ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — However his NFL career turns out, Drew Sanders will always have his strong first impression on Broncos owner Greg Penner.
Penner was watching the Broncos' rookie minicamp practice Saturday from the sideline when a 7-on-7 pass play came his way. Broncos head coach Sean Payton had just been telling Penner how well veteran quarterback Ben DiNucci was doing. But it was DiNucci who threw the sideline pass not far from where Penner was standing. The pass sailed a bit high and Sanders, who was playing inside linebacker, ranged to his right, intercepted the pass near the sideline with great timing, and started running the other way for what what would have been a pick six had it not been practice.
As Payton kidded DiNucci about his new future as a Walmart greeter -- and it was a joke as DiNucci was signed to the Broncos' roster a couple days later -- Sanders was drawing body bumps and high fives after making the biggest play of the day.
“Did my job and it ended up working out in my favor,’’ Sanders said, and no more.
Sanders became the final Broncos' draft pick to sign his contract with his agent Kyle McCarthy -- a former Broncos backup safety and special teamer -- along with team contract guru Rich Hurtado, hammering out a four-year, $5.7 million contract Wednesday that included a $1.71 million signing bonus.
In the Broncos, Sanders hopes to find stability. He transferred around multiple Dallas-area high schools to follow his dad as a football coach, then transferred again in college from Alabama to Arkansas.
There is no second-guessing his last move as Sanders went from as a reserve linebacker at Alabama, to a do-everything inside/outside linebacker at Arkansas where he had 9.5 sacks last season. His inside-out versatility helped make him the Broncos' third-round draft pick and a couple million dollars richer in 2023.
“I kind of planned on playing inside once I got to the NFL,'' Sanders said.
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