All-Pro defensive tackle Zach Allen agrees to 4-year, $102M extension with Denver Broncos

By Canadian Press on August 2, 2025.

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Like teammate Courtland Sutton, Denver Broncos All-Pro defensive lineman Zach Allen didn’t skip any days of training camp while his agent argued for a new contract.

Unlike Micah Parsons in Dallas, Trey Hendrickson in Cincinnati and Terry McLaurin in Washington, things never got contentious with the front office in Denver.

“This is my happy place,” Allen said Saturday after signing a four-year, $102 million extension with the Broncos that includes nearly $70 million in guarantees and makes him one of the NFL’s highest-paid interior defensive linemen in average annual salary.

Allen said the way both sides “handled this was just awesome.”

“The fact that we were able to go about this the way we have compared to probably some other things around the league is a testament to what we’re building,” he said.

“It’s a business but it never got contentious,” Allen said. “And I think that was a cool thing was just the way that everybody handled it.”

Allen said he told his agent, Tommy Condon, “I want to obviously get the best deal possible … but I care about these people, I care about this place, and I don’t want it to get ugly. The way he went about it, the way the team went about it was awesome.”

Allen’s extension came less than a week after Sutton signed a four-year, $92 million deal that features $41 million in guaranteed money. Sutton also thanked the Broncos’ ownership group and general manager George Paton for the tenor of talks as he continued to take the field during training camp content in knowing a deal was at hand.

In many ways Allen has served as the fulcrum of Denver’s dominant defense the last two seasons, applying pressure up the middle to augment the Broncos’ premier pass rush and stellar secondary.

A third-round pick by Arizona out of Boston College in 2019, Allen joined the Broncos two years ago, following defensive coordinator Vance Joseph to Denver. He had five sacks in his first season in Denver and a career-best 8 1/2 sacks last season when he earned second-team All-Pro honors and the Broncos set a franchise record with a league-best 63 sacks.

Allen, who turns 28 this month, also set career bests last year with 15 tackles for loss and 40 quarterback hits while playing nearly 90% of Denver’s defensive snaps and moving between end and tackle. He also led the league’s defensive tackles with 67 pressures, according to Next Gen Stats.

Allen is due $12.74 million this season, the final year of his three-year, $45.75 million deal he signed with Denver in 2023.

With deals in place now for Sutton and Allen, the Broncos’ biggest contractual concern is rising star edge rusher Nik Bonitto, who is entering the final year of his rookie contrac. He also was named a second-team All-Pro last season when he led the team with 13 1/2 sacks.

Before camp began, Bonitto said he realized a deal might not get done until sometime during the season but knows he’ll cash in eventually.

“Yeah, I mean, the edge market is kind of crazy right now knowing that everybody’s getting these big deals and it’s only getting bigger and bigger,” Bonitto said last month. “Luckily for me, I’m in a good position right now where the market’s kind of in my favor.”

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Arnie Stapleton, The Associated Press