When news broke earlier this week that pass rusher Jonathon Cooper signed a contract extension with the Denver Broncos, it was reported as a four-year, $60 million deal. That would average out to about $15 million per season, a very reasonable price for a productive edge defender.
It turns out that the deal was even better than initially reported (agents have a tendency to leak the “max value” of their clients’ deals). Cooper’s four-year extension is worth $54 million, giving him an average yearly salary of $13.5 million. He could earn an additional $6 million through incentives.
Cooper probably could have waited until the spring and earned more in free agency, but he wanted to stay in Denver.
“The process was pretty quick, easy and simple,” Cooper said of negotiating his second contract in the NFL. “I have really good agents and the people across the team, they like them. The process went really smooth, and I felt like I didn’t need to take it any further than what it was because I love this program. I love this team. I love the organization, and I just felt like I didn’t need to go any further and signing it there in the hotel, it just worked out as well as it could.”
Cooper received a $6,025,168 signing bonus that will be prorated as $1,225,168 cap hits in each of the next five seasons, according to OverTheCap.com. He also has a $4 million roster bonus due next spring and $510,000 game-day bonuses in each of the next four seasons.
Here’s a look at Cooper’s base salaries and cap hits from 2025-2028, courtesy of OTC:
2025: $5,635,000 / $11,345,000
2026: $11,490,000 / $13,200,000
2027: $12,990,000 / $14,700,000
2028: $12,990,000 / $14,700,000
Cooper gets a well-deserved raise with more than $16.7 million guaranteed and the Broncos got a team-friendly deal by getting the extension done before free agency. It worked out well for both sides.
“I’m very proud of ‘Coop’” cornerback Pat Surtain said this week. “When you talk about a guy who came in with the right approach, right work ethic and everything along the lines of becoming a great player, that’s him. Him being a seventh-round pick and going through the roster this and that — for him to be able to secure that contract is huge to him. I’m very proud of him.”
Cooper, 26, is tied with Nik Bonitto for the team lead in sacks over the last two seasons (14). After leading the club with 8.5 sacks last fall, Cooper is now on pace for the first double-digit sack season of his career in 2024. He deserves of penny of the new deal.
