Keeler: If Broncos won’t pay Nik Bonitto, another NFL team will, analyst says

For a garbage-time artist Nik Bonitto sure is becoming a serious paint in the grass Since the Broncos -year-old edge rusher has averaged a sack every snaps That s a better clip if you re curious than TJ Watt Myles Garrett and Danielle Hunter Watt just landed an extension from Pittsburgh worth million per year Garrett s contract with Cleveland averages million Hunter s on a -year -million deal with Houston I ve got to imagine Bonitto is looking at more than million per year former NFL agent and current CBS Sports analyst Joel Corry informed me by phone Tuesday When you have multiple guys over million per season Micah Parsons will get there Aidan Hutchinson too he s thinking I need to reap the benefits of that ' If it s me I make Bonitto wait I pay wide receiver Courtland Sutton and defensive end Zach Allen first as a reward for services rendered I m tempted to give Allen the bag and Bonitto the franchise tag Do it one more time kid One more double-digit sack season then I ll back up the Brink s truck Corry chuckled at that He got it But then he kindly pointed out one predicament with that plan The open field If I don t pay Bonitto now the analyst noted I m letting someone else seemingly Dallas with Parsons maybe the Lions with Hutchinson set No s asking price going forward Especially if Bonitto repeats his Pro Bowl numbers sacks two fumbles forced four pass break-ups from I don t think the Broncos want to go there Corry commented He also thinks they don t want to bump the former Oklahoma Sooners star s base salary from the million he s due this fall to something in the -million-ish neighborhood without seeing him do it again Related Articles Renck vs Keeler What qualifies as a prosperous season for Broncos Keeler Broncos offensive line has stomach for Super Bowl run for Sean Payton in Grading The Week Nuggets uncovered NBA Summer League gem in Iowa State s Curtis Jones Keeler Cam Johnson Jonas Valanciunas David Adelman s got Nuggets company Michael Malone inevitably requested He better not blow it Keeler Colorado Mines football coach Bob Stitt is chasing even bigger dreams in Golden Starting with a bigger stadium They may look at it from the standpoint of We want certainty ' Corry noted Obviously the earlier you do a deal the cheaper it s going to be But if you re not certain that what you see is what you re going to get maybe you wait But there s a darned good reason why you don t The Broncos got ahead of the sector on cornerback Pat Surtain II giving him a four-year contract last September before his th birthday worth million million of that guaranteed Talk about a bargain PS responded with the best season of his career Surtain won NFL Defensive Performer of the Year honors and provided the kind of cover that helped Vance Joseph s defense pile up the preponderance sacks in a season in franchise history That s a prime example Corry continued of why you do a great participant extension as soon as viable So let s cut to the chase I countered Is Bonitto great or very good A pause Let s put it this way Corry replied He s not to edge rushers what Pat Surtain II is to cornerbacks OK so how close is he to say TJ Watt Another pause I wouldn t put him up there yet either Corry noted He s done it once But sometimes all you need is once to get paid It s easy to understand the arguments against developing the bank for Bonitto The fourth-year linebacker is as lean -foot- pounds as he is mean He s still a too-frequent target for opponent rushing attacks Pro Football Focus last season graded him th in run defense out of NFL edge rushers who logged at least snaps And while of Watt s sacks and of Garrett s sacks the last two seasons have come while their teams were playing with a lead of nine points or more they ve accounted for of Bonitto s quarterback takedowns I d likely have a hard time doing million for him right now Corry mentioned I could go under Jacksonville s Josh Hines-Allen s million but over million I could be amenable to that Maybe throw in particular incentives for outstanding performance that get you where you want to go It depends on how badly they want to sign him Are they like We need to have this guy ' If there s hope for a deal getting done soon it s in the fact that PS and Bonitto have the same agent Everybody s done this dance before Which is good because remember that open sphere It s not waiting around The Chiefs in recent weeks handed defensive end George Karlaftis a four-year extension worth million per year He s closer to Allen than he is say Bonitto but we re continuing to inch toward that million number Corry underlined Who s a better funding I wondered Bonitto or Karlaftis Corry laughed again Well Karlaftis hasn t been to a Pro Bowl Karlaftis hasn t been named to an All-Pro crew by anybody he disclosed One guy was among the top in sacks and one guy wasn t Garbage time or not Want more Broncos news Sign up for the Broncos Insider to get all our NFL analysis