Report: Broncos might be ‘quietly shopping’ wide receiver Courtland Sutton

According to NBC Sports’ Matthew Berry, he was told at the NFL Scouting Combine, that the Denver Broncos are quietly shopping wide receiver Courtland Sutton. He continues that they will move him if they get a “decent offer” in return for their veteran wide receiver.

We have heard rumors that the Denver Broncos could be shopping one of their veteran players in hopes of getting more draft picks in April’s upcoming NFL Draft and this report backs that up.

As long as we are talking Denver, I’m told the Broncos are quietly shopping Courtland Sutton. Not actively pushing him, but definitely trying to see if there’s a trade market for him and if they get a decent offer, would move him.

As of right now, after major trades for quarterback Russell Wilson and head coach Sean Payton, the Denver Broncos only have five draft picks for the 2023 NFL Draft. They do not select until the 67th overall pick in the third round as well, so collecting and adding more picks seems to be a priority for Broncos general manager George Paton. So, moving on from a player like Sutton if they can get a return that they like would make sense.

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 theoritically take adavantage 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 has 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 like he did back in 2019 when he topped 1,000 yards and had 6 receiving touchdowns.

I think the Broncos will have a hard time getting what they want for Sutton, and probably will be selling low on him. Add in his high cap number and dead money hit and it seems likely that he will be returning to the Broncos next season. With all that said, we shall see what they do now with Sean Payton in the building and likely having a role in roster control.