Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
And welcome back to Some Broncos Country Tonight a shorter
POSTCU game edition. It's your host, Zach Segers filling in
for Benjamin Albright tonight following a pretty disappointing CU game
saw the Buffaloes lose by sixteen to the Texas Tech
Red Raiders down in Lubbock. That will probably end their season,
(00:20):
as the Buffaloes are now eliminated from the Big twelve
Men's Basketball tournament and it's unlikely they see an invite
to either the March Madness Tournament or the nit Ladies
still alive though they'll play Arizona tomorrow. For those interested
in watching that, but looking at the Broncos for now.
(00:40):
Because this is a shorter show, you gott to fit
this in here while we still can. Some big news
broke today regarding two of their most important players on
the defensive side of the ball. According to the NVR
Zach Stevens, Nick Benito is looking for a contract extension.
That's no surprise, but the news was the number he's
(01:01):
looking for. Negotiations are expected to start around twenty three
million dollars.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Not to be outdone, Chris Thomason of the.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Denver Gazette quickly reported that Zach Allen is also in
negotiations with the Denver Broncos, with his camp believed to
be looking for a contract in the range of twenty
five million dollars per year. Now, unsurprisingly, the big debate
in Broncos country is what should the Broncos do regarding
(01:28):
these two critical but soon to be highly expensive defensive players.
I think they should just take care of this with
both of them, just get the deal done now. And
I think there's a number of reasons why first Zach Allen,
because I think Zach Allen should be the higher priority one.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
He's proven it for longer.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
I think he even played at a higher level last season,
even if Benito got more defensive player of the Year hype,
Benito needs to prove a little more specifically against the run,
while Zach Allen is a ready made elite prospect and
I trust him to continue to be that for the
next several years. Now, that twenty five million number sounds large,
(02:13):
You know, the Broncos just paid Sir Tanda. Outside of that,
they have never played a paid a defensive player that
much money.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
But it's actually incredibly reasonable.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
Now face value, it would be the third most at
that interior defensive line position.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
But that's a little silly.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
It's not actually the third biggest contract because when you
adjust for cap inflation, because the cap is skyrocketing right now, folks,
it's gone up at least seven point nine to seven
percent each of the last four years.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
In the fifteen years prior it did that one time,
so it is skyrocketing.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
We're about to get some Netflix and Amazon money involved
at the end of the decade.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
Here shooting straight up.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
So like we all have kind of had to chus
for inflation going to the grocery store when having these
contract discussions with Broncos players, you also have to account
some for the inflation when doing so. Allen's contract, adjusting
for again what percentage of the cap are you taking up,
is actually fourteenth among that interior defensive line group, trailing
(03:21):
DeForest Buckner, and he is comfortably a top fourteen interior
defensive lineman in the NFL.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
As it stands now.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
He led that position group in pressures last year, again
ahead of guys like Chris Jones who are at the
top of the market, making thirty one million dollars annually,
and he was also a second team All Pro, which
is the Associated Press or the Pro Football Writers. I
forget who votes on that one collectively saying you are
one of the four best players at this position, let
(03:51):
alone top fourteen.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
He's also only twenty seven years old.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
He has improved year over year, just about it everycingle
year of his career. We say, you know, development in
the NFL isn't linear.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
Well with Zach Allen it has been.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
Honestly that applies to Nick MINEOT two. So really this
is an appreciating asset at a premium position. No health
red flags, no character red flags, coming off the best
needson of his career. Now, that could be a concern
if you're worried about him regressing HI to the mean,
(04:26):
but he has consistently taken steps forward towards that elite
for him. It doesn't seem like it just materialized out
of nowhere due to good circumstance.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Benito, A lot of this applies to him too.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
He has consistently developed year over year, taking those steps
forward towards becoming an elite edge rusher.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
That first year.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
With Nathaniel Hackett, I think people forget about it now
he was borderline unplayable on defense, which is why he
saw the field so little. He was a fine designated
pass rusher, but really he was victimized whatever he was
on the field in the run game, and he wasn't
a good enough pass rusher to make up for it.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
In year two, first year und advanced.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
Joseph, we saw him get closer to what the Broncos
wanted him to be coming out of Oklahoma, a more
effective designated pass rusher.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
The run game stuff still wasn't there.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
He was still a little light, but the pass rush
stuff became a lot more present on a per snap basis.
