Denver Broncos

UFL offensive player of the year Hakeem Butler is getting another shot at the NFL.

Mike Garafolo of NFL Media reports that the Broncos are signing Butler ahead of their mandatory minicamp this week. The wideout won the UFL award while playing with the St. Louis Battlehawks this spring.

Butler also won the offensive player of the year award while playing for St. Louis in 2024 and he’s spent the last three seasons with the team. He had 29 catches for 641 yards and three touchdowns during the 2026 season.

Butler was a 2019 fourth-round pick of the Cardinals and spent his entire rookie season on injured reserve. He played in two games for the Eagles in 2020 and has also spent time with the Panthers, Steelers and Bengals over the course of his career.

The new Patrick Mahomes contract covers eight seasons and averages, from signing, a payout of $63.093 million per year. That pushes the market to unprecedented heights. And it brings into focus the next wave of quarterback deals.

So let’s take a look at the quarterbacks who’ll use the Mahomes contract as a key data point for ongoing or upcoming negotiations.

Lamar Jackson, Ravens.

Jackson has wanted a new deal for more than a year. His current contract averaged $52.5 million per year from signing. At the time it was finalized, he was the highest paid player in the league. He has now slid down to the bottom of the top 10. Mahomes getting to $63.09 million, especially while still recovering from a torn ACL, will only strengthen Lamar’s resolve.

Jackson currently has $104 million remaining on his current contract, over the next two years. With a no-tag clause, he can kick the can through the next two seasons and become an unrestricted free agent. It gives him significant leverage, and Mahomes’s contract likely nudges Lamar’s reasonable expectations from at least $60.1 million per year (based on Dak Prescott’s latest deal) to at least $63.1 million annually.

Joe Burrow, Bengals.

In 2023, after his first three NFL seasons, Burrow agreed to a seven-year deal with an average from signing of $44.28 million per year and a new-money average of $55 million. He has four years left with a total payout of $163.539 million, an average of $40.88 million.

His recent restructuring was a cap-creation device, with no new money. The Bengals, who are extremely careful with money, may not be inclined to tear up the current deal and replace it with a new contract.

For his part, Burrow may not be inclined to extend his commitment to the team. His discontent after three straight non-playoff seasons has become more obvious. As he enters his seventh season in Cincinnati, Burrow could be thinking about reaching the same conclusion Carson Palmer did after his eighth.

Baker Mayfield, Buccaneers.

He has said talks on a deal that would extend his $33.3 million per year contract are nowhere close to where he thought they’d be. The Buccaneers could tag him in 2027, or they could let him hit the open market.

Some think the Bucs wouldn’t use the franchise tag; with a 2026 cap number of $39.975 million, Mayfield’s 2027 franchise tender would be at least $47.97 million. There’s a sense in some circles that the Bucs believe they’ll ultimately offer him more than anyone would in free agency, if a new deal isn’t done before Mayfield’s self-imposed deadline of the start of training camp.

C.J. Stroud.

The Texans repeatedly have proclaimed that he’s their guy. But they have yet to do for him what they’d done for cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. and defensive end Will Anderson — sign the first-round pick to a new deal before his fourth season.

The challenge at this point comes from putting a number on his second contract. There’s a broad range when it comes to veteran quarterback pay. Where would Stroud fit?

Currently, the number would be lower than it could be for Stroud, if he has a strong fourth season. Since the Texans realize that, at this point, they’d be only bidding against themselves, there’s no reason to rush the process.

Caleb Williams, Bears.

The first overall pick in the 2024 draft becomes eligible for a new deal after the 2026 regular season. And Williams has been very focused on the business realities of the NFL, from even before he was drafted.

When the time comes for Williams to get a new deal, the Mahomes number will drive the discussion. Especially if Williams continues to be on a trajectory that could put him among the top four or five quarterbacks in football.

We’ve already heard talk of Williams having expectations that would be more than eye-popping. And we also expect that Williams will make it known that he wants his contract not after the 2026 postseason ends, but promptly upon the opening of the window for a new deal after the Bears face the Vikings in Week 18.

Why carry the injury risk into the 2026 postseason? No quarterback on his rookie deal has tried to do that, even though the CBA wrinkle has been hiding in plain sight since 2011.

Jayden Daniels, Commanders.

Like Williams, Daniels becomes eligible for a new deal after the 2026 regular season. His main goal should be to reestablish himself after a disappointing and injury-plagued second season, during which he played only seven of 17 games.

If Daniels returns to his rookie form, he’ll be joining Williams as a quarterback looking for a second contract.

Drake Maye, Patriots.

