{"id":186369,"date":"2025-07-06T17:32:18","date_gmt":"2025-07-06T17:32:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/186369\/"},"modified":"2025-07-06T17:32:18","modified_gmt":"2025-07-06T17:32:18","slug":"extension-candidate-zach-allen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/186369\/","title":{"rendered":"Extension Candidate: Zach Allen"},"content":{"rendered":"

A central reason the Broncos were able to make the playoffs despite the record-shattering Russell Wilson<\/a> dead money bill, Zach Allen<\/a> has played his best football since relocating to Denver in 2023. The short-term J.J. Watt<\/a> Cardinals sidekick has been one of the NFL\u2019s most disruptive interior D-linemen in two Broncos seasons.<\/p>\n

Allen signed a three-year, $45.75MM contract on Day 1 of the 2023 legal tampering period<\/a>, following Ben Powers<\/a> and Mike McGlinchey<\/a> as part of Sean Payton\u2018s aggressive transactional start to his Broncos tenure. While McGlinchey and Powers are respectively on five- and four-year deals, Allen is in a contract year. The former Cardinals third-round pick, who entered the NFL in Vance Joseph\u2018s first Arizona offseason, resides in a good position to cash in.<\/p>\n

[RELATED: Top 2025 Salary Cap Hits For Defenders]<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Allen recorded a whopping 40 QB hits last season; that not only led the NFL in 2024, it ranks near the top among modern pass-rushing seasons. Throughout the 2020s, only Nick Bosa<\/a>\u2018s 2022 (48) and T.J. Watt<\/a>\u2018s 2020 (41) delivered more QB hits than Allen\u2019s 2024 brought. Even if the range is moved to cover the past 10 seasons, Allen\u2019s 2024 showing still ranks eighth (J.J. Watt<\/a>\u2018s peak was quite good<\/a>). Allen also tallied 47 QB pressures last season; only Trey Hendrickson<\/a> (54) produced more at any position.<\/p>\n

A spring report pointed to Allen and Nik Bonitto<\/a> being higher Broncos extension priorities compared to<\/a> Courtland Sutton<\/a>, who has been waiting for a deal longer. This is Bonitto\u2019s first offseason of extension eligibility. Having spent his entire career in Joseph\u2019s scheme, Allen represents a fairly safe bet for the Broncos. Going into only his age-28 season also represents a plus here, whereas Sutton will turn 30 in October. Allen has also expressed interest in a Broncos extension<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It can be argued Allen\u2019s presence catalyzed Bonitto\u2019s breakout. Both players zoomed to second-team All-Pro status, as Bonitto broke through for 13.5 sacks. Allen\u2019s 8.5-sack total does not jump out as much, even with a Week 1 safety also landing on his resume, though Bonitto\u2019s pressure numbers (36 to go with 24 hits) were not on the interior rusher\u2019s level. Bonitto heading into his age-26 season will help his cause, but the Broncos also have the franchise tag to use in 2026.<\/p>\n

Wilson\u2019s punitive dead money penalty ending in 2025 would free up a tag slot for next year, and Bo Nix<\/a> must remain on a rookie contract through at least 2026. Denver has John Franklin-Myers<\/a> as a more affordable extension option<\/a> in a contract year, and the team traded up for 3-4 DE Sai\u2019Vion Jones<\/a> in Round 3<\/a>. It would seem unlikely, though, that the franchise \u2014 one set to rely on a top-tier defense once again \u2014 would chance moving on from Allen after one contract given his recent form and experience under Joseph.<\/p>\n

The Broncos will be looking at a sizable raise here, as the defensive tackle market has moved twice since Allen\u2019s March 2023 accord. As a second tier formed behind Aaron Donald<\/a>\u2018s outlier deal in the spring and summer of 2023, four players (Daron Payne<\/a>, Dexter Lawrence<\/a>, Jeffery Simmons<\/a>, Quinnen Williams<\/a>) scored extensions between $22.5MM and $24MM per year. Chris Jones<\/a> then used Donald\u2019s deal as a springboard to gouge the Chiefs two days before the 2024 tampering period. Jones lifted the DT spot\u2019s ceiling to $31.75MM per year and $60MM guaranteed at signing. Capitalizing on a Jones-less market, Christian Wilkins<\/a> landed $27.5MM per year and $57MM at signing from the Raiders in 2024.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>This year, Milton Williams<\/a> became the NFL\u2019s third-highest-paid interior D-lineman by commanding $26MM per year and $51MM at signing from the Patriots. Williams is nearly two years younger than Allen, but the ex-Eagle has not produced a season on the latter\u2019s level. Even Allen\u2019s 2023 featured 24 QB hits and 27 pressures. He has never been a sack maven, having tallied more than 5.5 just once. Williams\u2019 next 5.5-sack season will be his first, however, while Wilkins and Nnamdi Madubuike<\/a> each delivered outlier sack seasons in their 2023 contract years. Wilkins was also 28 when he signed his big-ticket Las Vegas deal.<\/p>\n

Hitting free agency helped Wilkins and Milton Williams, and Allen could certainly bet on himself and do well in 2026. (Though, he will be negotiating ahead of an age-29 season in that scenario.) The Broncos will undoubtedly work to prevent that from happening, but even as the seventh-year vet can only negotiate with one team for the time being, that Payne-Lawrence-Simmons-Quinnen Williams tier should be a reasonable floor.<\/p>\n

That is a steep hike from $15.25MM AAV, but the salary cap has ballooned from $224.8MM to $279.2MM since those 2023 extensions commenced. Allen\u2019s camp will likely cite the Wilkins and Milton Williams deals as comps, making the previous DT second tier a logical compromise.<\/p>\n

The Broncos extended four players \u2014 Quinn Meinerz<\/a>, Patrick Surtain<\/a>, Jonathon Cooper<\/a> and Garett Bolles<\/a> \u2014 between July 16 and December 12 last year. GM George Paton also paid Sutton in-season back in 2021, and a potential in-season Bonitto payday<\/a> could be on track. The Broncos will surely ramp up discussions with their top two front-seven pieces before Week 1. Carrying a high-pressure\/modest-sack resume, Allen\u2019s negotiations will be a key storyline to follow as the Broncos attempt to firmly establish themselves as contenders after last season\u2019s surprising playoff trek.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A central reason the Broncos were able to make the playoffs despite the record-shattering Russell Wilson dead money…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":186370,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2062],"tags":[232,231,258,2426,40422,7,6,4442,1626],"class_list":{"0":"post-186369","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-denver-broncos","8":"tag-broncos","9":"tag-denver","10":"tag-denver-broncos","11":"tag-denverbroncos","12":"tag-extension-candidate","13":"tag-football","14":"tag-nfl","15":"tag-pfr-originals","16":"tag-zach-allen"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114807488138062832","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=186369"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186369\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/186370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=186369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=186369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=186369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}