosiers after transferring from James Madison. He’s not a big second-level player — the Hoosiers listed him at 218 pounds — but he’s got real athleticism and could be an interesting special-teams and developmental player.

They ripped through Sean Payton’s old division, sweeping four games against the NFC South.

They won three or more straight twice, lost back-to-back twice and ultimately clinched a spot in the AFC Wild Card round on the final day of the regular season.

Along the way, Bo Nix and company turned a low-expectation season into a 10-win success story. Here are the 10 moments that defined the run.

1. Bo breaks out

Week 3 at Tampa Bay

The Broncos set out on a two-game East Coast swing with an 0-2 record and a rookie quarterback who’d thrown four interceptions without a touchdown in his first two starts. Instead of trying to break him in slowly against a solid Tampa Bay team, though, Sean Payton got aggressive. Nix zipped the Broncos down the field by completing four passes for 70 yards and then scoring on a 3-yard run. Denver’s defense snuffed Baker Mayfield and company and the Broncos rolled to a 26-7 win — their first of the season. Not only that, but they got a glimpse of what their young quarterback could do when in rhythm.

2. Hurricane hunters

Week 4 at New York Jets

The Broncos spent the work week following Tampa Bay at the Greenbrier in West Virginia. Despite some trepidation about the trip beforehand, Broncos players now look back on it as a galvanizing week for a team still figuring out its identity. Of course, they had some rigmarole, too. The remnants of Hurricane Helene marred the practice week and forced the team onto indoor tennis courts for its Friday practice. That hardly mattered for Vance Joseph’s group, which dominated Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets that weekend. Nix might have had minus-7 passing yards in the first half, but the defense ensured it didn’t matter. Biggest play of the game: A fourth-and-10 sack of Rodgers by P.J. Locke off the edge. It was a moment when Denver realized it might just have something special brewing.

3. Pick-six Pat

Week 5 vs. Las Vegas

All of the good vibes the Broncos found in John Denver country looked like it might go for naught back home against the Raiders. Nix threw an early pick, Denver started slow and was on the verge of falling behind 17-3 when All-Pro cornerback Pat Surtain II made one of the signature plays of the season. He snatched a Gardner Minshew overthrow and ran it back 100 yards for a touchdown. Instead of a 14-point hole, the Broncos pulled even with Las Vegas. By the end, Minshew was benched and Denver rolled to a 34-17 win. It put an embarrassing, eight-game losing streak to the Raiders to bed and showed Denver had toughness and resilience.

4. Sean smashes the past

Week 7 at New Orleans

It����ap not that Payton didn’t seem happy to be in Denver before this game, but something clicked for him when he took the Broncos to New Orleans for his homecoming bout against the Saints. After Denver smashed the Saints, 33-10, Payton gave perhaps his most introspective public comments since he got the Broncos job. “I’m glad I’m here,” he said, referring to his current employer. There was something cathartic about the win — players knew it meant a lot to their coach — and of course, it mattered in the scorebook, too. It put the Broncos back above water at 4-3 and sent them into a mini-bye week on a positive note.

5. OLB future set

Week 9 at Baltimore

The Broncos only made one move at the trade deadline and it was to send Baron Browning to Arizona despite a 5-4 record. They had more than just the one move in mind, though. Denver the day before their game at Baltimore agreed to a four-year contract extension with OLB Jonathon Cooper, finalizing a choice of direction for the future on the edge.

The solidification of Cooper as a building block coincided with Nik Bonitto’s rise. He entered that week with sacks in six straight games and, though the streak ended against the Ravens, he then went five more games after with at least a half sack. The group entered the season with question marks. Now it looks like a long-term strong spot. That got set in stone with this pair of moves.

6. Progress blocked

Week 10 at Kansas City

Nix and the Broncos offense authored a defining moment of the season when they drove into position to beat Kansas City in the waning seconds at Arrowhead Stadium. Disaster followed. Wil Lutz’s 35-yard field goal was blocked when the Chiefs caved in the left side of Denver’s protection unit — an issue that had been bubbling for weeks — and stole a win in the process. The Broncos’ postgame locker room was as devastated as you’ll find in the regular season. Denver players vowed to make sure the moment didn’t break their spirits, and indeed from there the group mounted a four-game winning streak to get from 5-5 to 9-5.

7. A helping heave

Week 11 vs. Atlanta

Perhaps no moment captures how the Broncos rebounded from that crusher in Kansas City better than Javonte Williams’ touchdown “run” against the Falcons the next week. Quotation marks because, of course, Williams didn’t actually run into the end zone. He thumped former Denver stalwart Justin Simmons at about the 4-yard line, pushed him toward the goal line and then hung on while several teammates joined the scrum and literally carried him into the end zone. “That����ap a culture play right there,” defensive tackle Malcolm Roach said after his team polished off a 38-6 whooping of the Falcons in which Nix threw for 304 yards and four TDs.

