Wednesday was a historic day for the Denver Broncos and their long-term cornerstone franchise cornerback Patrick Surtain II. Years of hard work have paid off, with Pat landing a historic contract extension that made him the highest-paid defensive back in NFL history, and even after the extension, he’s still focused on playing at the highest level.

Denver Broncos cornerback Patrick Surtain II is built to handle pressure after massive contract extension

The Denver Broncos knocked off one of their biggest to-do items before the regular season even began, locking in their lockdown cornerback to a four-year extension. Patrick Surtain II is no stranger to the spotlight, dating back to his days playing High School Football for Florida powerhouse American Heritage, where his father, Pat Sr., coached him. That spotlight transcended over into his time at Alabama, under Nick Saban’s coaching and direction.

Denver drafted Pat with the ninth overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, and because of the Broncos’ uncertainty at the quarterback position, many people wondered why the team went cornerback. Surtain proved right away that he was the right choice for Denver. With his rise, he’s overcome the pressure of where he was drafted and has immediately become one of the NFL’s top young players and one of the top cornerbacks in the game. Luckily for Broncos head coach Sean Payton, he doesn’t have to gameplan against him.

“It presents a lot of challenges, and it actually can give the defense some freedom relative to how they want to support the run,” Payton said. “They’re just hard to find. It’s probably one of the harder positions to play in our league. It does create matchup problems offensively, but just as importantly—more importantly—it allows you some flexibility on defense to do things that maybe you couldn’t normally do if you didn’t have someone of that caliber.”

Pat’s mindset hasn’t changed one bit, even with the high praise and respect he’s received league-wide.

“It means a lot, for sure, in that margin, but at the end of the day, I just focus on doing the best I can do on the field,” Surtain said. “Being the best version of myself each and every day. I don’t try to allow the pressure to get to me, I build off of it and just play the game that I play and love doing.”

Now that the burden of waiting for the contract extension is over, Surtain’s focus can solely be on playing the game, winning in his assignments and matchups for the next six years.

Surtain landed a historic extension on Wednesday, and his teammates voted him as a team captain.

“It means a lot,” Surtain said. “It’s a testament to how my teammates think of me as an individual. I’m ready to take on that captain role, and I’m looking forward to this year. Obviously, it’s my first year being a captain. I don’t take that role very lightly. It’s a huge honor for me to be able to lead such a great team moving forward towards the season. I’m honestly very grateful for it, and I can’t wait for the year to start.”

And what a way for the year to start by taking on DK Metcalf on Sunday as the Denver Broncos take on the Seahawks at 2:05 p.m. MT on CBS.