He was the Broncos' most effective pass rusher last year
on the edge, and then this year he takes it
to oh, I'm not just the best you know, per
snap pass rusher on the Broncos, I'm one of the
(05:44):
best per snap edge rushers in the entire NFL. He
deserved the All Pro buzz he got, our Defensive Player
of the Year buzz he got, and the All Pro
he got. When you look at the accomplishments in terms
of defensive touchdowns, sacks, takeaways, anyone prior who had accomplished
those numbers or produced those numbers that Benito had this
(06:05):
year ended up getting the Defensive Player of the Year award.
It was a phenomenal season. That said, he also benefited
from having a lot of great defensive pieces around him,
great coverage on the back end, great help along that
defensive front. We just highlighted Zach Allen, but DJ Jones,
Malcolm Roach, Jonathan Cooper, even the rotational edge rushers all
(06:28):
were vital or played a role in Nick Benito producing
that incredible season. When you pay a guy like that
twenty three million dollars a year, it's going to be
a lot harder to support him. Nonetheless, I think this
is another one where you know, with Alan let's look
at where his contract really compares. Oh, it's the fourteenth biggest.
(06:48):
Well that's a no brainer, right. I think you can
do the same exercise with Nick Benito comparable players. You know,
let's look at Benito's first three year in the league,
kind of up and down role player. One year that's
very productive, but outside of that, he doesn't have the
(07:10):
production numbers of an elite edge rusher, a guy who's
making twenty five plus million a year. I think the
two deals that compared to that are Montes Sweat when
he was up after his rookie extension and Rashaun Gary.
I think Rashaun Gary's actually the best comparison there when
he was up for his extension. If you adjust those
(07:31):
two players deals for inflation, they'd be worth twenty eight
million dollars a year in today's value. And frankly, if
you really drilled down on those guys's resumes, their resumes
weren't as impresoned as Benitos. They didn't have a borderline
defensive player of the Year season, they didn't have all
pro buzz during those first three years. And again they
(07:53):
signed for contracts that today would be twenty eight million,
So twenty three million for Nick Benito. So it seems
pretty reasonable. And there's the flip side that let's say
you want Benita to prove it, wait and see, make
him prove it this season. If he does and his
(08:16):
trajectory would lead you to believe he will back it
up this season, you're going to be paying him thirty
plus million dollars annually. That's I mean seven million dollars
a year. Difference is huge. That's two free agents. That's
a Brandon Jones that you're taking away from the roster
with that gamble.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
And that's if the gamble kind of works out.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
And you're still with a good edge rusher. You know,
the flip side is you're left without a good ad rusher.
And I also think, you know, the concern against locking
up his Zach Allen locking up the Benito now would
be well, what if the Broncos get burned?
