Terrance Knighton: ‘I’m definitely going to honor the contract’
Denver Broncos defensive tackle Terrance Knighton addresses the media. Jim O’Hara- USA Today Sports
Denver Broncos defensive tackle Terrance Knighton has one of the NFL’s best nicknames, and the Broncos Super Bowl run allowed the vast majority of NFL fans to learn more about the man affectionately known as “Pot Roast”. He has always been a good player in this league and was once a fixture for the Jacksonville Jaguars for several seasons, and he was certainly a fixture up the middle for the Broncos defense last year, especially since the Broncos lost many key players to injury. Knighton was one of the best run defenders in the NFL last season, and he was a huge reason why the Broncos were statistically the best team in the league at stopping runs up the middle last year.
After last season’s standout performance in which he asserted himself as one of the most valuable defensive tackles in the NFL, Knighton is looking to get paid in a big way. He will make just $2.5 million next season, and that’s far too low for a player of his caliber. But the 27-year-old understands that this is the way it goes, especially since the Broncos spent a ton of money to sign impact players around him on defense like Aqib Talib and T.J. Ward as they gear for a few final shots at a ring with Peyton Manning at the helm. While Knighton obviously would like an extension, he is making all the right comments and isn’t going to let anything become a distraction.
He said, via the Denver Post’s Mike Klis, “I’m definitely going to honor the contract. I want to get something done and I’d like to get something done here. I don’t want to bounce around. But I’m at the point now where once the season starts, I’m just strictly football.”
Knighton wants to stay in Denver, but he is probably aware that he would receive major bucks on the free agent market in 2015 given his value, ability to play the run and pass, and the fact that a lesser DT like Earl Mitchell was a valuable commodity on the free agent market this offseason.