OCTOBER 30: Doubling down on the team’s stance, Payton said the Broncos are “not remotely shopping anybody,” via Denver7’s Troy Renck. The new Broncos HC confirmed teams have called, and while the Broncos’ past and sub-.500 record indicates a seller move should not be ruled out, they are not the team attempting to unload pieces. It will clearly take a better offer for Denver to begin unloading pieces on the heels of two victories.
OCTOBER 29: Coming through with one of their better wins since Peyton Manning‘s retirement, the Broncos have won two straight going into the trade deadline. While the 24-9 win over the Chiefs snapped a 16-game skid in that series, it improved Denver to 3-5.
Steady rumors this month had pegged the Broncos as willing sellers, but the home wins over the Packers and Chiefs may throw cold water on other teams’ hopes of prying an upper-echelon starter from Colorado. Although Sean Payton did not confirm the Broncos would stay off the phones before Tuesday’s 3pm CT deadline, the team does not appear prepared to shop veterans at this juncture.
[RELATED: Teams Calling Broncos On Patrick Surtain]
“The teams that aren’t doing as well always fall into this position, and I understand it, but we’re not the team looking to go out and buy,” Payton said, via 9News’ Mike Klis. “We can’t control the buyers that call. We always pick the phone up—you have to professionally, but that’s it.
“We have a plan on where we see ourselves, and that’s an honest answer. When I see or hear [certain trade rumors], I chuckle because I’m thinking, ‘Well I haven’t talked to anyone about that,’ and if I haven’t, then it’s probably not true.”
Prior to Payton’s arrival, the Broncos were not shy about dealing away assets. Last year, they moved on from Bradley Chubb — for a package headlined by a first-round pick that helped secure the team Payton’s rights. Two falls ago, the Broncos dealt the best pass rusher in team history, dealing Von Miller to the Rams at the deadline. Emmanuel Sanders left at the 2019 deadline, with Demaryius Thomas being traded a year earlier. Of this quartet, only Thomas did not qualify as a rental. The late wide receiver was signed through 2019 at the time of the trade. Denver’s top batch of 2023 trade chips consists of players signed through at least 2024.
Jerry Jeudy and Courtland Sutton have been the team’s most heavily rumored trade pieces, with each coming up at the 2022 deadline and this offseason. Unsurprisingly, the Broncos have not received any offers remotely close to what they aimed for this offseason. Denver wanted a first-rounder for Jeudy and a second for Sutton. Jeudy is signed through 2024, Sutton through 2025. With the veteran receivers each contracted beyond this season, the Broncos seeing if either can increase their trade value down the stretch could open the door to more trade rumors during the ’24 offseason. If the offers do not increase by Tuesday, that appears where this long-running process is headed next.
Justin Simmons and Garett Bolles are each inked through 2024. Long mentioned as unavailable, Patrick Surtain will be signed through 2025 once the Broncos pick up his fifth-year option. Josey Jewell would make sense as a more realistic trade chip, seeing that his two-year, $11MM deal expires after this season. Should the Broncos move on from Jewell, third-round rookie Drew Sanders would be poised to step in alongside Alex Singleton.
The Broncos are not in position to trade future assets for help, given their early-season struggles. The team also made the Chubb trade at 3-5 and dealt Miller at 4-4. With current GM George Paton in position for both those moves, the Broncos remain a team to monitor ahead of the deadline. But it does not look like viable offers have come in for the team’s bevy of trade chips.
So Sean Payton has proven he can beat KC when the Chiefs have an upcoming game in Germany. That has to be worth at least 1 coach of the year votes…lol.
Are you saying the Chiefs coaches and players are too distracted by a trip to Europe next week to focus on this week? What type of excuse is that? LOL, they got beat by a superior team on the field yesterday. Not saying Denver is a powerhouse, just that on any given Sunday, any team can rise and catch a typically better opponent off guard.
