'I want to chase greatness': After signing contract to remain in Denver, Garett Bolles has his sights set on the future

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Bolles did that, although he said there's not a singular moment where things clicked for him. Instead, he put in the offseason work and focused on having a more detailed plan of attack going into games.


No matter the method, Bolles has found a way to marry his athleticism with a level of consistency and ability to avoid penalties. That put him in position to earn an extension, and he said last week he hoped to finalize a deal before the end of the season. He didn't learn until Friday that his agent was in the middle of negotiations with the team, and he said the previous few days have been "really emotional" as he's celebrated with his family.


If it sounds like Bolles wanted nothing more than to stay in Denver, well, that's accurate. He could have waited until the season ended to either force the Broncos to apply the franchise tag on him or to hit the open market, but he wanted to remain in the place where his NFL career began.


"My hope was I was going to play here my entire career," Bolles said. "I love Denver. Like I said before, I love the city, I love my teammates, I love really everything about this state. The people here, the people that I've ran in contact with and helped and they've helped me, I wanted to stay here. This is home to me. My family's here, my kids — Kingston's starting school and the school that he goes to has been awesome for him. So, yeah, I could have said, 'Yeah, I could have taken in more in free agency,' but that's not the whole point. The contract that Chase Callahan and the Broncos came to agreement with was a perfect contract for me and my family. That's exactly what I needed and my family needed, and that's all that really matters to me.


"Yeah, it would have been awesome to be the highest paid, but at the same time I'm thankful for what I've got. I'm blessed for what I've got and I know the Broncos and Chase did exactly what they needed to do to get me to stay here. I took it and I'm thankful for it. Now it's behind me and now I can just focus on being the best left tackle in the game of football and continue to help this Broncos organization to get back on top of AFC West."


Bolles' goals certainly are high as he aims to help the Broncos return to the playoffs for the first time since the 2015 season. He said he wants to be more than a solid player for Denver. Instead, he wants to chase greatness.


"I want to be a guy to where an O-lineman down the road — 10 years down the road — will look at my film and say, 'How can I be like that guy?'" Bolles said. "I want to be that role model, and I want to chase greatness. I want to be the best left tackle to ever play this game. That's my mindset. I'm going to continue to do whatever I can to fight for things to come true."