Mitchell Fraboni’s salary-cap number for the Broncos went up from $985,000 in 2024 to $1.3 million this year, but that’s not his biggest percentage raise in recent years.
In 2018, Fraboni was working as a barback at the Blind Dragon, then a bar in Scottsdale, Ariz., and initially making $7 an hour. Then he had his salary nearly doubled.
“I got my pay bumped up to $12 an hour,’’ Fraboni said. “I was close to one of my managers.”
As a restricted free agent last March, the Broncos’ long snapper signed a three-year, $4.175 million contract, with $1.7 million guaranteed. It gave him plenty of financial security after in his previous three Denver seasons he had no money guaranteed and seemingly could have been cut after one bad snap.
Fraboni, 28, has come a long way since he was a long snapper at Arizona State from 2014-17 and then went undrafted in 2018. It took him another four years before he finally reached his dream of playing in the NFL.
In the meantime, after getting out of college, Fraboni worked at the Blind Dragon, served as an assistant coach at Basha High School in Chandler, Ariz., while also working as a security officer at the school, and practiced his long snapping whenever he could. When he did get some snapping opportunities, he played for free in The Spring League in 2020 and in 2022 in the spring USFL for Pittsburgh, where he at least got a salary.
“It’s a real blessing,’’ Fraboni said of how far he’s come. “I don’t take it for granted. Honestly, I’m just very thankful to be here and thankful for the opportunity every day.”
After Fraboni signed his deal in March, he sat out nearly all of spring drills due to what he called a “minor procedure” on his back after getting “banged up a little last season.” He said doctors “just cleaned some stuff up and got my back healthy.”
When Fraboni was out, the Broncos brought in veteran long snapper Zach Triner. But Triner was let go when Fraboni returned during a mandatory minicamp in June and took the field for the first time under new special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi.
“The special teams world is a small world. I worked Mitch out when he was a senior at Arizona State,’’ said Rizzi, who was then special teams coordinator with the Miami Dolphins and had that position the previous six years with the New Orleans Saints. “He wasn’t ready coming out of college to be quite honest. To his credit, he worked at all things he had to work at.”
Fraboni did indeed, but on the side still had make some money. So, he worked at the Blind Dragon for about two years.
“I was a barback,’’ Fraboni said. “So, I just stocked fridges, attended the tables pretty much like a server. I had two great bartenders there, Jessica (Stern) and Emma (Zuur). I still talk to them and keep in touch.’’
When Zuur got married last year, Fraboni went to the wedding.
After getting out of college, Fraboni also spent two years at Basha High School as a volunteer football assistant while also working security at the school.
Fraboni, who had played long snapper and defensive end at Mountain Pointe High School in Phoenix, had been recommended to the school by Zac Griffin, who was his defensive coordinator for the Lions, and father Jeff Griffin, who was his defensive line coach. Both were then assistants at Basha.
Broncos long snapper Mitchell Fraboni during a preseason game against the Cardinals on Saturday, Aug, 16, 2025.
Jerilee Bennett,The Gazette
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“Mitch was really good in high school as a defensive end, so I knew about him,’’ said Chris McDonald, Basha’s head coach since 2018. “He was with Mountain Pointe when they beat us in the (2013) state championship game when I was (an assistant) at Hamilton (High School) in Chandler.
“The kids (at Basha) loved him. He primarily worked with special teams. He did a fantastic job. He’s a high-character guy and at that time he was still a young man trying to make ends meet and live his dreams.”
The security job at Basha helped Fraboni make ends meet. He earned $15 an hour.
“Honestly, I just sat at the back gate and made sure kids weren’t trying to ditch class,” Fraboni said.
While doing all of this, Fraboni continued to refine his long snapping, often finding former high school teammates to work out with him. And in 2020 he got the chance to play in The Spring League for the Conquerors in San Antonio.
Fraboni paid his own way to get there and received no salary. The season ended up being canceled after four games due to the coronavirus pandemic, but Fraboni was able to get some more exposure.
In 2022, the USFL began play in the spring, and Fraboni joined the Pittsburgh Maulers.
“I was luckily drafted to the Maulers,’’ Fraboni said. “And shortly after that I was on the (NFL) workout circuit.”
In October 2022, Fraboni received an offer to work out for the Broncos after Jacob Bobenmoyer had been placed on injured reserve with a hand/wrist injury. So, Fraboni called up Timmy Hernandez, a former Oregon State tight end and Mountain Pointe teammate, for a last-ditch workout before heading to Denver.
“It was like, ‘Hey, dude, can you come catch my snaps? I’ve got a workout and I’m leaving in four hours, and I just got to get in some snaps,’’’ Fraboni said.
Fraboni ended up shining in the workout and was signed to Denver’s practice squad on Oct. 11, 2022. He was then elevated for an Oct. 17 game against the Los Angeles Chargers on Monday Night Football and made his NFL debut.
Fraboni soon was signed to the active roster and got into four games in 2022. Bobenmoyer ended up returning later that season and Fraboni was put on injured reserve with a fractured finger. But by March 2023 Bobenmoyer had signed with Las Vegas and Fraboni became Denver’s regular long snapper.
“Well, obviously the story is fantastic,’’ McDonald said of Fraboni finally making the NFL. “But just knowing how he operates, I knew that if he ever would get his opportunity to snap, he wouldn’t relinquish it. He would find a roster spot somewhere. So, I’m not surprised that he’s still on an NFL roster doing what he’s doing. He just had that mindset.”
Rizzi is thrilled to have seen how much Fraboni has improved since he worked him out seven years ago at Arizona State.
“To his credit, he worked at all the things he had to work at,’’ Rizzi said. “He had a really good year (in the) USFL. That kind of catapulted him. … He’s really improved. So, it’s great to be back with him.”
Rizzi played a role in the Broncos’ decision to sign Fraboni to an extension and give him a nice raise. Of course, percentage-wise, it wasn’t as big as the one he got at the Blind Dragon.