It’s not an excuse but coaches and players who say they are always focused on the current opponent and never look ahead are trying to sell you baloney. If you represent the NFL as league champions you don’t want to look bad in front of the entire European audience. The Chiefs didn’t do much against Denver because they wanted to save their best effort for that game against Miami.
Every sport teams typically looks past an opponent they consider lesser. Was KC looking past Denver and ahead to their game in Germany against a much better opponent in Miami? Probably. They also play the Eagles after their bye week. Wouldnt be surprised if KC was gearing up for those games instead of focusing on Denver.
They could go 0-3 during this span, though I’m personally hoping they knock off the Fins.
Chiefs lost that game more than Denver won it. Denver’s offense still looked like garbage yesterday.
funny that the Dolphins (also heading to Germany) were not distracted
Jewell is still a good starter, but having Sanders waiting and his being on an expiring deal make him the most likely to be traded. I don’t think that there’s a huge market right now, and Denver’s defense has turned around in a huge way the last three games. That may be enough to stave off any trades there, and Jewell has been an unquestioned team leader on defense.
There is a decent chance that the Broncos would want to keep him around, depending on whether this defensive improvement sustains itself through the year. Sanders hasn’t seen much time defensively, either, while Jewell has been present on most snaps, and even saw an increase in use with Joseph deploying him as a rusher.
The defense and run game improving has led to these two wins for Denver. Sutton and Jeudy have bailed Wilson out on a few throws in those games as well. If the Broncos want to keep winning, Wilson is going to have to be more consistent as a passer to convert those long downs. These other players mentioned as trade chips have been contributing to the recent resurgence-we’ll see if that lasts beyond the Tuesday trade deadline.
Jewell the same guy who misses one on one every single game? I don’t think he could catch a turtle going down the field. He is too slow. Teams are running the ball to the outside, because both MLB are slow. Trade Jewell, free up that money. Try to trade for a Defensive lineman, who can get a consistent push up the field.
Yeah, that Jewell. He is a good player. Nobody said that he was the best player. But he is experienced, a defensive leader, and does tackle well. I saw two bad misses from him last game, don’t get me wrong, but he’s mostly a plus tackler. I mean, he did force that fumble on Marquez Valdez-Scantling in deep coverage that led to a Denver touchdown against the Chiefs. He’s had other plays like that as well. Playing the majority of linebackers in coverage is a losing proposition as is, whether that’s Jewell, Singleton, or anybody else. But I do think that you’re not giving him enough credit.
I just said that he’s the most likely to be traded, anyway. There are impediments to that, that I also outlined-namely the fact that Sanders has barely on defense. Creating a starter is not a magic snap of the fingers. If Denver was trying to have Sanders take over in anticipation of a Jewell trade, he’d have seen more action. The other thing that complicates this is the defensive resurgence the last few games. Jewell, as a long time starter, is part of that. Denver may elect to say “we’re not taking a chance in messing with that” and keep him on, despite his expiring deal.
They don’t figure to get a huge return for Jewell-I don’t see a third rounder coming their way, as there doesn’t seem to be a huge market for off ball linebackers right now. Denver could elect to try Jewell again on another low cost deal, or just take some low level compensatory pick while allowing to him to play out this year. I wouldn’t be opposed to a Jewell trade if it were me, but because they don’t figure to get much for him, haven’t been playing his backup, and have reversed course the last few games on defense, I can see him staying past the deadline. Now, if that defense collapses again, this resurgence on offense or defense makes these prospective trades much more of a missed opportunity.
They’re crossing their fingers that they’ll face 8 more teams whose QB is sick with the flu.
What was the excuse for only scoring 19 in KC?
And that last 3 came from a last second field goal, so Denver’s otherwise bad defense has played the Chiefs well this year.
The passing game is still hideous, though. Payton seems to have decided to take the ball out of Wilson’s hands for the most part, and lean on their three capable backs. Seems to have paid dividends.