If Denver Broncos rookie quarterback Bo Nix is going to have a long career he’ll need talented offensive linemen to protect him at every stage of his career.
Right now, that means moves like signing guard Quinn Meinerz to a 4-year, $80 million contract extension before the 2024 season. According to Bleacher Report’s Matt Holder, the most important move still needs to be made — re-signing former NFL All-Pro left offensive tackle Garett Bolles.
Bolles is in the final season of a 4-year, $68 million contract extension he signed in Nov. 2020, that will pay him $16 million in 2024.
It’s tough to see a better option for the Broncos when it comes to protecting Nix for his first few seasons — presuming he’s the starter — until the Broncos can either draft a replacement or sign another left offensive tackle via free agency.
“Bolles has been a solid left tackle in Denver over the last seven years, but he’s entering a contract year and nearing his mid-30s,” Holder wrote. “That’s typically when players start to decline, however, the Broncos will have to consider giving the 2020 second-team All-Pro an extension seeing as they have a young quarterback in Bo Nix.”
Veteran Presence on Roster For Broncos
The Broncos are firmly in a rebuilding mode under second-year head coach Sean Payton and have been forced to cut veterans like three-time NFL All-Pro Justin Simmons to clear salary cap space and let center Lloyd Cushenberry lead to sign a 3-year, $50 million contract with the Tennessee Titans.
Bolles may be too valuable to the Broncos currently that all they will be able to do with him is … pay him a lot more money.
Bolles has been with the Broncos since they selected him out of Utah in the first round of the 2017 NFL draft (No. 20 overall). He earned NFL All-Pro honors in 2020 and bounced back from a season-ending injury in 2022 after five games to start all 17 games for the Broncos in 2023 and played every single offensive snap of the season — 1,072 snaps in total.
Bolles only missed 4 games through his first 5 seasons — none through his first three — before he got hurt in 2021.
If Broncos Tank, Elite OTs Available in 2025 Draft
If the Broncos end up with another high draft pick in 2025 — they selected Nix No. 12 overall in 2024 — they could be in line for one of the elite offensive tackles who will be available.
In a mock draft for 2025, NFL Spin Zone’s Lou Scataglia projected the Broncos to take 6-foot-6, 320-pound LSU offensive tackle Will Campbell at No. 13 overall.
Campbell was a five-star prospect out of Monroe Neville (La.) High School and has been the starting offensive tackle at LSU from Day 1 — he’s started 26 consecutive games for LSU headed into 2024 and is already a two-time All-SEC pick.
Campbell has been projected as a first-round pick since he was coming out of high school.
“The Denver Broncos trade down from their original slot and manage to land one of the best offensive tackles in the (2025) NFL Draft,” Scataglia wrote. “Garett Bolles is set to be a free agent in 2025, and I am not sure they are planning to keep RT Mike McGlinchey around for a ton longer.”
