Denver Broncos: Top 10 things that have defined 2020

3. Garett Bolles earns a long-term extension

The Denver Broncos decided before the 2020 offseason program to decline Garett Bolles’ fifth-year team option as a former first-round draft choice (2017).

Although the price to retain Bolles on the fifth-year option was not prohibitive, it’s no small chunk of change and the Broncos decided to make Bolles go ahead and prove himself.

In year two under offensive line coach Mike Munchak, his fourth overall season in the NFL, Bolles took a leap forward that almost nobody saw coming.

The most optimistic Denver Broncos fans hoped Bolles could prove the Broncos right by at least improving after the team didn’t spend a single draft choice on the offensive tackle position. Less optimistic fans felt like the Broncos were wasting their time by going another year with Bolles at left tackle.

Considering his habit for holding penalties, it wasn’t wrong to be skeptical of Bolles’ development, but his final stretch of games in 2019 at least raised some eyebrows and gave everyone in the Broncos’ building hope that he could be what they drafted him to be — a franchise player at the position.

Bolles’ play has been so strong in 2020, the team rewarded him with a massive contract extension keeping him around for the foreseeable future.

This has been arguably the biggest and most positive roster or player personnel development for the Broncos all year, and certainly one of the most important.