Speaker 2 (08:53):
What if these.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
Players fall off and they get burned like we saw
with Russell Wilson, like we saw with Randy Gregory. I
think this Broncos front office has learned their lesson, whether
it be the influx of new ideas and new voices
or simply George Payton learning from some early mistakes. They
are much better at structuring these deals now. Look at Sirtan,
(09:14):
Look at Quinn Miners, look at Jonathan Cooper, look at
that afore mentioned Brandon Jones deal. All four of those
came in under the projected market value. Now, to do that,
you typically have to trade off with a lot of
guaranteed money.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
But no, all those deals aren't.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
Even Certan's remarkably, is very easy for the Broncos to
get out of after two years. Most of them the
Broncos could find a way out of after one year,
so they're really protecting themselves. I think they've learned their lesson,
and I trust them to have a good enough relationship
with Alan and Benito. They seem to be negotiating these
(09:52):
things well to where they'll be able to structure these
deals like that.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
So I view it as you either lock them up
now or you lock them up later for a lot
more money.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
Don't be the Dallas Cowboys, right, Don't be the Cincinnati
Bengals who are dragging this process out and are costing
themselves tens of millions of dollars in the process. Be
the Philadelphia Eagles, Be the Minnesota Vikings, Be the Tampa
Bay Buccaneers even I mean, those are better cultures and
(10:26):
better built teams as well. The other big element I
alluded to it some, but the CAP is skyrocketing.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Not only has it.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
Been climbing like crazy these past four years, but with
new TV deals coming at the end of the decade,
and some big, big hitters getting involved in that bidding
war with Netflix and Amazon to the richest companies in
the world, that cap is only going to continue to balloon.
The rate at which it's ballooning could continue to accelerate.
(11:01):
You are seeing again the smarter teams in the league,
the Eagles, the Vikings, the smarter and more financially focused
front offices push money into the twenty thirties under or
the late twenty twenties, understanding that it's kind of funny
money at that point. And the Broncos with rich ownership,
have the power to exploit those different avenues for winning,
(11:25):
so they should do it. And that's also why I
think Broncos Country should feel so optimistic about this Walton
Penner group.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
It doesn't seem like they meddle.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
It seems like they sit back and let the football
people make the football decisions, but they can write the
checks to enable the football people to do whatever their
imaginations bring them to. I'll do it for my time, everybody.
Thank you so much for joining me tonight. It was
an absolute blast talking about some Denver Broncos with you.
Tune in tomorrow night for some more Broncos Country tonight
(11:58):
with Benjamin Albright and I think Nick Ferguson's back. Until then, everybody,
stay tuned on KOA ninety four one FM eight fifty
a m.
And welcome back to Some Broncos Country Tonight a shorter
POSTCU game edition. It's your host, Zach Segers filling in
for Benjamin Albright tonight following a pretty disappointing CU game
saw the Buffaloes lose by sixteen to the Texas Tech
Red Raiders down in Lubbock. That will probably end their season,
(00:20):
as the Buffaloes are now eliminated from the Big twelve
Men's Basketball tournament and it's unlikely they see an invite
to either the March Madness Tournament or the nit Ladies
still alive though they'll play Arizona tomorrow. For those interested
in watching that, but looking at the Broncos for now.
(00:40):
Because this is a shorter show, you gott to fit
this in here while we still can. Some big news
broke today regarding two of their most important players on
the defensive side of the ball. According to the NVR
Zach Stevens, Nick Benito is looking for a contract extension.
That's no surprise, but the news was the number he's
(01:01):
looking for. Negotiations are expected to start around twenty three
million dollars.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Not to be outdone, Chris Thomason of the.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Denver Gazette quickly reported that Zach Allen is also in
negotiations with the Denver Broncos, with his camp believed to
be looking for a contract in the range of twenty
five million dollars per year. Now, unsurprisingly, the big debate
in Broncos country is what should the Broncos do regarding
(01:28):
these two critical but soon to be highly expensive defensive players.
