Jonathon Cooper welcomes added responsibility and leadership role in fifth season with Broncos

From seventh round draft pick to one of the team’s best pass rushers, edge rusher Jonathon Cooper is welcoming added responsibility and a leadership role in his fifth season with the Denver Broncos.

After their first playoff berth in nearly a decade, the Denver Broncos approach the upcoming 2025 campaign with renewed hope.

With key additions on both sides of the ball via free agency and the 2025 NFL Draft, the Broncos are a more talented team than last season. A key source for such optimism is continuity. After notching a league-leading and franchise best 63 sacks in 2024, their pass rush is expected to be terrific again in ‘25. Every key contributor at edge rusher and along the defensive line returning—which will certainly give opposing coaches and offensive coordinators headaches in the gridiron battles to come.

While Nik Bonitto, Zach Allen, and Jonathan Franklin-Myers are waiting on future extensions, fifth-year pro Jonathon Cooper already secured his bag. Denver rewarded Cooper with a four-year, $60 million extension with $33 million guaranteed last November. Securing a well-deserved raise in pay also meant higher expectations for the former Ohio State Buckeye—not only performance wise on the field—but with his leadership on and off the field.

“Just being more of a leader, being more of a leader for the team. That’s the only thing that’s changed as far as my work. Getting better and trying to be the best I can be every day—that hasn’t changed,” stated Cooper.

After signing his extension, Cooper continued to improve as the ‘24 season went on and put together his best season to date. He finished the year with 58 tackles, 10.5 sacks, 11 tackles for loss, and 1 forced fumble. Not too shabby for the seventh-round draft pick who went from a relative unknown to one of the best pass rushers for the franchise over the past few seasons. Better yet, Head Coach Sean Payton acknowledged how the fifth-year pro has embraced and grown into a role as one of the team’s leaders.

“It’s extremely important to him. I think he’s one of our tough competitors. There’s something to him relative to the importance of playing hard and with good technique. He’s very coachable,” Payton stated. “I would say he’s one of our team leaders. I think sometimes that comes in the form of, ‘Follow me on how I work.’ Sometimes it can be vocal. He’s a diligent worker.”

The new leadership role isn’t something Cooper is shying away from. In fact, the veteran edge rusher is welcoming it whole-heartedly. It’s that sort of selfless, team-first attitude that is helping forge a winning culture in Denver.

While Cooper and Bonitto proved to be one of the best pass rushing duos last season, the Broncos are hopeful that second-year players like Dondrea Tillman and Jonah Elliss can take a big step forward this season. With Cooper’s newfound role, his diligence and mentorship will help makes those aspirations come true.

“I feel a big responsibility for it. I feel like a lot of the guys on the team look to me just to be that vocal leader, to be that guy. I have to set the example every single day, make sure I’m showing up to work, make sure I’m being a professional, and just taking it day-by-day, working hard, taking every rep seriously, and yes, just leading by example and also being vocal. I think it’s extremely important, and I definitely feel that responsibility,” Cooper added.

At the end of practice, he told reporters that the Broncos’ group of edge rushers hasn’t reach their full potential and mentioned he believes they even better than last year’s. He says their goal is to be dominant. Their 63 sacks in ‘24 was the fourteenth most in National Football League history. That’s nine off from tying the all-time record. Could the defense find their way to the top of the record books in ‘25? We’ll just have to wait and see.