8. Marvelous Marvin

Week 13 vs. Cleveland

Marvin Mims Jr.’s resurgence in Denver’s offense had already begun before the Broncos started a wild, back-and-forth Monday night shootout against the Browns. But he made the single-biggest play of his season so far in the second half. Mims trucked up the seam and hauled in a perfect ball from Nix before racing to a 93-yard touchdown. It only temporarily put Denver up two scores — old friend Jerry Jeudy quickly responded with a 70-yard touchdown — but it served two purposes: The Broncos found a down-the-field option and Mims got uncorked for what has turned into a highly productive stretch run.

9. Casa Bonitto

Week 15 vs. Indianapolis

The Broncos’ third-year outside linebacker was already in the midst of a breakout season, but he turned the dial up in December. Bonitto ran an interception back for a touchdown against Cleveland and then made the play of his season against the Colts. He read an attempted trick play, snatched a lateral at midfield and ran it back 50 yards for a touchdown. It was part of a scoring blitz that turned a near two-score deficit — thank you Jonathan Taylor — into a comfortable lead and critical victory for the team’s playoff hopes. Bonitto’s 13.5 sacks are accentuated by two touchdowns and several late-game, closer-type plays. This one was all of the above.

10. Clinching time

Week 18 vs. Kansas City

The Broncos missed on two chances to clinch, blowing a 21-10 lead against the Los Angeles Chargers and falling in overtime at Cincinnati. That left just the finale against the Chiefs to get the job done. They caught a break when Andy Reid’s team already had the No. 1 seed wrapped up and sat more than a dozen key players, but they also made sure that break didn’t go begging. Nix threw for 321 yards and four touchdowns, the defense held Carson Wentz and the Kansas City offense to 97 total yards and the Empower Field crowd partied and celebrated a long-awaited return to the postseason.

Sacks trump all.

Sacks get you noticed. Sacks get you accolades.

Sacks get you paid.

It����ap ironic, then, that amid a breakout season, perhaps no play signifies Nik Bonitto’s growth better than one in which he did something antithetical to sacking the quarterback.

He ran the other way.

In the first quarter last Sunday against Las Vegas, the Raiders were backed up deep and faced third-and-11 from their own 7-yard line.

That����ap hunting territory for a young pass-rusher. Bonitto undoubtedly wanted to make a game-tilting play against the Raiders and quarterback Gardner Minshew.

Instead, he made a heady one. The knockout blow came later.

Bonitto tore up the field on a rush but saw left tackle Kolton Miller release out of the corner of his eye. He spun on a dime, sensing screen, and raced out toward the Raiders’ trio of receivers. Bonitto’s angle put him right in the throw’s path, resulting in an incompletion.

It may not seem like a big deal, but there’s a reason that mention of that particular sequence brought a smile to Bonitto’s face in the locker room this week.

Rookie-year Nik Bonitto? No way he makes that read. In 2022 he’d have raced at the quarterback and then hoped his teammates made the play behind him.

“Oh yeah, no. I was like a blind dog,” Bonitto told The Denver Post. “See ball, get ball. I was just trying to run fast to wherever I saw the ball. I would not have made those types of plays, for sure.”

Third-year Nik Bonitto not only has 10 sacks, he’s made this type of play much more consistently.

“It����ap just maturity,” outside linebackers coach Michael Wilhoite told The Post. “It����ap maturity in ‘I’m not playing for me. I’m playing for everybody else and for my teammates.’ It����ap maturity in, ‘I’m not just going to run up the field and run at the quarterback. I’m going to feel the play and I feel this tackle leave, it must be a screen.’

“The maturity to turn and run full speed and do it hard.”

Bonitto has 10 sacks in the Broncos’ past 10 games. He’s the first Denver defender since 2018 to hit double-digit sacks and he’s shown no signs of slowing down with five games left on the docket.

His ability to affect opposing quarterbacks is going to make him a candidate for a massive contract sometime in the next 12 months. The growth in all of the other areas of his game, however, is why he’s found himself here in the first place.

“Special ability”

Bonitto’s a natural-born pass-rusher.

It����ap how he made his name in college at Oklahoma and it����ap why the Broncos selected him No. 64 overall in the 2022 draft.

“We thought Nik was one of the better pass-rushers coming out,” general manager George Paton said that night. “The bend, the speed, the burst. Very natural.”

He showed it in flashes over the course of his rookie season, but saw his playing time drop in the middle of the year and finished with 1.5 sacks while playing about 35% of Denver’s defensive snaps.

“I was still kind of raw coming in,” he said. “I knew I had some ability but also knew I had things to work on.”

After Sean Payton got the job and put together his defensive staff in the winter of 2023, Bonitto had new coaches sizing him up.

New defensive coordinator Vance Joseph knew him from draft prep in Arizona, where he’d held the same title.

“We saw the special ability,” Joseph said. “You’re always chasing pass rushers in a 3-4 defense. This kid was a natural rusher in college. Coming here his rookie year, you could see the traits.”

Wilhoite had been in the division with the Los Angeles Chargers but coaching inside linebackers.

He saw ability, too, but also something else.

“I thought he was talented but just didn’t have a vision for himself and didn’t have a direction for himself, didn’t really know where he wanted to go yet,” Wilhoite said. “That might not even be right. Could be completely false. It was just the way I perceived him based on what I had seen.”

