Nik Bonitto Explains Why the Broncos Are Ready to Win Bigger

The Denver Broncos won 12 one-score games, counting playoffs, last year, but Nik Bonitto explained how that experience could fuel some bigger margins of victory in 2026.

INGLEWOOD, CA - SEPTEMBER 21: Denver Broncos linebacker Nik Bonitto (15) celebrates a sack during the NFL, American Football Herren, USA game between the Denver Broncos and the Los Angeles Chargers on September 21, 2025, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, CA. | Jevone Moore / IMAGO / Icon Sportswire

Nik Bonitto turned in his second straight Pro Bowl campaign last year, despite dealing with a season-long wrist injury that required him to wear a club-like cast on his right hand. As a point-of-attack player, not having full command of your dominant hand should be crippling, but Bonitto still posted a career-high 14 sacks.

However, throughout the season, Bonitto had two separate three-game stretches where he went without a sack. With the 1984 Chicago Bears' all-time sack record in their sights, the Broncos came tantalizingly close to breaking the record, but ended up falling four sacks short.

Some would argue that Bonitto's second three-game mini-slump was a big reason for the Broncos coming up short of the all-time single-season record, but I would argue that his rush linebacker partner, Jonathon Cooper, totaling just one sack in the final eight games, was more impactful.

Bonitto explained to 9NEWS' Mike Klis what really contributed to his second mini-slump.

“It was a little bit of everything really,’’ Bonitto told 9NEWS during minicamp in June. “It was just trying to work through the whole wrist thing. Not being able to have … wearing the cast, it kind of takes away a lot of stuff you can do. Hard to shed, hard to grab, all those things.”

True Grit

It's honestly a testament to the player Bonitto is that he managed to notch 14 sacks with that wrist injury. He entered the 2025 season no longer a sleeper; his Pro Bowl/All-Pro breakout campaign the year prior put him firmly on the radar of every NFL quarterback and offensive coordinator.

That meant more double teams, more chips, and more cut blocks, which of course contributed in some way to Bonitto's pair of mini-slumps, too. Again, though, his injury combined with all that new attention he received makes his production all the more impressive.

Bonitto is expected to be fully healthy and unencumbered by that right-hand cast when training camp rolls around. On the heels of the mega-extension he signed last summer, his place with the Broncos is secure, and he's got the chance to do something really special in his fifth NFL season.

“I want to continue to grow and be a better player than I was the previous year,’’ Bonitto told 9NEWS. “Whatever comes with that comes with it but I just want to continue to get better.”

Von Miller holds the single-season franchise record for sacks, with 18.5, notched back in 2012. That gives Bonitto a goal to shoot for in 2026. He's also considered a top candidate to be the NFL's sack champ this season.

Winning Bigger

Denver Broncos linebacker Nik Bonitto strip-sacks Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen in the playoffs. | Dustin Bradford / IMAGO / Icon Sportswire

With how accomplished Bonitto is at this early stage in his career, it's important to remember that he's still growing as a pro. He didn't become a full-time starter until 2024, which was his third NFL season.

By the same token, this Broncos team may have won 14 games and come oh so close to punching a ticket to the Super Bowl, but they're still very young, with plenty of room to grow. 11 of their regular-season wins were of the one-score variety, but he believes that experience, combined with the continuity of the coaching staff and the personnel, will lead to bigger things in 2026.

“If you look at it, on both sides of the ball, I feel like we could have played better in a lot of spots,’’ Bonitto told 9NEWS. “I feel with the players we have coming back, the coaches we have coming back, we can only grow on those things and we can learn a lot from last year. Where we’re winning those one-score games and just the difference where we can blow a team out, so it’s going to be good, bringing everybody back.’’

Fans are waiting to see that blow-out level of dominance from the Broncos. It's going to be hard for them to jump on opponents' throats early on this season, with a mind-bogglingly stiff first six weeks on the schedule.

However, if the Broncos can weather that storm, and get to Week 7 at 3-3 or better, the schedule then opens up and softens for a long stretch, which could allow them to be that bully-type of team against lesser opponents. Unfortunately, one of the hallmarks of the Sean Payton-era Broncos has been a frustrating propensity for playing down to competition.

It's very bizarre, because the Broncos have played upper-tier opponents with tremendous intensity and focus. The lesser teams that have crossed their path — like the New York Jets, Las Vegas Raiders, Cleveland Browns, Indianapolis Colts, Cincinnati Bengals, and others — somehow draw a less-enthused Broncos squad, even though, most of the time, they still prevail.

Not in all cases, though. The Broncos lost to the Bengals in Week 17 in 2024 and the Colts in Week 2 last year.

Based on what Bonitto has seen from his team through the offseason training program, he sees the Broncos as "hungry" going into the 2026 season, and that's encouraging.

“I think we’ve got a hungry team, man,’’ Bonitto told 9NEWS. “Just knowing how close we were last year and I mean, you can see it from where we stepped in for OTAs Day 1, everybody was hitting the ground running. We’re all competing against each other. OTAs felt like fall camp practices sometimes. We’re just hungry, we want to get back to it.”

The Takeaway

Let's hope Bonitto's nagging wrist injury is in the rearview. With John Franklin-Myers departing for Tennessee and Cooper's cloudy future due to his off-the-field legal troubles, the Broncos are going to need their Pro Bowl edge rusher more than ever.

Winning bigger should definitely be a Broncos objective this season. That's also where the national media will be impressed to finally start glazing the Broncos and giving them the respect they deserve.

Honestly, Bonitto and the defense will come correct, returning 10 of 11 starters. The onus will fall on Bo Nix and Davis Webb to get the offense out to stronger starts, even against some of the tougher opponents on the 2026 schedule.

Bonitto will join his teammates on July 28 when the veterans report to Broncos Park Powered by CommonSpirit to kick off training camp. From there, the 2026 whirlwind will begin, and we'll begin to bet a bead on how the Broncos are shaping up in Year 4 of the Payton era.

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