The Denver Broncos agreed on a four-year contract with left tackle Garett Bolles on Thursday, a deal that has a chance to keep the team’s longest-tenured player with the franchise for the duration of his career.
Bolles announced news of the extension himself with a post on social media, less than two hours before the Broncos were set to take the field for practice ahead of Sunday’s game against the Indianapolis Colts.
The extension is for $82 million over four years, the NFL Network reported, including $42 million in guarantees.
“I’m not leaving,” Bolles wrote on X.
Broncos Country,
It’s been a great 8 years! Thanks for everything!
And …
I’m not leaving. The show goes on!
GB#BroncoForLife #4more #beatthecolts#probowlvote @gbolles72 pic.twitter.com/euYV4bAPp8
— Garett Bolles (@gbolles72) December 12, 2024
Bolles, a first-round pick of the Broncos in 2017, has been the team’s starter at left tackle since his rookie season. He entered this season playing under the final year of his contract and began the training camp expressing a desire to spend the duration of his career in Denver.
“I love this city and I love this organization,” Bolles said at the time. “I want to play my whole career here. The front office knows that. They know I want to be a Bronco for life.”
The extension for Bolles — his third contract with Denver, including his rookie season — puts each of the five starters on the Broncos’ offensive line under contract through at least 2025. All but center Luke Wattenberg are signed through 2026, giving the Broncos stability up front for rookie quarterback Bo Nix.
Bolles has put together a strong performance during his age-32 season. He has allowed only 14 pressures and one sack among 481 pass-block snaps, according to TruMedia, putting him on pace for his best season since making the Pro Bowl while not giving up a sack in 2020.
Bolles earning a third contract with the team wasn’t something that was easy to envision during a rookie season in which he was flagged repeatedly and booed at times by the team’s fan base. Entering the 2020 season, the Broncos declined to pick up the fifth-year option on his rookie contract, pushing him into a prove-it year. Bolles, though, didn’t hide from accountability.
“Listen, our fans are some of the best fans in the country,” Bolles said entering the 2020 season. “They deserve the best football. Here in Denver, we have a tradition of winning. It’s unacceptable the way that I played. I take full responsibility for that.”
By December of that season, Bolles had earned a contract extension. Amid a flurry of coaching changes, quarterback switches and a sea of losing seasons, Bolles has been a steady constant. He was the team’s Walter Payton Man of the Year in 2023 for his work with youth impacted by the criminal justice systems in Colorado and Utah, where he grew up and attended college. He’s been a big part of a present that has Denver pushing for its first playoff appearance since 2015. And after Thursday’s deal, he’s also seen as a major part of its future.
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(Photo: Cooper Neill / Getty Images)