I think they should just take care of this with
both of them, just get the deal done now. And
I think there's a number of reasons why first Zach Allen,
because I think Zach Allen should be the higher priority one.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
He's proven it for longer.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
I think he even played at a higher level last season,
even if Benito got more defensive player of the Year hype,
Benito needs to prove a little more specifically against the run,
while Zach Allen is a ready made elite prospect and
I trust him to continue to be that for the
next several years. Now, that twenty five million number sounds large,
(02:13):
You know, the Broncos just paid Sir Tanda. Outside of that,
they have never played a paid a defensive player that
much money.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
But it's actually incredibly reasonable.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
Now face value, it would be the third most at
that interior defensive line position.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
But that's a little silly.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
It's not actually the third biggest contract because when you
adjust for cap inflation, because the cap is skyrocketing right now, folks,
it's gone up at least seven point nine to seven
percent each of the last four years.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
In the fifteen years prior it did that one time,
so it is skyrocketing.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
We're about to get some Netflix and Amazon money involved
at the end of the decade.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
Here shooting straight up.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
So like we all have kind of had to chus
for inflation going to the grocery store when having these
contract discussions with Broncos players, you also have to account
some for the inflation when doing so. Allen's contract, adjusting
for again what percentage of the cap are you taking up,
is actually fourteenth among that interior defensive line group, trailing
(03:21):
DeForest Buckner, and he is comfortably a top fourteen interior
defensive lineman in the NFL.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
As it stands now.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
He led that position group in pressures last year, again
ahead of guys like Chris Jones who are at the
top of the market, making thirty one million dollars annually,
and he was also a second team All Pro, which
is the Associated Press or the Pro Football Writers. I
forget who votes on that one collectively saying you are
one of the four best players at this position, let
(03:51):
alone top fourteen.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
He's also only twenty seven years old.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
He has improved year over year, just about it everycingle
year of his career. We say, you know, development in
the NFL isn't linear.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
Well with Zach Allen it has been.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
Honestly that applies to Nick MINEOT two. So really this
is an appreciating asset at a premium position. No health
red flags, no character red flags, coming off the best
needson of his career. Now, that could be a concern
if you're worried about him regressing HI to the mean,
(04:26):
but he has consistently taken steps forward towards that elite
for him. It doesn't seem like it just materialized out
of nowhere due to good circumstance.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Benito, A lot of this applies to him too.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
He has consistently developed year over year, taking those steps
forward towards becoming an elite edge rusher.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
That first year.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
With Nathaniel Hackett, I think people forget about it now
he was borderline unplayable on defense, which is why he
saw the field so little. He was a fine designated
pass rusher, but really he was victimized whatever he was
on the field in the run game, and he wasn't
a good enough pass rusher to make up for it.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
In year two, first year und advanced.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
Joseph, we saw him get closer to what the Broncos
wanted him to be coming out of Oklahoma, a more
effective designated pass rusher.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
The run game stuff still wasn't there.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
He was still a little light, but the pass rush
stuff became a lot more present on a per snap basis.
He was the Broncos' most effective pass rusher last year
on the edge, and then this year he takes it
to oh, I'm not just the best you know, per
snap pass rusher on the Broncos, I'm one of the
(05:44):
best per snap edge rushers in the entire NFL. He
deserved the All Pro buzz he got, our Defensive Player
of the Year buzz he got, and the All Pro
he got. When you look at the accomplishments in terms
of defensive touchdowns, sacks, takeaways, anyone prior who had accomplished
those numbers or produced those numbers that Benito had this
(06:05):
year ended up getting the Defensive Player of the Year award.
It was a phenomenal season. That said, he also benefited
from having a lot of great defensive pieces around him,
great coverage on the back end, great help along that
defensive front. We just highlighted Zach Allen, but DJ Jones,
Malcolm Roach, Jonathan Cooper, even the rotational edge rushers all
(06:28):
were vital or played a role in Nick Benito producing
that incredible season. When you pay a guy like that
twenty three million dollars a year, it's going to be
a lot harder to support him. Nonetheless, I think this
is another one where you know, with Alan let's look
at where his contract really compares. Oh, it's the fourteenth biggest.
(06:48):
Well that's a no brainer, right. I think you can
do the same exercise with Nick Benito comparable players. You know,
let's look at Benito's first three year in the league,
kind of up and down role player. One year that's
very productive, but outside of that, he doesn't have the
(07:10):
production numbers of an elite edge rusher, a guy who's
making twenty five plus million a year. I think the
two deals that compared to that are Montes Sweat when
he was up after his rookie extension and Rashaun Gary.
