{"id":759349,"date":"2026-06-12T18:30:18","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T18:30:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/759349\/"},"modified":"2026-06-12T18:30:18","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T18:30:18","slug":"broncos-need-to-move-on-from-jonathon-cooper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/759349\/","title":{"rendered":"Broncos need to move on from Jonathon Cooper"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sean Payton<\/a> and the Walton-Penner Group have to take a stand. Are you really going to stand with Jonathon Cooper<\/a> now? After this?<\/p>\n

Cooper, the Broncos\u2019 outside linebacker, was arrested Thursday night for the second time in a week. The 28-year-old defender, according to online records, was booked at the Douglas County Sheriff\u2019s Office detention facility on a charge of domestic violence and misdemeanor charges of harassment and violation of a protection order.<\/p>\n

The details paint an even scarier picture. Cooper and his girlfriend were arrested last Thursday night and given a court order to stay away from one another. Records say that Cooper\u2019s girlfriend called police Thursday, a few hours after the Broncos completed organized team activities and a week after the prior incident, to say that the Broncos edge-rusher had shown up at her apartment and knocked on the door for \u201cfive to 10 minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to an affidavit, Cooper sent her at least 20 messages. Both were under court protection orders that forbid them from interacting, stemming from a June 4 incident in which the woman endured \u201cstrangulation with hypoxia and traumatic brain injury,\u201d the affidavit reads.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started to cry and he pressed, like, further \u2014 (because) he had me held up against the wall \u2014 he just pressed further and then dropped me and just started screaming at me that it was my fault and that I, like, caused this, and that I was like, a (expletive),\u201d she told police, according to the affidavit.<\/p>\n

\"linebackerlinebacker Jonathon Cooper (0) of the Denver Broncos runs onto the field before a game against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, at Empower Field at Mile High Stadium in Denver. (Photo by Timothy Hurst\/The Denver Post)<\/p>\n

Cut him. Now.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t just about football. It\u2019s about trust. It\u2019s about accountability. It\u2019s about decency. What was becoming a distraction for a franchise riding high during a championship window has taken a more awful, serious turn.<\/p>\n

The Broncos have to ask themselves a simple question today: Which cost is greater? Is it a $5.7-million cap hit, according to OverTheCap.com, if they cut Cooper?<\/a> Or the stain on a franchise of a story and a narrative that gets worse by the day?<\/p>\n

For Carrie Walton-Penner and Greg Penner, this shouldn\u2019t even be a discussion.<\/p>\n

You move on.<\/p>\n

Cooper isn\u2019t just a danger to a team\u2019s image anymore. He\u2019s become a danger to another human being. A second arrest, and every sad, scary anecdote that\u2019s emerged since, has removed any benefit of the doubt.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a long visit with Coop,\u201d Payton, the Broncos\u2019 coach, said Thursday afternoon as voluntary organized team activities (OTAs) wrapped up with Cooper in attendance,<\/a> \u201d and now the process plays out.\u201d<\/p>\n

And Coop did what he did anyway.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t (talked about it with the team), and yeah, my instincts told me not to right away,\u201d Payton continued. \u201c(At) this time next week, we have three days of mini-camp. We\u2019ll have a number of speakers. I think there\u2019ll be a time, though, to talk about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"SeanSean Payton of the Denver Broncos speaks to members of the media during OTAs at the Broncos Park in Centennial, Colorado on Thursday, June 4, 2026. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz\/The Denver Post)<\/p>\n

That time is right here. Right now. As a best-case scenario, NFL precedent suggests a hefty suspension for Cooper is coming \u2014 most likely for six games, regardless of what the courts decide.<\/p>\n

The Post\u2019s Luca Evans reported late Thursday night that officials added felony second-degree strangulation charges to the Broncos defender\u2019s case. The veteran linebacker pleaded not guilty in court last week and was seen practicing this past Thursday at OTAs \u2014 the last voluntary team session before mandatory mini-camp begins Tuesday. Cooper is slated for a motions hearing on July 6, and a potential jury trial in late July.<\/p>\n

Last year, the NFL suspended Chiefs receiver Rashee Rice six games after the wideout pled guilty to two third-degree felony charges stemming from a road-racing incident in Dallas. In 2024, the league suspended then-Arizona wideout Zay Jones for the first five games of the regular season after Jones was charged with misdemeanor domestic battery in Florida. Those charges were later dropped, but the suspension wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

