With Courtland Sutton now attached to a lucrative new deal, the Broncos front office will shift focus to other veterans. While the likes of Nik Bonitto and Zach Allen have been attached to potential Denver extensions, there’s at least one veteran who will likely play out the 2025 campaign as an impending free agent.
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According to Chris Tomasson of the Denver Gazette, there haven’t been any contract negotiations between John Franklin-Myers and the Broncos. The writer notes that the defensive end doesn’t envision completing a new deal before the start of the regular season.
Franklin-Myers is entering the final season of a four-year, $55MM deal ($30.2MM guaranteed) that he inked with the Jets back in 2022. The defensive lineman completed half of that contract in New York before he was dealt to Denver last offseason for a future sixth-round pick.
The veteran proceeded to have one of the most productive seasons of his career in 2024. The 28-year-old finished the year with a career-high 40 tackles and seven sacks while appearing in about 46 percent of his team’s defensive snaps. Pro Football Focus ranked him 12th among 118 interior defenders, including a top-five positional grade for his pass-rushing prowess.
Franklin-Myers skipped OTAs as he pursued a new deal, and the veteran later took to social media to warn the Broncos that both the Rams and Jets regretted moving on from him. The defender was later in attendance for the start of training camp, and it sounds like he’s now given up on securing a new deal ahead of next offseason’s free agency.
Assuming Allen does secure a new contract, the Broncos may feel set with their current depth at the position moving forward. The team used a third-round pick on LSU’s Sai’vion Jones in this year’s draft, and they’re also still rostering Jordan Jackson, who got into 310 snaps for Denver in 2024.