The player who finished second in the MVP voting to cap his second season also has his window open after the 2026 regular season. And the Patriots will be hoping that, like Tom Brady before him, Maye will be less inclined to break the bank and more inclined to ensure that there will be cap space to have a quality team around him.

Brady, who entered the league as the 199th overall pick, had naturally lower expectations early in his career. Maye, the third overall pick who was denied the commensurate reward due to the rookie wage scale, may not be as charitable as Brady was.

Bo Nix, Broncos.

Nix’s window likewise opens after the 2026 regular season. He’ll need to show he has fully recovered from the foot injury suffered late in the AFC playoff win over the Bills. And he’ll need to do even more in Sean Payton’s offense to unlock a major deal.

Regardless, there’s a new high bar — and his contemporaries from the 2024 draft could add more data points.

That raises another question, as to Williams, Daniels, Maye, and Nix. Who goes first? There will be a competition among the agents to emerge with the best deal. This could prompt some of them to wait until the others jump in the pool first.

Sam Darnold, Seahawks.

Darnold’s three-year, $100.5 million contract from 2025 was structured to give the Seahawks an escape hatch after one year. It wasn’t structured to force the team back to the table if Darnold leads the team to a Super Bowl win.

With $27.5 million in base pay and up to $5 million in available incentives, Darnold would be justified to seek a new deal. The Seahawks may want to wait until 2027.

Regardless, Mahomes’s new contract will be a factor, whenever it’s time to sit down and work out a new contract.

Broncos outside linebacker Jonathon Cooper has been arrested and jailed again after he was accused of violating a protection order in connection with his arrest last week.

Cooper is now being held in Douglas County jail on four charges stemming from violating the protection order against him, according to 9 News in Denver.

The latest arrest happened at 10:07 p.m. on Thursday night. Cooper faces two domestic violence charges, one harassment charge based on repeated phone calls and a fourth charge for violation of a protection order.

Cooper’s previous arrest happened one week earlier. Although he was initially charged with a misdemeanor, he is now facing a felony charge.

Hours before the second arrest, Broncos coach Sean Payton was asked about Cooper and said the league will take the lead on handling the matter.

Broncos linebacker Jonathon Cooper, who was arrested last week and charged with a misdemeanor after his girlfriend accused him of domestic violence, is now facing a more serious felony charge.

Court records show that Cooper faces a felony charge of second-degree assault, according to 9 News in Denver.

Cooper and his girlfriend were both arrested when police were called to an incident in which his girlfriend said he grabbed her by the throat, while he said she took his phone.

Broncos coach Sean Payton said yesterday that he has talked to Cooper but hasn’t addressed the entire team about the incident. Payton said the league takes the lead on matters like this.

“I think the league has done a good job of coming in and really taken over that responsibility,” Payton said. “We had a long visit with Coop and now the process plays out. The league obviously will be very much involved in that. We’ll stay abreast. . . . When it’s the offseason or the weekends, no news is always good news. Knock on wood, we’ve had a long stretch where that’s been the case, and now we’ll stay as informed as possible. We’ll follow the league’s guidelines, and I’m sure a lot of that will be led by the local authorities’ guidelines. So we’ll pay attention to all of it.”

Cooper could face a suspension under the league’s personal conduct policy. If he is suspended, he will lose a game check for each game he misses. That incentivizes Cooper not to do anything to delay the process, as his salary is $67,500 per game this season, but jumps to $721,667 per game next year.

Three years after signing a five-year contract with the Broncos, coach Sean Payton has a new five-year deal. On Thursday, he was asked by reporters how much longer he plans to coach.

“Well, five years,” Payton said with a laugh. “I think most importantly, aligning with [G.M.] George [Paton] and the working relationship. We enjoy coming to work together and going through this together. I think we think a lot alike.

But, no, you guys heard that story a year ago in Vegas, the week prior Bo [Nix] asked me, ‘How long?’ And I was like, ‘Shoot. Plenty of time. Eight years, nine years. Whatever.’ Then we had one of those gameday moments and I said, ‘Well right now it feels like one year.’

“Fair question, but I haven’t really given any thought to the end game. I think I have a lot of juice left and enjoy what we’re doing. Someone asked the other day, ‘Do you enjoy it?’ I think when that stops is when you have to look at it. I’m not at that spot right now.”

Payton, now 62, first became an NFL head coach in 2006. And he has a chance to become the first coach to win a Super Bowl with two different teams.

Others in the league who currently have a chance to do that include Steelers coach Mike McCarthy and Giants coach John Harbaugh.

Broncos quarterback Bo Nix is making progress in his recovery from the fractured ankle he suffered in the playoffs.

Nix got some walkthrough reps today, and will do some work in next week’s minicamp, Broncos coach Sean Payton told reporters in Denver. Payton also said that once Nix returns, there are no concerns about his mobility.

