ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — As the drumbeat of the construction of their new 205,000-square foot football palace provides the soundtrack around them each day, the Denver Broncos continue to write checks and check things off their business to-do list.
Six days after the team signed wide receiver Courtland Sutton to a contract extension they have agreed to terms on a four-year, $102 million extension for defensive end Zach Allen, according to multiple sources.
Allen's deal, which will begin in 2026, includes $69.5 million in guarantees, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter, and like Sutton's deal will run through the 2029 season. Allen is in the final year of the three-year, $45.75 million contract he signed in 2023 with Denver.
The final year of that deal, which includes a $12.74 million base salary, will stay in place as Allen and his representatives have agreed to a true extension. It is the same structure — a true extension as the final year of the current deal remains in place — the Broncos have used in other high-profile deals such as Sutton's and cornerback Pat Surtain II's.
In the rotational world of defensive line play, Allen is the rarest kind of high-volume player. He played a whopping 89% of the Broncos' defensive snaps last season — he was named a second-team All-Pro — after he had played 81% of the defensive snaps in 2023.
That stamina and his versatility — he plays both end and tackle in some defensive groupings for the Broncos — has consistently drawn praise from coach Sean Payton.
«I think it's a strength,'' Payton said earlier this week. „I am not making the comparison relative to the positions they play. But (New Orleans Saints defensive lineman) Cam Jordan plays a different position, but Cam had the unique ability,
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