• Patrick Surtain II will remain with the Denver Broncos through 2025

The NFL franchise announced on Tuesday afternoon that the Denver Broncos had exercised their option to extend cornerback Patrick Surtain II’s rookie contract for a fifth season.

The Broncos will have the former Alabama All-American under contract until the 2025 season by accepting the option. Surtain’s guaranteed pay of $19.802 million for his fifth season was another perk of the option. Surtain, the ninth pick overall in the 2021 NFL Draft, was selected by Denver. A four-year contract with a fifth-season team option is signed by each first-round draft selection. However, that option must to be used prior to the player’s fourth season. The 2021 first-rounders have until May 2 to meet this criterion.Had Surtain performed as a typical cornerback during his first three seasons, Denver would have paid $6.425 million more than what $13.377 million would have cost for the fifth-year option.

However, Surtain has already been selected for the Pro Bowl twice and named to the first team of the All-Pro team once in his three seasons.

Surtain is among the most costly class of players with fifth-year options, which consists of players who were picked for at least two Pro Bowls on the original roster for the all-star game in their first three seasons.The other categories are for players who have only appeared in one Pro Bowl, players who have not appeared in two Pro Bowls but have played at least 75% of offensive or defensive snaps in two seasons or 50% of all snaps in three seasons, and players who have not met the playing-time requirements or the Pro Bowl.

Surtain’s non-exclusive franchise-tag tender, which is determined by taking the five highest salaries at a position, has the same value as his fifth-year option. For the 2025 season, that is almost as much money as Surtain will make for the course of his current four-year deal, which is valued at $20.963 million.Surtain has participated in every game of his career save one and has played 3,129 defensive snaps over the course of three seasons. In addition to 187 tackles, he has 36 passes defended and seven interceptions.

Surtain was selected as the 2023 Demaryius Thomas Team MVP Award winner by the Pro Football Writers of America’s Denver chapter.

In 2020, when the Crimson Tide won the CFP national title with an undefeated record, Surtain won the SEC Defensive Player of the Year Award and was unanimously named an All-American at Alabama.