You can’t talk about the Broncos’ defensive line without talking about contracts.
Zach Allen, D.J. Jones, Malcolm Roach and John Franklin-Myers are the quartet atop the rotation for a group that emerged as one of the NFL’s best collection of interior disruptors last year.
Allen led the way with 40 quarterback hits, a tally that put him into rarified air, as the Broncos’ 2023 free-agent signee became the first interior defensive lineman with at least 40 QB hits in a single season since 2018.
The last player to do that? Aaron Donald, the since-retired Los Angeles Rams superstar who is a virtual lock for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
When that’s the company you keep, you’ve accomplished something massive. It makes Allen’s appearance on the second-team All-Pro squad seem like a letdown; he probably should have been a first-team selection, joining Broncos teammates Pat Surtain II, Quinn Meinerz and Marvin Mims Jr.
But that performance also makes Allen a premium player. And last year, that did not come at a premium price. His salary-cap number is $19,795,000 this year — part of a three-year, $45.75-million deal — but his cap figure of $7.7 million means the Broncos got an extraordinary bargain.
And that’s something to remember as Allen heads into a contract year … because while a future contract he receives would surely be at a steeper price, sometimes that’s what must be paid for services already rendered.
Allen’s production has shot him into stratospheric territory. A three-year deal would bring him into the 10th season of his career, which will be a factor in contract negotiations.
The Broncos do have the option of giving him the franchise tag in 2026; per Over the Cap, that is projected to be at $26,535,000 for a defensive end.
THE EXPIRING CONTRACTS ALONG THE BRONCOS D-LINE
Allen, Roach and Franklin-Myers all have expiring deals after this season. Franklin-Myers stayed away from voluntary OTAs, although he was back for minicamp. Roach and Allen participated in offseason work.
All three are coming off arguably their finest seasons as pros. They’re greater together than the sum of their parts.
Could the contract status affect them? That’s always possible, but the case of D.J. Jones last year proves instructive.
He spent last year with a contract looming over his head … and when he spoke in January one day after the season, he spoke with emotion in his voice, not knowing whether he’d return.
In June, three months after re-signing with the Broncos, he could reflect with levity on that moment, referring to it as “just a tactic,” he said with a laugh. But what was serious was how he attacked last year: with single-minded focus on the moment.
Instead, he distilled his thoughts to this: “Just play football.”
“Someone asked me about money, and I was like, ‘I’ve been there before. I’ve thought about money, and it slowed me down,’” Jones recalled.
“A free mind on the football field is a dangerous player.”
If Allen, Franklin-Myers and Roach enter the season with their contracts unresolved, they would be wise to follow Jones’ advice.
A GROUP WITH CHEMISTRY
This isn’t just a top-performing collection on the field; it’s one that meshes well in the locker room and in meetings, too. The personalities blend perfectly, with Roach in particular providing a mix of leadership, positivity and levity that tied the entire group together.
“I don’t recall when I was in New Orleans that leadership. He was a younger player there,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said last month. “One of his great traits is he doesn’t have bad days.
“If you guys have spent time interviewing him, he’s upbeat, he comes out here with energy. I think that’s contagious to his position group.”
That translates to a contributor like Jordan Jackson, who was a solid part of the rotation last year after making the team following a solid training camp.
But now he could find himself pushed by third-round pick Sai’vion Jones, whose speed and length ooze potential that already manifested in some disruptive moments during offseason work. If the LSU product makes that translate when pads go on, he could steal a role.
Sai’vion Jones’ arrival puts 2022 fourth-round pick Enyi Uwazurike squarely on the bubble after a year as the No. 6 defensive lineman.
While the physical bona fides are there; it hasn’t translated to the field; he played in just four games last year and still seems behind after missing a season due to a suspension.
Jordan Miller, undrafted rookie Kristian Williams and returning practice-squad player Matt Henningsen round out the Broncos’ defensive-line group.
Henningsen, a 2022 draft pick, provides value if he returns to the practice squad, given his 34 games of playing experience in the 2022 and 2023 seasons.
If an injury strikes, he can handle any of the three spots up front. The only question with the Wisconsin product is whether he might decide to cast his lot elsewhere, given that his chances of playing time might be greater somewhere else.
