The Denver Broncos’ recent track record under general manager George Paton of extending players is good news for Zach Allen, and the timing is even more encouraging.
Allen is coming off a Second Team All-Pro season, finishing third on the team with 8.5 sacks, tied for the fourth-most among interior defensive linemen. He also posted the second-most pressures in the league at any position.
Pro Football Rumors’ Sam Robinson suspects Allen is “in a good position to cash in.”
“Allen signed a three-year, $45.75MM contract on Day 1 of the 2023 legal tampering period, following Ben Powers and Mike McGlinchey as part of Sean Payton’s 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‘s first Arizona offseason, resides in a good position to cash in,” Robinson wrote on July 5.
“The Broncos will be looking at a sizable raise here, as the defensive tackle market has moved twice since Allen’s March 2023 accord.”
Robinson projects a “reasonable floor” in the “second tier” for DTs; $22.5 million to $24 million for Allen on his next deal.
Allen, who turns 28 in August, has 13.5 sacks, 121 total tackles, 64 hits on opposing quarterbacks, 23 stops for loss, and 1 forced fumble in his first two seasons with the Broncos, but his sixth under Joseph.
Zach Allen Could Follow Broncos Coach
GettyDenver Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph gets to work with a re-tooled secondary in 2025.
Things could get interesting if Joseph leaves next offseason – He was a head coach candidate this past offseason and has experience – and Allen’s status goes unaddressed.
Allen could follow Joseph to his next destination. The two share a mutual respect.
“Awesome,” Allen told Denver Sports’ Andrew Mason about the changes Joseph made in July 2024. “It’s the best. I mean, we play now an attack style. Simple. Only a few calls. And that’s all you can ask for, especially as a guy up front. My successful years in Arizona with VJ, that’s kind of how we played. And that’s the way I think that football’s meant to be played. So the fact that we’re making those steps is awesome.”
Notably, Joseph cited John Franklin-Myers’ arrival as it relates to helping Allen apply pressure from the interior, and having Riley Moss stepping up opposite Pat Surtain II, as reasons he had faith early on in the Broncos’ defense.
The group led the NFL with a franchise-record 63 sacks and ranked third in scoring and against the run and sixth against the pass.
“I think after the preseason, I kind of knew what we had. The front played well from the spring until the summer, and it was a dominant group. Once we changed how we played up front, you can see the explosiveness and the pass rush. So, that wasn’t a surprise to me. I knew [Jonathon] Cooper and Nik [Bonitto] was good enough on the edge. Our inside push wasn’t good enough a year before,” Joseph told reporters in January before the AFC Wild Card Playoffs.
“Once JFM came here and pushed the pocket along with Zach, I knew it was going to be better because the outside guys were good enough.”
How that impacts Allen’s extension talks with the Broncos remains to be seen.
Broncos’ Zach Allen Among ‘Most Disruptive’ DL in NFL
GettyZach Allen #99 of the Denver Broncos reacts after a sack against the Buffalo Bills.
Allen is poised to get the raise Robinson projects one way or another. While the Broncos could opt to extend (or re-sign next offseason) Franklin-Myers and/or develop 2025 third-round pick Sai’vion Jones, Robinson expects them to attempt to retain Allen.
“A central reason the Broncos were able to make the playoffs despite the record-shattering Russell Wilson dead money bill, Zach Allen has played his best football since relocating to Denver in 2023. The short-term J.J. Watt Cardinals sidekick has been one of the NFL’s most disruptive interior D-linemen in two Broncos seasons,” Robinson wrote
“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.”
Robinson cited Bonitto as potentially being a greater priority for the Broncos.
However, he added that Allen arguably “catalyzed” his teammate’s breakout campaign. Allen “represents a fairly safe bet,” Robinson wrote. He is more of a known commodity, at least to Joseph, than Bonitto and younger than wide receiver Courtland Sutton.
While Bonitto had the edge in sacks for the Broncos last season, Allen put far more pressure on opposing QBs.
