Broncos picking up Pat Surtain's fifth-year option should nix rumors

Travis Wakeman

Broncos picking up Pat Surtain's fifth-year option should nix rumors image

The Denver Broncos have made a decision on Pat Surtain II and his fifth-year option and frankly, it's not a surprising one. The team has chosen to exercise that option and that will pay him $19.8 million for the 2025 season. 

As the team turns its sights to the 2024 NFL Draft, many of the rumors regarding the status of Surtain can be put to rest. At the top of that list is the idea that Surtain will be put in a package so that the team can move up in the first round. 

Let's be clear. Moving up should not be in the cards for this team right now but the thought was that the price to do so could be so steep that Surtain could included in order for a team like the Arizona Cardinals at No. 4 or the New England Patriots at No. 3 to have an offer they simply could not refuse. 

The Broncos need a quarterback perhaps more than any team in the NFL going into this draft, despite the recent trade for former first-round pick Zach Wilson. But trading up in a deal where you would be packaging the best player on your roster should be avoided at all costs. 

Thanks to this recent news, it likely will be. 

 

It's entirely possible that Surtain could still be traded. Teams such as the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers have long been connected to the Pro Bowl corner. The Broncos moving him is unlikely, but not impossible. 

But at least as it relates to the team popping into the top five of the first round on Thursday night, those talks can stop. 

The next step for the Broncos will be to get a long-term deal done with Surtain and that will be one that likely makes him the highest-paid cornerback in NFL history. 

Travis Wakeman

Travis Wakeman Photo

Travis Wakeman has been covering the NFL since 2012 when he started with Bleacher Report. After reporting about the Broncos there until 2016, he joined the FanSided network as a site expert covering the San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers while simultaneously covering the Broncos at Broncos Wire when that site launched. He then took over the Broncos site at FanSided in March 2020 and covered the team there until spring of 2024. A lifelong Broncos fan and fan of the game, Travis is filled with sometimes useless NFL knowledge, but it always serves him well in any trivia contest. You can follow him on Twitter/X @traviswakeman10.