ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — In back-to-back seasons, outside linebacker Nik Bonitto has reached the double-digit sack mark.
The Broncos pass rusher finished fourth in the Defensive Player of the Year voting in 2025 after a 14-sack season, and he's earned Pro Bowl nods in each of the last two seasons.
And yet, as Bonitto spoke to the media at a charity event Thursday ahead of his fifth NFL season, he acknowledged his postseason performance provided an even higher level of confidence than his regular-season success could provide.
In Denver's Divisional Round win over the Bills, Bonitto recorded a pair of forced fumbles — including a strip-sack — to go with three tackles, a quarterback hit and a tackle for loss. The pair of takeaways led directly to six points in Denver's three-point overtime win.
"It's obviously great when you can do it in the regular season," Bonitto said Thursday, "but doing it in the postseason in those big type of moments, it gives you that confidence to know you're supposed to be there and you can make those types of plays on big stages."
On the heels of that performance, though, Bonitto said he knows there's still room for his game to get even better.
"All facets," said Bonitto of where he hopes to improve. "I still have a lot of room to grow in my game — in the run and in the pass. Just keep trying to fine-tune these things, keep looking at other guys around the league that are doing it at a high level and seeing how I can put it into my game to continue to be the best player I know I can be."
Bonitto said he studied top players from around the league during the offseason to see how they dealt with being double-teamed while pass rushing, and he said he'll aim to implement some of those tactics into his game.
And whether through sacks, tackles for loss, quarterback hits or pressures, Bonitto will look to continue to make life difficult for opposing quarterbacks.
"I think it's [about] just being disruptive," Bonitto said. "… Obviously, sacks are great, but being able to affect the quarterback is the most important thing in football."
A disruptive Bonitto figures to be a key piece to the Broncos' success this season, and he said the team is eager to get on the field as training camp nears.
"I'm really excited," Bonitto said. "Especially how the season ended, I know everybody's champing at the bit to get the pads back on and compete against each other these next couple months. It's going to be real fun for sure."
