Report: Broncos 'Appeared' to Have a Courtland Sutton Deal With Ravens
In this story:
Long have the wide receiver trade rumors swirled around Denver Broncos HQ. Teams have been calling the Broncos all offseason about Jerry Jeudy and Courtland Sutton.
We've learned courtesy of The Athletic's Jeff Zrebiec that the Baltimore Ravens thought they had a deal done for Sutton before the Broncos ultimately spurned them. Baltimore signed Odell Beckham Jr. instead.
Desperate for a quality veteran receiver, the Ravens explored trade and free-agent possibilities. At one point, there appeared to be a deal to be made for Courtland Sutton, but the Denver Broncos decided they didn’t want to trade him.
While it would be easy to read into the Broncos taking these trade calls as a willingness to trade Sutton, it's more about staying open to any and all possibilities. At the end of the day, at least with this particular offer, Denver valued what Sutton can provide new head coach Sean Payton more than whatever Baltimore was willing to part with.
"When people call and the phone rings like it does this time of year, (general manager) George Paton's job is to pick it up and say, 'Hey. Tell you what, we're not.' And so, we've received calls, you bet," Payton said back in March. "Those are two good football players. But we're in the business of gathering talent right now. Why do people call? Because they know we're void of draft picks and that we might, because there was some discussions a year ago, I think, regarding Courtland. But we like the current group that we're working with."
Sutton started off his career with a bang, landing on a 2018 roster that still featured the late Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders at the top of the depth chart. By season's end, neither Pro Bowler was still with the Broncos and Sutton had become the de facto No. 1 wideout.
Fast forward to 2019, and Sutton more than justified his place atop the depth chart, posting a 1,200-yard receiving season with six touchdowns on the way to his first Pro Bowl nod. The fact that Sutton was so prolific despite catching passes from three different starting quarterbacks was impressive.
Then, disaster struck. Sutton tore his ACL in Week 2 of the 2020 campaign, missing the rest of the season. He returned the following year, playing with a knee brace, but since that injury, he hasn't been quite the same player.
While it's possible that the combination of poor quarterback play and bad coaching are the bigger culprits to Sutton's inability to recapture his Pro Bowl form, that injury has played some role. He finished with 64 receptions for 829 yards and two touchdowns last year in his first go-round with Russell Wilson at quarterback.
Sounds like the Broncos are hoping to get better production than that under Payton.
Follow Mile High Huddle on Twitter and Facebook.
Subscribe to Mile High Huddle on YouTube for daily Broncos live-stream podcasts!
