A number of contract-related disputes are ongoing around the league, many of which affect the receiver position. In the case of the Broncos and Courtland Sutton, no resolution is imminent. 
The former Pro Bowler confirmed earlier this month that he and the team are at a standstill with respect to negotiations on a new pact. Two years remain on Sutton’s contract, with $2MM of his 2024 base salary guaranteed. He is open to an adjustment to the deal consisting of new compensation – as opposed to an extension – but it remains to be seen if the Broncos will accommodate that wish.
Sutton skipped OTAs while recovering from offseason ankle surgery, and he gave thought to remaining away from the team during minicamp. Instead, the 28-year-old took part in the mandatory event while noting progress still needs to be made on the contract front. With that remaining the case, he could be absent once training camp opens later this month.
When asked if he will hold out in the absence of a new agreement, the former second-rounder replied, via The Athletic’s Nick Kosmider, “We’ll see” (subscription required). Players have stayed away from teams during training camp on plenty of occasions before, although more recently the ‘hold-in’ approach has become common. The latter avenue consists of players attending camp but not taking part in any on-field work.
Being attached to a non-rookie pact, Sutton would be subject to mandatory daily fines if he elected to skip training camp. The SMU product helped his bargaining position with a career-high 10 touchdown catches in 2023, and the Broncos’ decision to trade away Jerry Jeudy left Sutton in place as an experienced receiving option for a new-look QB room. On the other hand, Sutton has just one season on his resume (2019) with more than 1,000 yards.
The top of the receiver market has reached new heights this offseason, and the likes of Ja’Marr Chase, CeeDee Lamb and Brandon Aiyuk are positioned to land monster extensions from their respective teams. Sutton is not in an identical position given his age and production, but his situation is still one to monitor closely as training camp approaches. It will be interesting to see if traction is gained with respect to negotiations given the possibility of a holdout.
These guys are getting BOLD. Zero time first team all pro, zero time second team all pro, ONE time pro bowl for hitting 1100 yards and 6 TDs only, and he is going to hold out?
He’s been holding out on his potential his entire career at this point.
I like Sutton more than most – but far from a number 1 guy.
You can argue he has had bad QB play – but that argument seems so weak in these negotiations.
Im doubtful he is asking 30mil, but giving him 15 isn’t crazy to me. He isn’t holding the cards here though.
I just think he is trying to negotiate from a position of weakness. His resume certainly doesn’t say pay him! Pay him right now!
A holdout is his only tool, but Im not sure I would feel pressure to move. He is really only hurting himself. There are not huge expectations for the Broncos, so pile up fines I guess.
I don’t think it’s a position of weakness that he’s negotiating from. He’s the best receiver on his team, no free agents are available that are better, and the draft capital required to acquire someone better isn’t worth it for a team that potentially will pick in the top 5. I’m sure Payton is tauting his late round success with Colston, and how the Broncos don’t need to pay him, and if he can turn Mims or Patrick into a Pro Bowl guy, I’ll tip my cap to him, but I don’t see it happening. Catching passes from Nix or Stidham seems like it might make Sutton look worse than he really is. I would hold out too.
Maybe – but Im nit going to be bullied into giving good players great money either.
Its not like their SB hopes are pinned to Sutton.
And Im not interested as another team in giving up a premium asset for a number 2, only to then have to pay him.
If he were a FA, I think a reasonable contract is out there. But without knowing his specific demands, Im in no hurry to make any move.
Druu being the best receiver on the Broncos is similar to saying you’re the best receiver on the Bills or Steelers right now. That isn’t a strength either, moreover an absence of strength.
As a Bills fan, I approve this message.
Being the best receiver on his team isn’t saying much. Especially when the team is dog crap. Seriously my golden retriever is a better wide out than 99% of their WR room…
Isn’t he already getting 13 million this year?
He was also fourth in receiving touchdowns last year. He’s been pretty good over the course of his career considering the best quarterback situation he’s ever had is probably 2023 Russell Wilson. Darnell Mooney just got $13 million a year and he hasn’t even cracked 500 yards since 2021. It’s pretty normal for guys to watch a change of contract or team when all their guaranteed salary is run out. Given how the Broncos have been run during his career, he has every reason to prioritize money, since winning has never been an option.
