First-round cornerback Pat Surtain II signed his four-year contract with the Broncos on Tuesday and the deal has a projected value of $20,962,854.
Under the draft’s rookie wage scale, Surtain will receive a signing bonus of $12,605,712 according to Over the Cap, and have a salary cap number this year of $3,811,428.
Surtain was drafted ninth overall last month and was the second defensive player selected, behind cornerback Jaycee Horn (eighth to Carolina).
Surtain participated in last weekend’s rookie minicamp as well as the first two days of the offseason program’s second phase on Monday-Tuesday.
In the past five years Surtain is the third Broncos first-round pick to sign in May, joining left tackle Garett Bolles (May 11, 2017) and tight end Noah Fant (May 23, 2019).
Six Broncos draft picks are under contract. Unsigned are running back Javonte Williams, center Quinn Meinerz and linebackers Baron Browning and Jonathon Cooper.
Pfifer joins front office. The Broncos made it two front-office hires in two days by agreeing to terms with former NFL linebacker Roman Phifer to be a senior personnel executive on Tuesday.
Provided by Denver Broncos
Roman Phifer.
A three-time Super Bowl-winning linebacker for the New England Patriots, Phifer, 53, will have a hybrid role that will involve pro and college scouting for the Broncos, both at the team’s facility and on the road.
On Monday, Kelly Kleine was hired as executive director of football operations/special assistant to the general manager. Phifer and Kleine are the first two outside-the-organization hires by general manager George Paton.
A teammate of Paton’s at UCLA from 1988-91, Phifer was the Broncos’ assistant linebackers coach in 2009-10 and was most recently a West Coast scout for the Detroit Lions (2018-21).
A second-round draft pick by the Rams in ’91, Phifer played 212 games (177 starts) for the Rams, Patriots, Jets and Giants, posting totals of 1,123 tackles, 29 sacks and 11 interceptions. He won Super Bowl titles with New England after the ’01 and ’03-04 seasons.
After his playing career, Phifer worked for the Broncos and UCLA (director of player development in 2016-17) before joining the Lions.
Hamilton waived. The Broncos waived receiver DaeSean Hamilton with a non-football injury designation on Tuesday. Hamilton sustained a knee injury last Friday while training off-site. The Broncos have the ability to withhold his base salary of $2.183 million.
Hamilton finishes his Broncos career with 81 catches for 833 yards and five touchdowns in 46 games.
The Broncos signed receiver Damion Willis to take Hamilton’s roster spot. Willis, 23, played 10 games for Cincinnati in 2019 and caught nine passes for 82 yards. He finished last season Jacksonville’s practice squad.
Briefly. Receiver Tim Patrick and safety Trey Marshall signed their restricted and exclusive rights free agent tenders, respectively. Patrick’s salary will be $3.384 million and Marshall will make $920,000. Inside linebacker Alexander Johnson has yet to sign his second-round tender.