I think Rashaun Gary's actually the best comparison there when
he was up for his extension. If you adjust those
(07:31):
two players deals for inflation, they'd be worth twenty eight
million dollars a year in today's value. And frankly, if
you really drilled down on those guys's resumes, their resumes
weren't as impresoned as Benitos. They didn't have a borderline
defensive player of the Year season, they didn't have all
pro buzz during those first three years. And again they
(07:53):
signed for contracts that today would be twenty eight million,
So twenty three million for Nick Benito. So it seems
pretty reasonable. And there's the flip side that let's say
you want Benita to prove it, wait and see, make
him prove it this season. If he does and his
(08:16):
trajectory would lead you to believe he will back it
up this season, you're going to be paying him thirty
plus million dollars annually. That's I mean seven million dollars
a year. Difference is huge. That's two free agents. That's
a Brandon Jones that you're taking away from the roster
with that gamble.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
And that's if the gamble kind of works out.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
And you're still with a good edge rusher. You know,
the flip side is you're left without a good ad rusher.
And I also think, you know, the concern against locking
up his Zach Allen locking up the Benito now would
be well, what if the Broncos get burned?
Speaker 2 (08:53):
What if these.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
Players fall off and they get burned like we saw
with Russell Wilson, like we saw with Randy Gregory. I
think this Broncos front office has learned their lesson, whether
it be the influx of new ideas and new voices
or simply George Payton learning from some early mistakes. They
are much better at structuring these deals now. Look at Sirtan,
(09:14):
Look at Quinn Miners, look at Jonathan Cooper, look at
that afore mentioned Brandon Jones deal. All four of those
came in under the projected market value. Now, to do that,
you typically have to trade off with a lot of
guaranteed money.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
But no, all those deals aren't.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
Even Certan's remarkably, is very easy for the Broncos to
get out of after two years. Most of them the
Broncos could find a way out of after one year,
so they're really protecting themselves. I think they've learned their lesson,
and I trust them to have a good enough relationship
with Alan and Benito. They seem to be negotiating these
(09:52):
things well to where they'll be able to structure these
deals like that.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
So I view it as you either lock them up
now or you lock them up later for a lot
more money.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
Don't be the Dallas Cowboys, right, Don't be the Cincinnati
Bengals who are dragging this process out and are costing
themselves tens of millions of dollars in the process. Be
the Philadelphia Eagles, Be the Minnesota Vikings, Be the Tampa
Bay Buccaneers even I mean, those are better cultures and
(10:26):
better built teams as well. The other big element I
alluded to it some, but the CAP is skyrocketing.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Not only has it.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
Been climbing like crazy these past four years, but with
new TV deals coming at the end of the decade,
and some big, big hitters getting involved in that bidding
war with Netflix and Amazon to the richest companies in
the world, that cap is only going to continue to balloon.
The rate at which it's ballooning could continue to accelerate.
(11:01):
You are seeing again the smarter teams in the league,
the Eagles, the Vikings, the smarter and more financially focused
front offices push money into the twenty thirties under or
the late twenty twenties, understanding that it's kind of funny
money at that point. And the Broncos with rich ownership,
have the power to exploit those different avenues for winning,
(11:25):
so they should do it. And that's also why I
think Broncos Country should feel so optimistic about this Walton
Penner group.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
It doesn't seem like they meddle.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
It seems like they sit back and let the football
people make the football decisions, but they can write the
checks to enable the football people to do whatever their
imaginations bring them to. I'll do it for my time, everybody.
Thank you so much for joining me tonight. It was
an absolute blast talking about some Denver Broncos with you.
Tune in tomorrow night for some more Broncos Country tonight
(11:58):
with Benjamin Albright and I think Nick Ferguson's back. Until then, everybody,
stay tuned on KOA ninety four one FM eight fifty
a m.
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