As a former first-round pick, Broncos left tackle Garett Bolles has a contract option for a fifth year in 2021. Denver’s front office must decide by May if they are going to pick up the 27-year-old tackle’s option.
Broncos general manager John Elway told The Denver Post‘s Ryan O’Halloran at the Senior Bowl this week that “there’s no sense doing it early.” If the team does pick up Bolles’ option, it probably won’t happen until closer to the deadline.
Elway noted that Bolles was coached up well by offensive line coach Mike Munchak and assistant offensive line coach Chris Kuper but he reiterated that Bolles still has to show more improvement.
“He’s got to continue to get better because we can’t afford to have those holding penalties,” Elway told O’Halloran.
Bolles’ future beyond the 2020 season might be up in the air but his status for this season seems clear. He is set to earn $1,969,351 this season, which is a fair price for a player who hasn’t missed a single start in three years.
“One thing about Garett, he was available,” Elway said during his end-of-season press conference on Dec. 30. “He was there every play. I don’t think he missed a play this year. We talked about availability — he was there. He got off to a slow start, but I think that he continued to get better and better and better as the year went on.”
As the Broncos begin preparing for the offseason program, it certainly sounds like Bolles is part of their plans for 2020.
“Garett continued to get better [last year],” Elway said. “He got better and he was available, and that’s important.”
As for 2021, Denver is in no rush to make a decision on Bolles.
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