Center Luke Wattenberg isn’t going anywhere. He signed a four-year extension to stay with the Denver Broncos on Wednesday. With a roughly $1.2 million cap number this season, though, — from a team perspective — Wattenberg’s contract is a five-year, $49.2 million pact. Since the extension is taking place during the season, the Broncos can spill some of the four-year pact onto 2025 for accounting purposes. More on this below.
Who Is Luke Wattenberg?
Simply, Wattenberg’s extension becomes a five-year, $49.2 million contract with the already-existing final year of his rookie contract not yet complete. That’s opposed to a four-year, $48 million contract if Wattenberg waited to extend at the start of the new league year in 2026 after playing out his rookie contract.
It’s similar to the Broncos extending left tackle Garett Bolles in the middle of the final year of his rookie contract in 2020 and in the middle of the final year of his extension in 2024. Midseason extensions lower the cap numbers of the new contract.
Wattenberg, a 2022 fifth-round pick out of Washington, gets $27 million guaranteed, according to The Athletic. His annual salary is tied for fifth among centers. The Broncos’ offense is No. 14 in PFSN’s Offense Impact Score, while the offensive line is No. 2 in PFSN’s Team Offensive Line Impact Score.
Wattenberg, meanwhile, is No. 48 in PFSN’s Player Offensive Line Impact Score among all offensive linemen. For reference, there are 160 starting offensive linemen. Wattenberg has allowed five penalties in 688 offensive snaps. And he has not allowed a sack in 426 pass-block snaps, according to TruMedia via The Athletic.
Because of Wattenberg’s development, the Broncos allowed former center Lloyd Cushenberry to walk in free agency after the 2023 season. He signed a four-year, $50 million contract with the Tennessee Titans, with $26 million guaranteed. Wattenberg became the starter in 2024 and hasn’t looked back, no intended pun.
One of Broncos general manager George Paton’s five best draft picks is Wattenberg. Since entering the starting lineup, he has started 24 of a possible 28 games. Wattenberg’s been a cost-effective starter, offsetting the dead cap hit of Wilson that’s on the books for 2024 and ’25. Until now.
That said, we correctly predicted Paton would extend Wattenberg before the end of the season, writing, “Paton will probably extend the Day 3 pick to bolster his resume. He’ll be able to say he extended a player from the 2022 draft class on Day 3 who became a starter. That’s not a starter round.”
The Broncos, meanwhile, play the Commanders in Week 13.
