Pat Surtain II Claims Nik Bonitto’s Next Deal Will 'Break the Market'

Nik Bonitto seemed uncontainable in preseason Game 1, and one teammate predicts he's going to "break the market" on his coming extension.

August 9, 2025; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers quarterback Mac Jones (10) passes the football against Denver Broncos linebacker Nik Bonitto (15) during the first quarter at Levi's Stadium. | Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

Paying All-Pro outside linebacker Nik Bonitto is very much on the Denver Broncos' to-do list.
On Saturday night at Levi's Stadium, Bonitto brutally bulldozed an entire possession that San Francisco 49ers quarterback Mac Jones was trying to lead down the field. 

Putting it in context, San Francisco's perennial All-Pro left tackle Trent Williams wasn't providing the opposition on this occasion as the Broncos' 25-year-old leading sack artist wreaked havoc. Regardless of the opposition, Broncos cornerback Patrick Surtain II believes Bonitto will get the extension he deserves, and then some.

"He's going to break the market," Surtain said, via The Denver Gazette's Chris Tomasson. "They might give him a blank check." 

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Finding enough money to keep all the Broncos' stars in the fold is going to become a much more complex task for GM George Paton moving forward. Surtain and defensive lineman Zach Allen have already majorly cashed in, and Paton has proved lately that he has an open-door policy on hashing out new contracts. 

To be perfectly honest, it's more a case of when, and not if Bonitto will come to terms on his second professional contract. Even so, hustling the formative negotiations along probably better suits the overall agenda of the Denver front office right now. 

Getting ahead of an always-escalating market for premium edge rushers will be an avenue Paton could be more inclined to go down, especially as Surtain broadcasts to the league just how good Bonitto actually is. 

"(Bonitto) took over. I mean, that's what he does," Surtain said via Tomasson post-game. "That's how special he is." 

After seeing what Bonitto can do in joint practice and preseason game action, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan was probably delighted Bonitto got put on ice after only a dozen defensive snaps. Bonitto did come up a little gimpy after pursuing Jones and forcing a throw-away on a third down, but it wasn't anything serious.

Just like Surtain, Shanahan was impressed by Bonitto. Across the league, people in high places are waking up to what the former Oklahoma Sooner is capable of. 

"He did ruin that entire series," Shanahan said after the game. "It was three plays in a row... Bonitto is a hell of a player. We knew that would be a challenge." 

That challenge Shanahan couldn't cope with figures to become an ongoing mission for Bonitto this season: he must prove he's capable of handling plenty of chips and double teams in 2025. 

Only Denver's sluggish defensive start to preseason Game 1 will likely make head coach Sean Payton's 14-point 'pissed off' list he'll be addressing with the team this week. But when Payton gets around to showing his guys the wildly contrasting game tape from Saturday, Bonitto will likely be the poster boy for the first-team defense.

While the timeline for extending Bonitto might not be perfectly defined at the moment, it seems pointless to delay much longer. In the NFL, timing is everything.