Garett Bolles Sends Message to Broncos Amid Clouded Future

Garett Bolles definitely made his feelings clear to the Denver Broncos.

Jul 29, 2022; Englewood, CO, USA; Denver Broncos tackle Garett Bolles (72) during training camp at the UCHealth Training Center. / Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Amid the elation of the Denver Broncos giving right guard Quinn Meinerz a mega-extension and wideout Courtland Sutton a small pay bump, the unresolved future of franchise left tackle Garett Bolles hangs like a pall.

The Broncos' 2017 first-round pick enters a contract year, and for the first time this summer, Bolles shared his hopes for the future.

“I love this city and I love this organization. I want to play my whole career here," Bolles said on Friday. "The front office knows that. They know I want to be a Bronco for life. My family is here and established here. We love it here. We don’t want to go anywhere else.  My job is to just play good football and the ball is in their court. I just have to do my job and the rest will take care of itself.”

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That's the rub. So long as the just-turned 32-year-old acquits himself well on the grid-iron, his contractual future will "take care of itself."

The truth is, in a league that puts a premium on blind-side blockers on the edge, reliable, competent left tackles don't grow on trees. There was a time early on in Bolles' career when he wasn't so reliable, but since 2020, he's become one of the better left tackles in the NFL, even earning All-Pro honors that year.

Bolles has been outspoken in his desire to play for a winning team. Unfortunately, his arrival to the Mile High City happened a year into what has become an eight-season playoff drought. Like the fictional Nacho Libre once said, "I don't want to get paid to lose. I wanna win!"

“This team is special. We have special people, and it starts with [Head] Coach [Sean] Payton," Bolles said. "The phenomenal coach that he is, he puts us in the right places and the right mindset. Everything that we have is right in front of us. We just have to put in the work and continue to find our edge, continue to find our identity and the rest will take care of itself.”

That quite appropriately describes Bolles' mindset, and bless him for it. Payton surely appreciates it, and if the Broncos get the quarterback situation figured out this year, and Bo Nix turns out to be the guy the team believes he is, those winning ways will return to this storied franchise.

With about a $16 million salary this year, Bolles is currently the 10th-highest-paid left tackle in the NFL. He'll be 33 next year, so even if he plays well in 2024, if he truly wants to stay in Denver, he might have to be willing to accept a paycheck that's not quite top-10 in the NFL. But maybe not.

Either way, Bolles is sending a message to the Broncos, and a sincere one at that. He wants to play out his career in Denver.

“He’s a tremendous athlete," Payton said of Bolles on Friday. "He’s extremely athletic. You don’t feel eight years. Sometimes you feel that when you work with a player, other times you don’t. I don’t feel that with him.”

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