Broncos LB Jonathon Cooper pleads not guilty to all charges, 1 day after placement on commissioner's exempt list for alleged domestic violence incident

Content warning: This article contains depictions of alleged domestic violence.

Denver Broncos linebacker Jonathan Cooper pleaded not guilty on Monday to all charges related to his multiple arrests for an alleged instance of domestic violence.

Cooper entered his pleas in a Douglas County, Colorado, courtroom, one day after news broke that he'll start the NFL season on the commissioner's exempt list because of the charges.

Cooper is now slated to face a jury trial scheduled for Nov. 10, 12 and 13. The trial will take place during Denver's bye week.

Cooper's placement on the commissioner's exempt list means that he won't be permitted to practice or play as long as he's on it. Cooper will be permitted to attend team meetings. He won't count against Denver's 53-man roster that was set by the NFL's roster cut-down deadline Sunday afternoon.

How long Cooper remains on this list is unclear. The commissioner's exempt list is managed at the discretion of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.

Cooper allegedly strangled his then-girlfriend

Cooper was arrested twice in the same week in June in relation to an alleged domestic violence incident involving his girlfriend. Per court records cited by local reports in Denver, Cooper and his long-term girlfriend were both arrested on June 4 and each charged with criminal mischief as a crime of domestic violence. The charge against Cooper's girlfriend was later dropped.

Per police records, the alleged incident took place during an argument in which Cooper's girlfriend accused him of cheating on her. Per those records, Cooper's girlfriend said she threw his phone across the room, then went to retrieve it to look through it.

Cooper told police that he grabbed his girlfriend by her upper arm and took the phone back and "braced his neck against her neck" in the process. He said he threatened to break her phone if she didn't leave his apartment; police affidavits show that he did bite her phone when she didn't leave.

Cooper's girlfriend told a different story that he "grabbed her by the neck" and held her up against the wall. She also said Cooper picked her up and threw her back on the ground several times and punched the wall "next to her face," according to the police report.

Officers on the scene noted in their report that her injuries "did not appear consistent with a larger male lifting [her] up into the air by her throat as well as repeatedly being thrown to the ground."

Medical exam led to felony assault charge

Cooper pleaded not guilty to the initial charges in court the next week. He was placed under a protection order that he was not to "harass, molest, intimidate, retaliate against or tamper" with his girlfriend. Prosecutors say that Cooper violated that order by sending her multiple text messages and going to her home.

Police arrested Cooper again on June 11 on four new charges, per Denver's 9 News :

Felony second-degree assault — strangulation

Third-degree assault — knowingly or recklessly causing injury

Prosecutors added the felony assault charge after a medical examination stated that Cooper's girlfriend suffered "serious bodily injury" in the incident. A nurse's report obtained by police described her injuries as consistent with "strangulation with hypoxia."

Cooper faced his arraignment and pleaded not guilty Monday, and he'll face trial in November. An NFL investigation remains ongoing. It's not clear when or if he'll be cleared to play for the Broncos.

The Broncos excused Cooper from mandatory minicamp upon his second arrest. He returned to the team and was a full participant with Denver's starters in training camp and suited up for all three of Denver's preseason games. The Broncos named Cooper a captain for Friday's preseason finale against the Minnesota Vikings.

Cooper, a five-year NFL veteran and seventh-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, has emerged as a full-time starter for the Broncos. He started in all of Denver's 17 regular-season games in each of the previous three seasons.

Cooper has recorded eight-plus sacks in each of the past three seasons, including a career-high 10.5 in 2024. He has 31.5 sacks for his career and is considered a key contributor to a Broncos defense that projects as one of the best in the NFL.

Head coach Sean Payton addressed Cooper's situation with reporters on July 29 at the onset of training camp.

"We're staying course with league protocol, club protocol, relative to what we're advised to do," Payton said. "He's been fantastic working away from the building, and we'll continue to do that and monitor it.

"We're supportive, and yet, very much aware of the seriousness of these type of things. … We're proud of the work he did these last, we'll call it a month and a half. It wasn't easy. It will continue to be a challenge. We'll see where it goes. But fully supportive of him right now as we gather all the information, and we'll go from there."