Last week, Broncos WR Courtland Sutton finally secured a long-awaited third contract with the team. Although the extension represents a sizable raise over what Sutton was due to earn and locks in a new wave of guaranteed cash, the $23MM average annual value of the deal makes him the league’s 18th-highest-paid wideout in terms of yearly compensation.
Per Sean Keeler of the Denver Post, Sutton understands he may have left some money on the table – Spotrac considers his market value to be roughly $26.5MM per year – in exchange for additional security. He also knows the team has a number of other mouths to feed, and he wanted to help ensure the Broncos could lock in other key players.
“[There’s] talent in that locker room, guys that are coming up, that are trying to get their second contract,” Sutton said. “I was blessed to be able to get my third. They put the work in just the same way as I have. And some of those guys have more accolades than I have when it comes to the NFL side of things … and to be able to sign the deal that we did, it gives us a chance to keep those guys around.”
A June report suggested defensive standouts Nik Bonitto and Zach Allen may have jumped Sutton as extension priorities for Denver, and other key members of what is expected to again be a stout defense in 2025 – John Franklin-Myers, P.J. Locke, Malcolm Roach, and Alex Singleton among them – are also on expiring deals.
When asked if he was conscious of that reality when signing his own extension, Sutton replied, “1,000%. 1,000%. The deal that we wound up signing is a great deal, and it was very beneficial to myself. And it gives us a chance to be able to keep a lot of really good players around on this team and for years to come.”
Not long after the ink dried on Sutton’s deal, the Broncos agreed to terms with Allen on a monster four-year, $102MM pact. It would not surprise if Bonitto also landed a healthy new contract in short order.
Sutton, a team captain, has done his part to facilitate Denver’s ability to keep the band together. The club is also benefitting from having its starting quarterback, Bo Nix, on his rookie deal, and Sutton will again lead Nix’s collection of offensive weaponry.
Now 29 (30 in October), Sutton cracked the 1,000-yard mark for the second time in his career during Nix’s rookie campaign in 2024. Continued development from the second-year passer, coupled with the addition of tight end Evan Engram and reinforcements in the running game, could allow the Broncos – who cracked the playoff field last season – to take another step forward in 2025.
I hate the donkeys, but this is how you build.
Uh huh…and I turned down dates with the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Models so my good friends in the PFR forum could have a go at them 🙂
I fully believe that he could have gotten more money than Ridley and Pittman got a year ago when the cap was 9% lower.
Sutton absolutely could have gotten more.
I am an even bigger Sutton fan now. I like his mindset. Its not like 23 mil is disrespectful chump change.
Terry McLaurin could benefit from that mindset.
Washington should just extend McLaurin already. He’s their best non-quarterback and his guarantees have run out. Sutton said he was helping Denver save money to lock up young stars. Who does Washington even have to lock up any time soon? This is a team that just overpaid for Javon Kinlaw. Sutton was drafted a year later, but has 81 more catches, a thousand more receiving yards, has three more thousand yard seasons, and six more touchdowns.
Why?
Boy, that’s a headline you don’t read very often.
Well if the former NFLPA big wigs were still in place, Sutton would be labeled a traitor by them, for not trying to take the owners to the cleaners for every dollar possible.
I hate when I see things like this. You should be earning every penny of your value at every chance you get. It isn’t any individual players’ fault that the power balance between players and owners is so out of whack.
If a guy is comfortable with what he makes, what’s wrong with helping his team out cap-wise? If Denver manages to sign another good player with the difference in what Sutton would have been paid, or manages to keep Sutton around due to his lower price, the team may end up having more success. If that’s what Sutton wants, it’s a good way to get it, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
Keep in mind, Denver openly talked about trying to move him for a second round pick (and Jeudy for a first) multiple seasons before this. He’s now got really good guaranteed money and appears to still be the number one receiver in a place that worships football for 2 or 3 more years before both parties want new terms.
Dak took the big bucks saying he had an obligation to boost the market so other QBs could get good deals while Sutton went the other direction indicating he wanted to help the team become more competitive by taking less. I’ve become cynical as a senior so I don’t believe either of them acted out of any nobility.
Considering he hasn’t produced squat in his career, that’s the least he could have done.