And when it comes to replacements, no, Von Miller isn\u2019t necessarily the logical answer here, either.<\/p>\n

For one, the 58 you knew and loved is Von gone. Miller hasn\u2019t played on more than 37% of his team\u2019s defensive snaps since 2022. Pro Football Focus hasn\u2019t given him a grade better than 85.8 (out of 100) since 2021. PFF says The Vonster missed 20% of the tackles he attempted last fall with Washington.<\/p>\n

\"PHILADELPHIA,Von Miller #24 of the Washington Commanders walks off the field after the game against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field on Jan. 04, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The popular scouting site\u2019s wonks pegged Miller in 2025 as a 64.4-rated defender. Which, we\u2019ll grant you, is solid for a then-36-year-old edge guy. It\u2019s also a drop of 21.1 points from the 85.5 overall grade Vonster collected as a member of the Buffalo Bills in 2024.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Broncos linebacker Jonah Elliss is 23. PFF graded him out with a 75.8 score overall during the regular season. Elliss recorded three sacks and 18 hurries on 370 snaps, per the site\u2019s advanced metrics, and \u2026 didn\u2019t miss a tackle.<\/p>\n

Dondrea Tillman is 28. PFF gave him a 68.5 overall grade, with a run-stopping grade of 72.3, which ranked 19th in the league among edge-rushers. Missed-tackle rate: 15.4%.<\/p>\n

Que Robinson is 25. He landed a 65.4 overall PFF grade on just 163 snaps as a rookie last fall. Missed-tackle rate: 16.7%.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s easy to put 2 and 2 together and come up with a 58 reunion in Dove Valley.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s fuzzy math.<\/p>\n

The Broncos don\u2019t just have cheaper, younger options than Miller. They have better ones, already on hand.<\/p>\n

Per Spotrac.com, the Broncos, as of Friday morning,\u00a0had the eighth-most salary-cap space for 2026 <\/a>at $30.36 million. The site said Vonster was worth a 1-year, $5.8-million deal on the open market<\/a>, which would certainly fit the budget.<\/p>\n

But does he fit the building? Payton\u2019s built a culture in Dove Valley around his image, his standard. Von takes up a lot of oxygen in any locker room he joins. But especially the one here, where 58 is already revered.<\/p>\n

To general manager George Paton\u2019s credit, the roster is already buffered in case of a long-term Cooper absence. We haven\u2019t even mentioned Drew Sanders yet. And defensive coordinator Vance Joseph slathered Robinson with all kinds of love Thursday when asked about the second-year defender\u2019s upside for 2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter the season, watching the cut-ups (of game tape) \u2026 when Que played, he played really well,\u201d Joseph said. \u201cHe looked like a guy who could be a future starter for us \u2026 so it\u2019s our job to keep improving with Que, and get him more reps.\u201d<\/p>\n

If Payton is serious about accountability and trust, a window on the Broncos\u2019 defense is about to open. A Super Bowl flag is on the ground, now, waiting for the next man to pick it up and run with it.<\/p>\n

Want more sports news? Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver\u2019s teams.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sean Payton and the Walton-Penner Group have to take a stand. Are you really going to stand with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":759350,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3781],"tags":[382,7,2858,45590,16370,14497,2284,27514,301,2863,187,3943,16078,42234,41855,6318,420,3726,8608,42226,19557,165,6324,6,9,302,92111,4098,8131,66,198,13349,57204,10154,16371,682],"class_list":["post-759349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-denver-nuggets","tag-arizona","tag-basketball","tag-broncos","tag-broncos-defense","tag-broncos-takes","tag-courts","tag-culture","tag-demarcus-ware","tag-denver","tag-denver-broncos","tag-denver-nuggets","tag-denvernuggets","tag-domestic-violence","tag-dondrea-tillman","tag-douglas-county","tag-drew-sanders","tag-florida","tag-football","tag-george-paton","tag-jonah-elliss","tag-jonathon-cooper","tag-latest-headlines","tag-more-broncos-news","tag-nba","tag-nfl","tag-nuggets","tag-organized-team-activities","tag-sean-keeler","tag-sean-payton","tag-sports","tag-sports-columnists","tag-super-bowl","tag-super-bowl-50","tag-vance-joseph","tag-von-miller","tag-washington"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/759349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=759349"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/759349\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/759350"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=759349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=759349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=759349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}