Broncos Contracts

Per multiple reports, he Broncos will give up their 1st and 3rd rounders to acquire the services of Jaylen Waddle, while moving their own 4th rounder up to the Dolphins' location in the 4th round.

Here is what Waddle's contract should look like for the Broncos upon acquisition. This assumes that the Broncos will exercise Waddle's 2026 option bonus as scheduled this upcoming Friday--if they decline to do so or make some other change, a correction will be issued.

Season	Base Salary	Prorated Option Bonus	Roster Bonus		Workout Bonus	Cash Due	Cap Number
			Regular	Per Game
2026	$1,215,000	$3,083,200	$0	$510,000	$100,000	$17,241,000	$4,908,200
2027	$23,390,454	$3,083,200	$0	$510,000	$100,000	$24,000,454	$26,983,654
2028	$25,764,546	$3,083,200	$1,000,000	$510,000	$100,000	$27,374,546	$29,357,746
2029	Void	$3,083,200	Void	Void	Void		$6,166,400
2030	Void	$3,083,200	Void	Void	Void		$0

The Broncos are essentially acquiring the entirety of Waddle's three year extension he signed with the Dolphins, except for a signing bonus of $18.874 million Miami already paid out. Thus, from Denver's standpoint, the APY they're due to pay Waddle falls from $28.25 million to $22.872 million, and it is a frontloaded contract at that, with Waddle set to earn slightly less than Courtland Sutton's $17.5 million in 2026.

What takeaways should we make from this trade?

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Per Over The Cap:

Season	Base Salary	Prorated Signing Bonus	Per Game Roster Bonus	Guaranteed Salary	Cash Due	Cap Number
					2026		$1,745,000*	$1,333,333	$255,000	$1,745,000	$6,000,000	$3,333,333
2027	$4,990,000^	$1,333,333	$510,000	$3,755,000	$5,500,000	$6,833,333
2028	$4,990,000	$1,333,334	$510,000	$0	$5,500,000	$6,833,334

Trautman has $9.5 million fully guaranteed, via a $4 million signing bonus, and a total of $5.5 million contained within his 2026 and 2027 base salaries. The Broncos would incur $3.755 million in dead cash if he were cut before 2027, but offsetting salary could reduce that to as much as $2.41 million should he sign elsewhere.

From the outside, it's difficult to see Trautman getting a contract like this elsewhere. Perhaps his market was higher than anticipated given other contracts signed in free agency like Charlie Kolar and Daniel Bellinger that exceeded Trautman's. But every head coach has players they value higher than others, and clearly Trautman is one of those players for Trautman.

The Broncos should not declare mission accomplished at tight end, however. I still feel like they need to add another veteran to the roster, even after also bringing back Nate Adkins and Lucas Krull, and a rookie tight end is also imperative to obtain.

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Per Over The Cap, Alex Palczewski's two year, $9.5 million extension is structured as follows:

• A $2.5 million signing bonus
• A fully guaranteed base salary of $1.575 million in 2026
• A base salary of $4.49 million, $1.5 million of which is fully guaranteed at signing
• Per game roster bonuses of $425,000 and $510,000 in 2026 and 2027

In total, $5.575 million is fully guaranteed. The cash flow is only mildly backloaded, as Palczewski is due $4.5 million in 2026, and will be due $5 million in 2027.

I find this contract intriguing for multiple reasons.

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The Broncos did an outstanding job last season, and that can be attributed to many successful roster decisions that translated via good coaching to a 14-3 record, the #1 seed in the AFC, and the franchise's first playoff win in ten seasons. There's much to be proud of, even if unfortunately the ultimate goal of winning the Super Bowl was not attained. Work must be done to be in position to seal the deal of that ultimate goal, even if much work has already been done with a series of prudent contract extensions of key players.

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Over The Cap recently added Luke Wattenberg's four year extension to its database, and it is really telling as to how it's a tale of two stories when it comes to cash payment versus cap dollar management--a theme that's become regular for the team.

When I had forecasted a possible extension for Wattenberg back in July, I did not go into much detail on contract structure, as I figured it would be an easy and boring contract to structure. In addition to being what I consider to be team friendly compensation, I was indeed correct that the annual cash flow was boring, as follows:

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Per Over The Cap, it's been revealed that JK Dobbins has a series of incentives that are up to $3.185 million on top of fully guaranteed salaries of $2.065 million for 2025. It's worth stepping through these incentives, because whether Dobbins obtains any of them could impact whether or not the Broncos get an extra draft pick for 2026.

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Per Over The Cap:

Season	Base Salary	Prorated Signing Bonus	Prorated Option Bonus	Per Game Roster Bonus	New Cash Due	Running New Cash Flow	Cap Number
2025	$1,100,000	$4,749,889			$17,754,000	$17,754,000	$5,849,889
2026	$1,215,000	$4,400,000	$2,806,200		$15,246,000	$33,000,000	$8,421,200
2027	$24,490,000	$4,400,000	$2,806,200	$510,000	$25,000,000	$58,000,000	$32,206,200
2028	$20,990,000	$4,400,000	$2,806,200	$510,000	$21,500,000	$79,500,000	$28,706,200
2029	$25,990,000	$4,400,000	$2,806,200	$510,000	$26,500,000	$106,000,000	$33,706,200
2030	Void		$2,806,200				$2,806,200

Nik Bonitto gets $38.346 million in new money guaranteed at signing, with a $22 million signing bonus and a $14.031 option bonus due in 2026 constituting the lion's share. His entire 2027 base salary will vest to fully guaranteed near the start of the 2026 league year, making this amount very likely to be paid, with expected guarantees to be $62.836 million. For 2028, only about a third of his salary, $7.164 million has similar vesting at the start of 2027. Thus, if they cut Bonitto before that amount vests, with a June 1 designation the dead money in 2027 would be almost identical to his current 2027 cap charge, with another $17.218 million allocated to 2028. The standard in Broncos contracts of roster bonuses of $30,000 per game in non-fully guaranteed seasons are retained.

Analysis

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In a bit of a surprise, Denver is sending Devaughn Vele to New Orleans in exchange for a 4th and 7th round pick.

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The Broncos spiced up a Saturday morning by agreeing to a four year, $102 million extension with Zach Allen. Per Mike Florio, here is what the contract table should look like:

Year	Base Salary	Signing Bonus	Per Game Roster Bonus	New Cash Paid	Running Cash Flow	Cap Number
2025	$2,490,000	$11,375,000	$510,000	$13,750,000	$13,750,000	$14,375,000
2026	$16,485,000	$11,375,000	$765,000	$17,250,000	$31,000,000	$28,625,000
2027	$22,350,000	$7,625,000	$765,000	$23,000,000	$54,000,000	$30,740,000
2028	$21,735,000	$7,625,000	$765,000	$22,500,000	$76,500,000	$30,125,000
2029	$24,480,000	$4,800,000	$1,020,000	$25,500,000	$102,000,000	$30,300,000

Let's take a look as to how this contract stacks up to his peers.

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Nik Bonitto really emerged on the scene in his third season in 2024, with 13.5 sacks, a pick six, another touchdown that for all intents and purposes is another pick six--contributing to his first Pro Bowl and 2nd team All-Pro honors. This is an excellent foundation for him to work on securing the bag as soon as this year, and certainly no later than next year.

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