The Denver Broncos have managed their contracts incredibly well, and it took nothing less than a front office master-class to navigate through the Russell Wilson contract situation. In the 2024 and 2025 seasons, the Broncos had to absorb what was then an NFL-record $85 million in dead cap.
The 2025 NFL Season has been officially over for months, so that total cap charge is off the books for the Broncos. But even during this period, the front office was smartly getting ahead of things and paying players before they were priced out of Denver.
Last year was a perfect example, as all of Wil Lutz, Luke Wattenberg, and Malcolm Roach got extensions in the middle of the season, which prevented them from hitting the free agency market this offseason. Do the Broncos have another crucial contract extension that needs to get done before the start of 2026?
Denver Broncos CB Ja'Quan McMillian dubbed as team's most important 2026 contract extension
Moe Moton identified Ja'Quan McMillian as the Broncos most important contract extension that should get done before the start of the 2026 season:
"McMillian has excelled in his role as the primary nickelback. He's a versatile playmaker who's logged 24 pass breakups, six interceptions and seven sacks over the last three seasons. General manager George Paton called the slot defender one of the team's 'core players' before retaining him on a one-year, $5.7 million restricted free-agent tender. McMillian is massively underpaid, given his value to the Broncos defense"
All of this makes sense. Even with McMillian under a deal worth just below $6 million, the Broncos should still seek to offer him a long-term extension, perhaps in the three or four-year range. McMillian was undrafted back in 2022 and really began to make a name for himself in the 2023 NFL Season. Since that point, he's been the de-facto starting slot cornerback for the Broncos.
And there really is something about those undersized slot cornerbacks that make them a sneaky threat each week. Given how talented the Broncos secondary is without listing McMillian's name, it's all that more common to see the player fly under the radar.
A perfect example that has since become an almost worldly-recognized event was his interception in the Divisional Round against the Buffalo Bills. The Broncos did not really hear McMillian's name called all that much before that key moment.
Another fun example is back during the 2024 NFL Season, where McMillian notched a key interception late in the win over the Cleveland Browns. The 5-10, 183lb player has been able to fill up the stat sheet the past few seasons, and where McMillian really made a huge mark in 2025 was getting into the backfield.
He had four sacks, five tackles for loss, and four quarterback hits. Even back in 2023, McMillian had seven tackles for loss. Playing in all but one game since the start of 2023, McMillian has become a staple in the Broncos secondary, and his coverage stats really improved from 2024 into 2025 as well.
According to Pro Football Reference, McMillian allowed a 59.5 percent completion percentage when in coverage, and also allowed a passer rating of 74.2. Both those numbers were way down from 2024, when he allowed a 64.4 percent completion percentage and an 85.7 passer rating in coverage.
He also allowed fewer yards, touchdowns, yards after the catch, and missed fewer tackles. There's just a lot to love with McMillian, as he's right in the middle of his prime years and has become a legitimate play-maker for this secondary. I, personally, see no reason not to extend him for the long-term.
The Broncos have been all about paying their own guys, so McMillian should be no different. Over The Cap notes that an extension would save the Broncos just over $3.5 million on their 2026 cap figure. I suppose the only snag that the front office could run into his how to value a slot cornerback. The Broncos are paying Patrick Surtain II a contract worth well over $20 million per year, so obviously, McMillian would not get close to that.
A deal worth somewhere near $10 million per year might end up being fair value. There really isn't a 'slot cornerback' contract market, so that's where the negotiation might end up taking longer than normal, but Denver did at least give him a sizeable raise for 2026, so they clearly value his defensive contributions. The next step is to get that extension done to ensure he's in Denver for the long haul.
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