Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton has reiterated on a number of occasions that he is very pleased with his young roster and the way his players are progressing. The team's recent decision to give outside linebacker Jonathon Cooper a four-year contract extension is the latest bit of proof that Payton believes in what's being built in Denver.
The team is putting its money where its mouth is.
Cooper was a 7th-round pick by the Broncos in the 2021 NFL Draft class, a class which has proven to be very fruitful overall for the Broncos as they've now extended three players from it.
Broncos give Jonathon Cooper a huge four-year deal
OFFICIAL: We've signed OLB Jonathon Cooper to a four-year contract extension.
— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) November 4, 2024
Let's get to work, @JonathonCooper7! 😤
📰 » https://t.co/xv8EPmtMrz pic.twitter.com/joRQdPc2fH
The Broncos rewarded one of their best defensive players with a four-year deal worth $60 million in total money and $33 million in guaranteed cash. Cooper is second on the team this year with 5.5 sacks and he's also added 11 quarterback hits and 14 quarterback pressures (via Pro Football Reference).
Cooper has proven himself to be a huge asset for this Denver Broncos defense over the last couple of years and has obviously developed into a core player at a critical position. His development has not been shocking, but given his draft status as a 7th-round pick in 2021, it's clear that he's exceeded a lot of expectations up to this point.
What's really interesting about Cooper's extension is the fact that he came from George Paton's first draft class with the Broncos as general manager. Paton stated when he was first hired by the Broncos that he wanted to draft, develop, and get players to second contracts in Denver. He's now done that with three separate players as guard Quinn Meinerz and cornerback Pat Surtain II were also extended from that 2021 NFL Draft class.
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This extension for Cooper, along with the aforementioned deals for Meinerz and Surtain, is also a great indicator of the strong working relationship between Broncos GM George Paton and head coach Sean Payton. There have been a lot of questions as to whether those two guys would work together long-term. I would say Payton signing off on these extensions, perhaps especially in the case of Jonathon Cooper, is a clear indicator that Paton and Payton are going to be able to stick together for the long haul.
The Broncos are finally building the right way. They didn't quite take things down to the studs but they really stripped away a lot of dead weight for the roster renovations that have been made since Sean Payton came aboard, and with the rebuild looking ahead of schedule, everybody eats.