Minutes after Broncos trade Baron Browning to the cardinalsa report displaying their commitment to another Edge Rusher has been released. Jonathan Cooperwho was Browning’s teammate since his 2021 rookie days at Ohio State, is now signed beyond this season.

The Broncos agreed to an extension with Cooper this weekend, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com. It’s a four-year deal for the former seventh-round pick, who became a starter for the Broncos. The deal will tie Cooper to the team through the 2028 season.

Agreed on Saturday, this contract will include $60 million in total value, 9News’ Mike Klis reportsadding that $33 million will be guaranteed. While this represents a good salary for the last-minute hire, it is also middle-class EDGE money depending on how the market performs. Cooper’s $15 million per year deal ranks tied for 19th in Edge Rusher AAV, Correspondent Haason Reddick And Uchenna Nwosu.

Although the Broncos general manager Georges Paton has been rightly criticized for its biggest moves – the Russell Wilson trade and popularization and Nathaniel Hackett hire – the veteran NFL executive has assembled a quality first-round draft class in charge. Cooper is now the third member of this class to be paid, following the offers for the third round Quinn Meinerz And first round Patrick Surtain.

Cooper, 26, has taken a longer path to success in the NFL, considering he was the 239th overall pick three years ago. Heart disease contributed to the fall, but a The 2021 procedure put that aside the ex-Buckeye. Cooper started five games as a rookie and nine in 2022, with the Broncos freeing up a spot alongside Browning by trading Bradley Chubb on the deadline. Cooper has started every game for the Broncos over the past two seasons, finishing with 8.5 sacks last season and starting this one with 5.5. Cooper produced 13 QB hits in 17 games last year; he already has 11 out of nine games this season.

The Broncos rank behind the Giants in sacks this season, with 31; Nik Bonitto leads the way with six for Vance Josephdefense. Although the Broncos took a step back following their blowout loss to the Ravens, the 5-4 team remains a defense-powered team. Denver now has Cooper committed and Bonitto signed to rookie terms through next season. It will be interesting to see how the Cooper pact affects Bonitto, who will likely aim higher as a younger player who joins his teammate in being on track for a double-digit sack season.

Interestingly, Cooper will be bound to Denver for four more seasons at a pace outside the top 15 at his position. The EDGE marketplace is also expected to have a few more $30 million-AAV offerings between now and 2025, when companies like Micah Parsons, TJ Watt And Myles Garrett figure which will appear in the extension rumors. Cooper is obviously not in that class, but he certainly could have gotten better terms if he had hit free agency after his most productive season. Rather than betting on himself, Cooper now got a lot of money.

It also marks a more profitable extension for the Broncos, who had traded Chubb and Von Miller during Paton’s tenure. It cost the Broncos a record sum to extend Miller in 2016, and Chubb ended up signing for then top-five EDGE money in Miami shortly after that 2022 trade. Cooper represented one of the pieces around which Paton reorganized. With Browning now out of the picture, the Broncos will anchor their OLB corps around the former Day 3 rookie while also likely determining a long-term plan for Bonitto.