ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Two years ago, Nik Bonitto was unsure of his ability to get to this moment.
Following a difficult 2022 season for the Broncos in which the rookie second-round pick recorded 1.5 sacks in 15 games, Bonitto certainly couldn't foresee a 13.5-sack season in his future. Nor could he likely have seen a four-year extension on the horizon.
When new Defensive Coordinator Vance Joseph met with Bonitto that offseason after being hired ahead of the 2023 campaign, the young pass rusher was taken aback by Joseph's vision for him.
"He tells me to come up to his office to talk to him," Bonitto remembered Thursday after signing a four-year extension. "… He's just like, 'You know, Nik, you can be a double-digit sack guy in this league.'
"I'm like, 'Are you sure you brought the right guy in here? I just had a one-sack season.'"
Joseph's belief — paired with the support of former teammates like Bradley Chubb — helped Bonitto grow from the doubt into one of the league's most-imposing pass rushers.
"They were such big parts of keeping me going my rookie year when I was doubting myself that I could play," Bonitto said of his teammates. "Just tough times for myself — just doubting myself individually. They just kept me going, kept me working. Those guys meant the world to me. Even though they're not here, I still appreciate everything they did. And then another guy — Coach V.J. … He had ultimate confidence in me. It's paid off. I just had to wait my turn and keep working, and I finally got to see his vision."
Bonitto took a jump in his first season playing for Joseph, as he recorded eight sacks in 15 games during his second season. The Oklahoma product said the turning point came in a 2023 Week 4 game against the Bears, when he posted a game-changing strip-sack that Jonathon Cooper picked up and returned for a touchdown.
"Just being able to go out there and play free and make plays kind of gave me that confidence like, 'OK, I can really do this,'" Bonitto said. "Just being able to have guys around me that can keep pushing me to get better and continue to build that confidence for me was really huge."
Last year, he was even better. Bonitto posted a team-high 13.5 sacks and recorded a pair of defensive touchdowns.
"He's got this get-off that no one else has, and that's run and pass game alike," Joseph said. "He's a finisher. Again, our first year, he would get home and not finish the proper way. But he's learned how to finish. He's gained weight, he's gotten stronger on the edge and he's a problem. If teams don't have a plan for him, he can wreck the game."
Bonitto's instincts — which helped lead to those scores — are unmatched among the players Joseph has coached, the Broncos' defensive coordinator said Thursday.
"Nik's got a little bit of bulk, but he's more of a slippery bender on the edge," Joseph said. "He can also play with power, but I've never seen a guy with his instincts [that can] just run past linemen. And again, not just pass, but the run game. He's a problem in the running game — backside counters and guard and tackle pulls, he's chasing the back down. He's taking the handoff. [Those are] special traits. If it's a block he has to close, he close[s] it. So, he can feel it like no one I've ever coached, and he's still learning, he's still growing as a player. He's so humble. He's working every single day."
Even as Bonitto and his representation negotiated with the Broncos, the fourth-year defender took the field each day with his teammates.
"He's a guy who was negotiating a contract the entire camp, never [said] one word about not practicing," Joseph said. "Never one word about sitting out. He played through an ankle and a foot injury for two weeks. Didn't say a word. That speaks to his character."
Bonitto said he continued to practice to be ready for the Broncos' Week 1 game against the Titans and to ensure that his teammates didn't view him as putting himself before the team. He said Thursday he "never had any doubts that it would get done," and he saw that belief come to fruition ahead of the season opener.
"A lot of tears," Bonitto said of his reaction. "I think I probably ran out of tears there to last a year. … It was a whole bunch of emotions going through me this morning."
The contract is not "the end goal" for Bonitto, who said he had "goals way bigger than that" as he entered the NFL. And Joseph believes in the edge rusher's ability to make larger strides.
"I think Nik is a player that's still growing," Joseph said. "The best for Nik is ahead of him, and he knows that. He's excited to play on Sunday."
And Denver, as he explained Thursday, is exactly where he wants to be to take the next step in his career.
"We're a really good football team," Bonitto said. "I'm a guy, I feel like, [who] is continuing to grow, and just being around a team like this that's continuing to get better and better, why wouldn't I want to set myself up to play here now and continue to build with these guys for the next couple years? [I'm] just trying to compete to be at the top of the league."
