Minutes after the Broncos traded Baron Browning to the Cardinals, a report displaying their commitment to another edge rusher emerged. Jonathon Cooper, who had been Browning’s teammate since the 2021 draftees’ Ohio State days, is now signed beyond this season.
The Broncos agreed to terms on an extension with Cooper over the weekend, per ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter. It is a four-year deal for the former seventh-round pick, who has emerged as a starter for the Broncos. This agreement will tie Cooper to the team through the 2028 season.
Agreed to Saturday, this contract will include $60MM in total value, 9News’ Mike Klis reports, adding that $33MM will be guaranteed. While this represents a nice payday for the late-round draftee, it also profiles as middle-class EDGE money based on where the market has gone. Cooper’s $15MM-per-year deal checks in tied for 19th in edge rusher AAV, matching Haason Reddick and Uchenna Nwosu.
Although Broncos GM George Paton has been rightfully criticized for his biggest moves — the Russell Wilson trade and extension and the Nathaniel Hackett hire — the veteran NFL exec assembled a quality first draft class in charge. Cooper is now the third member of that class to be paid, following the deals for third-rounder Quinn Meinerz and first-rounder Patrick Surtain.
Cooper, 26, took a longer road to NFL success due to being the No. 239 overall pick three years ago. A heart condition contributed to the fall, but a 2021 procedure put that behind the ex-Buckeye. Cooper started five games as a rookie and nine in 2022, with the Broncos freeing up a spot alongside Browning by trading Bradley Chubb at the deadline. Cooper has started every Broncos game over the past two seasons, finishing with 8.5 sacks last season and starting this one with 5.5. Cooper produced 13 QB hits in 17 games last year; he already has 11 through nine games this season.
The Broncos rank behind only the Giants in sacks this season, with 31; Nik Bonitto leads the way with six for Vance Joseph‘s defense. Although the Broncos took a step back via their blowout loss to the Ravens, the 5-4 team remains a defense-powered outfit. Denver now has Cooper committed and Bonitto signed to rookie terms through next season. It will be interesting to see how the Cooper pact affects Bonitto, who will likely aim higher as a younger player who joins his teammate in being on pace for a double-digit sack season.
It is interesting that Cooper will tie himself to Denver for four more seasons at a rate outside the top 15 at his position. The EDGE market also figures to feature a few more $30MM-AAV deals come 2025, when the likes of Micah Parsons, T.J. Watt and Myles Garrett figure to come up in extension rumors. Cooper is obviously not in that class, but he certainly could have pursued better terms had he hit free agency after his most productive season. Rather than bet on himself, Cooper secured significant money now.
This also marks a more cost-effective extension for the Broncos, who had traded both Chubb and Von Miller during Paton’s tenure. It cost the Broncos a defender-record sum to extend Miller in 2016, and Chubb ended up signing for then-top-five EDGE money in Miami shortly after that 2022 trade. Cooper represented one of the pieces Paton retooled around. With Browning now out of the picture, the Broncos will anchor their OLB corps around the former Day 3 draftee while likely determining a long-term plan for Bonitto.
My latest NFL peeve is that I absolutely hate that players are assigned the jersey number 0. Bush league moves like that should be left to the UFL.