Reporters spotted Nix on the practice field without any kind of protective brace on the injured ankle.

All indications are that Nix should be good to go for training camp next month.

Head coach Sean Payton has brought winning back to Denver.

The Broncos are going to keep him around.

Payton has agreed to a new five-year deal with the club, keeping him under contract through 2030, the team announced on Thursday.

“Sean Payton has led an impressive turnaround over the past three seasons, instilling a winning culture with high expectations,” Broncos owner Greg Penner said in a statement. “I appreciate the close partnership he shares with George Paton, along with the alignment and stability across our football operations.

“We’re thrilled for Sean to continue leading our team as head coach, building on our progress during such an exciting time for the Broncos.”

Payton, 62, has accumulated a 32-19 regular-season record with a 1-2 postseason record with the Broncos through three seasons. After beginning his tenure 8-9, the Broncos were 10-7 to make the postseason with a Wild Card berth in 2024.

The team was then the AFC’s No. 1 seed in 2025 after going 14-3. But Bo Nix’s ankle injury suffered at the end of the divisional round left the club in an unfavorable position for the AFC Championship Game, which Denver ended up losing to New England.

Payton’s new deal aligns him with General Manager George Paton, who also signed a new deal to remain under contract with Denver through 2030 last month.

More than 90 percent of the players selected in the 2026 NFL draft have signed their rookie contracts. Among the players who remain unsigned, there are two big clusters, at the top of the third round and the top of the fourth round.

The first six players drafted in the third round are still unsigned: Cardinals quarterback Carson Beck, Broncos defensive tackle Tyler Onyedim, Raiders defensive end Keyron Crawford, Eagles tackle Markel Bell, Bears tight end Sam Roush and 49ers edge rusher Romello Height.

The first seven players drafted in the fourth round are also unsigned: Raiders cornerback Jermond McCoy, Bills tackle Jude Bowry, Jets defensive tackle Darrell Jackson Jr., Cardinals defensive tackle Kaleb Proctor, Chargers wide receiver Brenen Thompson, Texans guard Febechi Nwaiwu and 49ers defensive tackle Gracen Halton.

Those 13 players make up the majority of the 2026 draft picks who haven’t signed their rookie contracts yet.

Bills General Manager Brandon Beane said on the team’s YouTube show that high third and fourth-round picks are encouraged by the players’ union to ask for contract provisions that the players in the previous round are getting.

“A lot of years it was the third round took forever,” Beane said. “The union is constantly trying to push down everything from the second round into the third round, and then the third round to make the fourth round better. In this CBA it feels like the fourth round has become more difficult.”

Beane said he understand why Bowry’s agent doesn’t want him to sign until he sees what other fourth-round picks can get, but he thinks it will work itself out before training camp.

“Sometimes agents are a little afraid to do something if the guy in front of them hasn’t done it,” Beane said. “They don’t want to look bad. It’s all recruiting. Jude’s been great. Until it’s done it’s not done, but we’re optimistic.”

A handful of first- and second-round picks also remain unsigned. Every player picked in the fifth, sixth and seventh rounds has signed.

Broncos tight end Caleb Lohner will miss the rest of the offseason program after a cleanup surgery, Mike Klis of 9News reports.

The body part is specified only as lower body.

Lohner is expected to be ready for training camp.

The Broncos made him a seventh-round pick in 2025. He was primarily a basketball player before transitioning to football in 2024 when he caught four touchdowns for Utah.

Lohner spent last season on Denver’s practice squad but did not play in the regular season. The Broncos elevated him to the game-day roster for the divisional round game against the Bills, but he ended up being inactive.

The Broncos have Evan Engram, Adam Trautman and Nate Adkins on the depth chart ahead of Lohner, and the team drafted Justin Joy, so Lohner has his work cut out for him to make the roster.

Broncos linebacker Jonathon Cooper was arrested last Thursday on domestic violence charges and he was in a Douglas County, Colorado courtroom to enter a plea on Monday.

Cooper pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor charges that he faces for an incident involving his girlfriend, who was also arrested after police responded to the scene. In an affidavit obtained by the Denver Post, Cooper told police he grabbed his girlfriend’s arm while trying to get his phone back while his girlfriend alleges that Cooper grabbed her neck. Officers at the scene noted in their report that she did not have injuries consistent with that alleged action, but did note “a small mark on her neck, scratches on her arm and a small cut on her hand.”

Cooper’s attorney told the Post that his client wants a trial by jury as soon as possible. A motions hearing is set for July 6 with a trial expected to begin on July 22.

Cooper is entering his sixth season with the Broncos.