Bonitto felt the same way. He was unsure and channeled it by being over-eager to rush. He knew he wasn’t a great run defender, so he tried to over-compensate.

Under Wilhoite and Joseph, he took a big jump in 2023. His playing time ticked up to more than half, he recorded 8.5 sacks and he played better against the run.

In Year 3, the results are even better across the board.

Bonitto didn’t start the Broncos’ opener and played just 34% of the defensive snaps but saw his playing time jump immediately when Baron Browning got hurt Week 2 against Pittsburgh.

Since then, Bonitto’s played 60% or more six times in 11 games — not Jonathon Cooper-level playing time, but substantial. Bonitto only hit 60% once in the second half of last year after Browning returned from a knee injury.

“The more you can play, the more chance you have to rush,” Joseph said. “If you’re only a DPR (designated pass-rusher), we can’t play you every down.  As Nik improves, he’s gotten strong in the run game. He’s playing the run very well. That����ap allowed him to have more rushes. Being a firmer player on the edge has allowed him to rush more often.

“Now his special trait has shown, and that����ap pass-rushing.”

Indeed, Bonitto recently had a stretch where he registered a pressure rate north of 20% four straight games, and he’s recorded a sack in nine of the Broncos’ past 10.

“He’s free to just roll”

Bonitto’s highlight-reel moment against Las Vegas came in the fourth quarter with the Broncos leading by seven.

He started with his most trusted asset: Among rushers with 30-plus pressures this season, Bonitto’s average get-off (reaction time for pass-rushers after a snap) of .75 seconds is tied for fifth-fastest, according to Next Gen Stats. But he identified his angle and adjusted mid-rush, driving through Miller and walking him back into quarterback Desmond Ridder with a power move.

STRIP-SACK, NIK BONITTO

: CBS

— Denver Broncos (@Broncos)

The ball popped free and defensive lineman Malcolm Roach jumped on it.

Roach after the game called Bonitto one of the game’s best rushers and added, “He’s so nonchalant about it. The game comes so easy for him.”

That smooth operating, though, makes it easy to perhaps gloss over a part of Bonitto that Wilhoite has come to appreciate.

“Nik takes everything to heart,” he said. “Nik wants to be the best at everything he does. And when I say best, I don’t mean ‘better than him.’ I mean he wants to be the best that he can be at everything.”

The more the coaching staff gave him to work on, the more his development accelerated.

The same goes for leadership.

“Something that people don’t talk enough about with Nik is how unselfish he is and how much he wants his teammates to do well,” Wilhoite said. “His standard for himself right now is performing at a high level for my guys, for my teammates.”

When Bonitto was drafted, the Broncos had Bradley Chubb and Randy Gregory as their top pair. Then Chubb got traded and Denver signed Frank Clark last summer. Neither Gregory nor Clark made it through October.

This fall, Browning got traded, too, in no small part because of the player Bonitto’s become.

The present and future of the room start with Cooper and Bonitto.

“Even when Baron was here, Nik still kind of hung back,” Wilhoite said. “When you get rid of those pieces, the Randys, the Barons, now there’s no hanging back for Nik. There’s nobody else. Now he’s free to just roll. Just go. That����ap what he feels right now. Again, it makes him now the leader.

“Him being the leader and him being conscious of his players and of his teammates, it����ap just — OK, now I really have to go. I used to have kind of a built-in excuse with the other guys, I kind of went behind them. Now? No, I’ve got to be the guy.”

Under the radar? Not for long

There aren’t many under-the-radar 14-sack seasons in the NFL.

Bonitto is tracking toward something like that.

Of course, if he finishes in that kind of territory, the accolades won’t be far behind.

This is the beauty of the season Denver’s defense has put together, though.

Every double-team of Zach Allen leaves John Franklin-Myers, Bonitto or Cooper with a one-on-one matchup.

Every time a tight end or running back chips Bonitto on a third down, it����ap less time the back end has to cover that player.

It����ap a group that ranks first in the NFL in sacks (44) and pressures (192) and is fourth in pressure rate (39.6%) despite not having household names in its front seven.

Bonitto exemplifies that.

“He’s just calm. He’s quiet. He’s not a loud guy, not an obnoxious guy,” Wilhoite said. “He can come in and get a lift in and probably nobody even knows he’s there. That����ap how Nik is. It����ap not that he doesn’t want to talk or he’s being rude or disrespectful, it����ap just, he’s a quiet guy and he sticks to himself.

“At the end of the day, one thing about Nik is Nik is going to watch the film, Nik is going to prepare, he’s going to study and he’s going to work hard.”

Results have followed.

The sack total will get all the attention. It will be the driving force behind an eventual contract that could exceed $20 million per year. But those flash plays are really only a byproduct of all the growth he’s shown in other facets of the game.

“It all works together,” Wilhoite said. “He won’t fly under the radar very long, but the longer he does, the better for us.”

NFL sack leaders

Fastest get-off (min. 30 pressures)

*NFL Next Gen Stats data

Balanced Broncos rush

*NFL Next Gen Stats data

(Click here to view tables in mobile.)