Cortez Broughton

BIOGRAPHY

Cortez Broughton was born on September 2nd, 1996, in Warner Robins, Georgia. He is a defensive tackle in the National Football League.

Broughton was drafted by the Los Angeles Chargers (242nd overall pick) in the seventh round of the 2019 NFL Draft.

At high school, Broughton was named all-county defensive player of the year as a senior at Veterans High in Kathleen, Georgia. He totaled 58 tackles (35 solo), 11 tackles for loss, an INT, a sack and a pass defensed in his final prep season. He was part of a group that started the first organized team at Veterans High. He lettered four years in football, three in basketball and one in track & field.

During college in 2014, Broughton appeared in two games before suffering a season-ending injury. He received a medical redshirt, and tabbed as a two-star recruit by 247Sports.com, Rivals.com and Scout.com. He was a two-way player who saw time on the defensive and offensive line, tabbed as the SportsMic.com All-County Defensive Player of the Year in 2013, and tallied 58 total tackles as a senior, including 35 solo stops and 11 tackles for a loss

On 2015, he played in 11 games, totaling 26 tackles, as well as 1.5 tackles for loss. He recorded five tackles, including 0.5 for a loss and one quarterback hurry, at Miami (Ohio), he posted four tackles at Houston and made five tackles in home finale versus Tulsa.

For the 2016 season, Broughton was a Second-Team All-AAC honoree who started all 12 games for the Bearcats and was a disruptive force up the middle. He finished the season with 42 tackles, including a season-high five stops against USF. He added five tackles for a loss, two-and-a-half sacks, a pair of pass break ups and his first career interception, against Miami (Ohio) as UC won the Victory Bell for the 11th straight year. He helped lead a defensive front that improved 15 spots in the NCAA FBS rush defense rankings, 16 spots in scoring defense, 58 spots in team tackles for loss and 24 spots in sacks.

Following the 2017 season, Broughton started 12 games on the defensive line, and ranked among UC’s Top-10 tacklers with 34 total stops. He also added 3.5 tackles for a loss, five QB hurries, a fumble recovery and a sack, and posted his best game of the year in the finale against UConn, racking up six tackles, a TFL and a QB hurry. He recovered a fumble at Michigan and had at least two tackles in 11 of 12 games on the season.

At 2018, he was one of UC's 2018 captains, a 13-game starter in the middle of the defense line, Broughton was a First-Team All-American Athletic Conference choice, he made 51 stops, including a team-best 17.5 tackles for a loss and 6.5 sacks, and also added five passes defended, four QB hurries and a forced fumble and had four or more tackles in seven of 12 games. Broughton was third in the American in tackles for a loss (1.35 per game) and tied for fifth in sacks (0.5 per game). He set career marks with 3.5 tackles for a loss and 2.5 sacks in the opener at UCLA and was dominant against Navy, posting a career-best 10 tackles and helping to lead the effort which held the Midshipmen to under 175 yards of total offense and only 124 yards rushing, closing out his career with five tackles in the Military Bowl against Virginia Tech.

On September 3, 2021, Broughton was signed to the Kansas City Chiefs practice squad. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Chiefs on February 2, 2022. He was waived on July 27, 2022, after failing a physical. He was re-signed to the practice squad on September 27, 2022. He was released on October 11.

On December 6, 2022, Broughton was signed to the Buffalo Bills practice squad. He signed a reserve/future contract on January 23, 2023.