He’s main bargaining chip is he’s Denver’s de facto WR1 for past several years and had solid chemistry with Russ in a new offense. That’s about it. Courtland is a C+ WR yo me
I would say he’s comfortably a top 50 receiver in football. Those guys make bank.
Top 50 talent and he’s already being paid in the top 30 in terms of total cash owed in 2024.. These guys are getting ridiculous lol.
But in terms of guarantees he’s a lame duck.
Kind of like the realm of player he is. Christian Kirk-esque.
And by the end of this, his third year with the Jags, Kirk will have been paid almost $57 million. The price has gone up for guys in that tier, and Kirk isn’t even really an outside receiver, which Sutton is.
And after year 3 of his contract Sutton will have made $35M. Is that not enough for a middling meh receiver who isn’t a true 1? That’s my point here, these guys who have accomplished nothing want everything. Guys like this are hurting no one but themselves. Don’t show up to OTA’s. No one cares its only your money being hurt. 1 time pro bowler who hasn’t hit 1K yards in 4 seasons crying about wanting more money?? 10 years ago he’d be off the roster.
If this were ten years ago, he’d have sailed past 1000 yards because the Broncos would actually have an answer at quarterback, which they’ve never had during Sutton’s career. It’s normal for guys to want to redo their contracts when all the guarantees have run out and their deal is falling behind the market. It’s also normal for a veteran to want some sense of stability when he’s been with a franchise in turmoil and his name has been in trade rumors for multiple seasons.
Broncos haven’t had a QB in years. Since 2013 ( 10 years ago ) the only 2 seasons statistically better than Russell Wilson in 2023 were from Peyton Manning. Who most can argue as a top 3 QB of all time. So yeah, if Sutton had Peyton Manning he’d get past 1,000 yards because, well, who wouldn’t? You and I even would… That being said he couldn’t do it with a different *future HOF QB who was having a decent season all said and done. It wasn’t Russ of Seattle, but it wasn’t Semein, Lock, Bridgewater, etc. either. In the same sense it would take a top 3 QB for Sutton to even be a top 30 WR… He’s paid accordingly already, whether he *wants* more money is a moot point..
In his first season with half decent QB play, he was tied for fourth in the league in receiving touchdowns. He’s a good weapon. Guys with no more guarantees on tumultuous, non-committal teams are going to want one of those things to change. You can think he’s not worth it. They can too. They can rework his deal, they can trade him to someone who will pay him, or deal with having an unhappy player.
Jordan Addison was 4th in TD last year. Give him $80M too?? Kenny Golladay once led the league in TD’s, we see how that worked out…
I mean, probably by the time he’s actually eligible to get a second contract.
Yeah I’m going to go out on a limb and say he’s not worth it based off one fluky statistic, like Sutton before him, and Golladay before him, and so on.
Touchdown numbers fluctuate, but I think Addison is really good and will shake out as at least a high end number two. Prices will also be two years higher by the time he’s eligible for a second contract.
Sutton I think wants guarantees more than a top contract. In this case, I think that it’s fair. Many people seem to have s low opinion of him, but on tape Sutton is clearly a much better receiver than any of his numbers have suggested. The Broncos’ issues have been far extensive than even the poor quarterback play. Their coordination has been rather poor since Kubiak’s final year calling plays. Scangarello, Shurmur, and Hackett were all astonishingly bad coaches, snd coupled with part time quarterbacks and backup level play, it’s easy to see why Trevor Siemian was the last starter to put up decent passing numbers in Denver, piggybacking on the Kubiak/Manning scheme.
