Courtland Sutton has been a popular trade candidate for the better part of a year. While the Broncos’ offseason overhaul has already led to plenty of offensive turnover, it sounds like the former second-round receiver will be sticking in Denver.
[RELATED: Courtland Sutton Absent From Broncos’ Offseason Program]
According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the Broncos have received “multiple trade inquiries” on Sutton. However, the front office doesn’t plan on trading the wideout. Sutton was a no-show for the start of Broncos voluntary offseason workouts, with the understanding being that the receiver was seeking a new contract.
However, Sutton is also rehabbing an ankle injury. According to Mike Klis of 9News in Denver, the wideout had offseason ankle surgery stemming from an injury he suffered during the regular-season finale. Fortunately, it doesn’t sound like the player nor the team are overly concerned about the recovery, and Sutton has been active working out in Florida during the offseason.
Sutton has two years remaining on his contract, including a 2024 campaign where he’s set to earn a base salary of $13MM. The Broncos already picked up his $2MM guarantee for 2024, but that’s the team’s only current financial commitment to the player. None of Sutton’s 2025 earnings are guaranteed. The receiver is set to count for $17.4MM against the cap this season, and he’ll have a similar cap hit in 2025.
An acquiring team could look to sign Sutton to a new deal, although with two years remaining and easy outs on the contract, there certainly wouldn’t be any urgency to sign an extension. That’s probably why the Broncos aren’t in a rush to make a trade, and it’s unlikely teams are offering a whole lot for the wideout. While Sutton has remained relatively healthy throughout his career (he missed most of the 2020 campaign due to a torn ACL but has otherwise missed three career games), he hasn’t put up top-end production. He topped 1,000-yards receiving during his sophomore season, but since returning from his knee injury, he’s averaged only 800 yards per season.
As the Broncos eye an uncertain future on offense, it seems they’re putting some value on Sutton’s continuity. The team already moved on from quarterback Russell Wilson and fellow receiver Jerry Jeudy. If things don’t go well at the beginning of the 2024 campaign, Sutton could be the next offensive player to get shipped out.
He needs to be dealt for whatever they can get for him. It’s a needless expense for team nowhere near competing. Draft better… it’s the only path to success.
That may be the worst advice I’ve heard. With a low market due to the rich wr class in this year, why would a team trade a productive wr for a late day 3 pick? No one thought the Texans would be competing this soon, so to say a team who won 8 games with a washed sack machine qb is nowhere near competing is pretty null.
I would agree. Maybe before the Jeudy trade it made more sense, but a 29 year old receiver with less than 1000 yards (albeit mostly due to the QB situation) doesn’t get much in a WR heavy draft. At this point, it’s worth more to keep Sutton to help move the next QB along. Great QBs don’t just magically become good without help-a good red zone target like Sutton can help development in the long term, especially on a team lacking a guaranteed TE.
What would Denver get for Sutton? A third at best? They’ve lost a lot of talent-that doesn’t seem worth the price, since they’ll have to spend a pick on his replacement.
Although this post may seem lengthy, I’m willing to delve deeper into my thoughts and solutions if you’re interested in understanding my perspective.
The reason for trading Courtland Sutton should be considered. It’s better to deal someone a little early rather than a little late.
Here’s a list of Wide Receivers of comparable age to Sutton: Hunter Renfrow, Michael Gallup, Allen Lazard, Diontae Johnson, Terry McLaurin, Deebo Samuel, and Chris Godwin. Sutton is clearly around the fourth-best receiver out of that group, behind Godwin, McLaurin, and Samuel. The average salary for those players is $18.66M for 2024, while Sutton is still on contract for two years (2024 and 2025) at about $13M per year. With wide receiver prices going up, he’s not quite what I would call “a bargain,” but he is more appealing.
The Broncos are nowhere near competing for a championship in the next two seasons, so why keep Courtland Sutton when you can reset more money? The Broncos have Marvin Mims Jr., Tim Patrick, and Josh Reynolds, so the bodies in the room are already there without any extra cost other than depth pieces.
I make two trades:
First, I would trade the 76th overall pick (210 points in draft value) and Courtland Sutton (Roughly 350 points in draft value, which equates to around the mid-to-late second-round value, plus I came up with his 350 value accounting for statistical comparables) to the New England Patriots for the 34th overall pick (560 points in draft value). The Patriots have swung and missed for some receivers over the past two seasons, and they are likely selecting a young quarterback at three overall. Ak185 mentioned that having a veteran receiver with a young quarterback is nice.
The second trade is the newly acquired 34th overall pick (560 points in draft value), 147th overall (33 points in draft value), and the 203rd overall pick (10 points in draft value) to the San Francisco 49ers 31st overall (600 points in draft value). Trading back into the first round allows the Broncos to draft their quarterback and keep him for the extra 5th-year option, which is extremely valuable.
My 12th overall pick can be the best player available or be traded back to recover more draft capital. I’m not married to either decision with the 12th pick, but I would like the newly acquired 31st overall pick to be Michael Penix Jr. He is projected to go early in the second round, according to the NFL.com mock draft. He fits Denver’s need for a quarterback, and his draft stock suggests that the 12th overall is too high. I like the fit for Penix and Sean Payton.
I am looking years down the road with reality, not just this season. My analysis focuses on the team’s future success rather than personal sentiments towards individual players. While Sutton has undoubtedly shown his value on the field, assessing his role in the context of the team’s long-term objectives is essential.
It is a lengthy post, but well thought out and certainly well planned. I do tend to disagree though, while acknowledging that your reasoning for those moves is sound. I too would rather see Denver trade back, I think that you do still need a good wideout to help bring a new QB along. Patrick missed last year, and I have a lot of concern over his reliability long term due to his injuries. He also hasn’t played in the new system yet. Mims is very young, and didn’t see the field as much on offense as we expected. Reynolds is new, and frankly, isn’t much of an impact receiver. I don’t know why Denver signed him, to be honest, when better options like Renfrow seemed available, and with Patrick and Sutton operating as possession catchers right now. Signs point to a Sutton trade, but the room behind him looks pretty raw.
Your best bet for developing a new QB is that he establishes a connection with Mims, but you need to have backup plans, and Sutton looked like the best high point receiver in the league last year when it came to fifty-fifty catches (considering that was the majority of what yardage he managed to produce, it was necessary). Sutton’s value right now to be reliable while the new QB, whomever he is, builds confidence-on a team lacking a reliable TE, the role of reliable possession WR who knows most if the offense becomes much more valuable.
Doubt Denver would trade him within the division, but I would love to have him on the Chiefs. Especially now, with the bonehead move by the child known as Rashee Rice.
With Mahomes’ precision and wild playmaking ability, a good fifty-fifty big man like Sutton would be a sickeningly good red zone combination.
Local media started throwing his name out there this week as a possible reunion candidate with Wilson here in Pittsburgh.
Aiyuk. Boyd. Even heard Jefferson’s name for a while. Now this. Sometimes you wonder if it’s the player’s agent who starts these blurbs