Uncertainty is no longer in place with respect to Garett Bolles‘ future. The longtime Broncos left tackle announced on Thursday he and the team have reached agreement on a new deal.
NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero adds this will be a four-year extension. Bolles was on track for free agency, but now he will remain on the books with Denver through 2028. Colleague Ian Rapoport notes this pact has a base value of $82MM, with upside for $86MM. The Broncos’ longest-tenured player, Bolles will collect $42MM guaranteed.
This marks the second time the Broncos have extended Bolles during the second half of a season. The first such instance came in November 2020, during the former first-round pick’s fourth season. Denver had circled back to paying its longtime LT that year despite passing on his fifth-year option. While Bolles has been somewhat inconsistent, he has been a better player over the course of his second contract than he was on his rookie deal.
Bolles, 32, had pursued an extension for a while now. After completing a rehab effort on a broken leg, Bolles had expressed a desire for a third Broncos contract. The team let him play out the 2023 season unsigned and let him enter his contract year without a new deal. Between those points, the team had signed Ben Powers and Mike McGlinchey and extended Quinn Meinerz. While it looked for a stretch like Bolles would be allowed to hit the market in 2025, the Broncos will continue their run of high-end O-line payments. Four of their five starters up front are now attached to deals worth at least $13MM per year.
At $20.5MM per year, Bolles is once again the Broncos’ highest-paid O-lineman. McGlinchey’s 2023 deal had bumped him down to second, but with left tackle remaining the NFL’s top O-line market, it was expected a third deal would need to be in this range. That said, Bolles did not secure top-five money at the position. His AAV will check in fifth among left tackles, just ahead of Bills blindsider Dion Dawkins but south of Jordan Mailata‘s $22MM-per-year accord agreed to earlier this year.
The Broncos have an interesting situation in terms of near-future commitments. While their O-line deals now overlap with Bo Nix‘s rookie contract, the team still has the second half of the Russell Wilson dead money bill due in 2026. Though, Denver took on the larger portion of the penalty ($53MM) this year. A $30MM-plus dead cap hit is still on tap for 2025, but the team will be free of it in 2026. Nix cannot be extended until 2027.
Bolles has excelled this season, ranking in the top 10 in both pass block (seventh) and run block (10th) win rate at tackle. Pro Football Focus slots the Utah alum 16th among tackle regulars. He has done well to protect Nix, with Denver’s high-paid O-line ranking first in pass block win rate and fifth in run block win rate. After the sack-prone Wilson was dropped 45 times last season, Nix has only taken 19 this year.
Returning to make all 30 regular-season starts since a broken leg ended his 2022 season, Bolles has made the most starts by a Bronco left tackle (112) left tackle. He will now proceed to create more distance between himself and the field.
This contract will at least cover the 2017 first-rounder through the 2026 season, and it would stand to reason — due to Bolles’ age — the team will reassess at that point. McGlinchey’s deal runs through 2027, while Powers’ goes through 2026. Meinerz’s pact extends to 2028. While the team’s ascending right guard had profiled as the cornerstone piece, this Bolles agreement ensures he will continue to be the leading man on this unit for a while.
Adam La Rose contributed to this post.
Nwangwu joined New York’s practice squad in September, but had to wait until Week 13 to receive his first game day elevation. He dazzled on special teams in his Jets debut with a 99-yard kickoff return touchdown and a forced fumble, earning him a promotion to the 53-man roster. Unfortunately, Nwangwu wasn’t able to capitalize on the opportunity with zero returns in Week 14 before breaking his hand.
