ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Jonathon Cooper had a wild swing of emotions over the weekend.
First, he signed a four-year, $60 million extension with the Denver Broncos at the team hotel in Baltimore on the eve of a 41-10 shellacking at the hands of the Ravens.
The real pain came Monday when the Broncos (5-4) traded Baron Browning, his teammate for the last four years in Denver and four seasons at Ohio State, to the Arizona Cardinals.
“Baron’s been my guy, my teammate, for eight years,” Cooper said Wednesday. “I was really hurt and really sad to see him go. But it’s a good opportunity for him and I know he’ll take full advantage of it.”
Cooper and Browning were both drafted by Denver in 2021. Browning was a third-rounder and Cooper a seventh-rounder after an irregularity in an EKG just before the draft led to three heart ablation surgeries that May. He missed most of the offseason program that year.
After serving as a spot starter for two years, Cooper has started all 26 games for Denver over the last two seasons, totaling 14 sacks, 14 quarterback hits, 14 tackles for loss and an interception.
For his career, Cooper has 18 1/2 sacks, 183 tackles, 38 quarterback hits and 20 tackles for loss. Browning, who has played 13 fewer games than Cooper because of injuries, has 9 1/2 career sacks to go with 114 tackles, 22 QB hits and 15 tackles for loss.
Browning missed a month this season with a left foot injury and didn’t have any sacks in five games whereas Cooper has been a key component of the Broncos’ stingy defense that has 31 sacks, behind only the New York Giants’ 35.
So, it was an easy choice when general manager George Paton and coach Sean Payton were deciding which would get an extension and which would get traded.
“I’m excited for him,” Payton said of Cooper. “He’s tough, he’s competitive. I think he’s a really good teammate … he certainly deserved it.”
As for parting ways with Browning, Payton said, “It’s never easy to trade someone, and yet I thought just in our visit, George and I and Baron sitting down he totally understood. He was looking forward to getting more snaps and certainly in the (contract) year for him it’s important.”
That means the Broncos game at Kansas City (8-0) on Sunday will mark Cooper’s first game without his old pass-rush partner since his freshman year at Ohio State in 2016. He redshirted that season, a year before Cooper arrived in Columbus.
“We all know how talented Baron is, fantastic football player, fantastic dude, man,” Cooper said. “That’s my brother, and you know I wish him all the best. I talked to him before I went and I know he’s going to go there and ball, so I’m just excited to see what he does.”
Cooper likely could have made more money as a free agent after this season but he said he was pleased with the Broncos’ offer.
“The process went really smooth, and I felt like I didn’t need to take it any further than what it was because I love this program, I love this team, I love the organization,” Cooper said, “and signing it there in the hotel, it just worked out as well as it could.
But, he added, “I’m still (upset) about the game.”
Cooper is the second Denver defender to sign an extension this year, joining star cornerback Patrick Surtain II, who inked a new deal last summer.
“I’m very proud of Coop,” Surtain said. “When you talk about a guy who came in with the right approach, right work ethic and everything along the lines of becoming a great player, that’s him. Him being a seventh-round pick and going through the roster this and that — for him to be able to secure that contract is huge.”
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