Broncos wide receiver Courtland Sutton tweets out: ‘I just want to be where I’m wanted and appreciated’

In recent weeks, there have been whispers and rumors about a Denver Broncos veteran potentially being shopped around on the trade market. Those whispers and rumors continued during the NFL scouting combine where it came out that the Broncos might be ‘quietly shopping” wide receiver Courtland Sutton.

Now, the Broncos wide receiver, amid these trade rumors tweeted out a cryptic message just days from the start of free agency. Sutton tweeted out: ‘I just want to be where I’m wanted and appreciated’.

This theoretically could be about anything, and we are reading into something that is not there, but the message and timing make this tweet interesting. The beginning of the legal tampering period is just days away, teams are making moves, and trades are already going down. So, if a trade was in the works, it likely would be happening here sooner rather than later. This is the sort of thing you expect from a player who is being shopped around by the team that drafted him and re-signed him to a new deal.

The reality is, the Broncos are likely going to see a bit of a roster turnover with newly hired head coach Sean Payton in the building, especially on offense. Also, the Broncos only have five draft picks currently and do not pick until the early portion of the third round because of trades for quarterback Russell Wilson and head coach Sean Payton. So, it makes sense for the Broncos to shop around a few of their players for more draft capital if they can.

If the Broncos are shopping him around, I am assuming the Broncos would like to get at least a second-round pick in return for Sutton. He is a former second-round pick, he is only 27 years old, and it is not a great draft and free agency for wide receivers. So, the Broncos could theoretically take advantage of this weakness and get a decent return for Sutton.

We may only see one or two receivers selected in the back end of the draft while receivers like Jakobi Meyers, Juju Smith-Schuster, Darius Slayton, D.J. Chark, and others are the top free agent receivers. So, a receiver-needy team could view Sutton as one of the better options available at wide receiver.

However, Sutton does with come potential baggage that may limit what the Broncos could get back in return. He just signed a four-year contract extension worth $60 million dollars with $34.9 million dollars and has a $25.4 dead cap number this year. He also has a cap number of $18.2 million dollars this year as well, so teams may not be keen on paying him that.

Also, his production has not been very good either. He only has 4 total receiving touchdowns combined these past two seasons and has not topped 829 yards since 2019. Sure, the Broncos' quarterbacking and offense have not been great, but he has not looked like himself since the ACL injury he suffered in 2020. However, maybe in a better offense, he will produce as he did back in 2019 when he topped 1,000 yards and had 6 receiving touchdowns.

So, we shall see if anything comes from these rumors and this cryptic tweet. This latest development has Broncos Country wondering what will happen next. It would suck to lose Sutton, who looked like a promising wide receiver at one point, but the Broncos do need more draft capital. So, what do you think of all of this? Is there something happening here? do you think Sutton will be traded, or would you rather keep him on the team?