It certainly sounds like a bunch of excuses, but closer examination does validate the argument. Sutton was the last Broncos receiver to even have a quality season as a starter, and others have pointed out, it was some time ago. His red zone production last year was superb, and he showed that he still has big catch ability in spades. He bailed out Wilson on quite a few occasions, notably in the Kansas City game. In another receiver’s hands, those catches extremely likely would have been lost (in my opinion, there were at least three “impossible” type grabs that I was astounded that he came down with, and I would be very interested to see anyone replicate). Was the Sutton the only big catch receiver in the game last season? No, certainly not. But after watching Denver’s games last year, I’m not sure that anyone had as many unnoticed big or contested catches as he did in 2023. The yardage was poor, but I’m not really inclined to hold that against him, considering how much Wilson struggled to see the middle or string together easy play progressions. Nearly every positive play, after the end of the obvious scripted plays from Payton, was a chance play from Wilson on something apparently improved. And who did those plays normally go to? As you know, it would be Sutton. He is definitely a number one on most teams, and is versatile in use ability.
All of that said, I expect Sutton’s low yardage to continue with either a temporary Stidham offense or a longer term Nix experiment. Sutton also is nearly 30, and has had injury claim some games from him in the past. As good as last year was on tape for him, Sutton also didn’t eclipse 1000 yards. Denver won’t be contenders in all likelihood next year, and their cap will be shot from the Wilson gambit. I don’t expect Sutton to receive a big contract, and I don’t see it as advisable to break the bank for him. However, Denver will still definitely be using him as a number one, and he did bail them out quite often last year, which he hopefully can do again to help develop their new starter. For those reasons, he certainly could be given more in guarantees, or s slight increase overall. The former would be more important than the latter. We may see Sutton’s body of work differently, but he is certainly worth more than $2 million guaranteed at this time, to both himself and to Denver.
He’s a Top 50 but not top 25. I put him in the same tier as Van Jefferson and Darnell Mooney
Sutton is at least a very legit #2 receiver. Mooney got paid, but it’s hard to say the same about him with any confidence after the last two years. Jefferson is lucky to stay on a 53 man roster at all.
Same tier. He was #1 because lack of depth and Jeudy never really showed #1 play, which is what he was drafted for.
How does that make him the same tier as Mooney or Jefferson? Jefferson is a depth guy. Mooney has one more receiving touchdown in his whole career than Sutton had last year.
Why do we want to ding Sutton for having bad QB play when Mooney has had worse?
For me – same tier. Not much separating them.
You can split hairs, but neither are 1s.
I even like both players – but if you are serious about building a competitor and keeping it together you cant give top tier salaries to second tier guys.
Oh, Mooney absolutely had some bad QB play. He also didn’t draw the defense’s foremost attention last year. He’s also been drastically less productive than Sutton. I’m hopeful that Mooney can show more with a real QB, but he did much less the last couple of years and he still got paid.
It’s hard to tell due to QB play. But as of now I’d group Mooney in the same Tier as Sutton. lol don’t overthink it. Maybe in that tier you can put Rashod Bateman too. C list WRs
Are you serious? Look at what Bateman has actually produced in his career. Maybe he still has health and a breakout in front of him, but putting him in a tier with Sutton right now is absurd.
Bateman isn’t in the same tier.
Maybe not Bateman then lol. Hmm….maybe Allen Lazard? Mike Williams?
Williams makes more sense, but injury issues make him his own situation. Lazard is most certainly not in the same tier.
Fair enough lol
Well, while in a vacuum, Sutton may have a weak bargaining position, the Broncos did not do themselves any favors when they turned down trade offers for him during the draft, after he had skipped the voluntary off-season workouts. Per that article and I would agree, it shows that the team wants to keep him to some extent. So, if the Broncos balk at his demands, he could respond by saying “then trade me”.
I agree with that for sure.
See JJ.
I suspect, partially facetiously, that that’s part of the reason that Denver is balking, actually. They could probably get a deal done with just a few more guarantees, but it would be much easier to swing an in season, before-the-deadline type trade with a guy who’s only guaranteed a few million…
I’d like to see the Steelers get DK Metcalf but…I suspect they end up with this guy.
honor what you (already) signed Schmuck.
get yo’ arse on the field. produce. (then) we give you BANK
The teams don’t have to honor contracts unless there is specific language for guaranteed money. This remains the worst argument.
You can’t hold out effectively if you don’t have any leverage. See LeVeon Bell
(every) one -is- replaceable.