Broncos Just Made an Interesting Courtland Sutton Contract Decision

What was the motivation behind the move: Sutton's future or cap flexibility?

ATLANTA, GA - AUGUST 14: Denver wide receiver Courtland Sutton (14) reacts during the NFL, American Football Herren, USA pre-season game between the Denver Broncos and the Atlanta Falcons on August 14th, 2026 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA. | Rich von Biberstein / IMAGO / Icon Sportswire

The Denver Broncos built option bonuses into multiple contracts for the 2026 season.

Among the players with such an option bonus was wide receiver Courtland Sutton, who signed a four-year, $92 million extension with the Broncos on July 29, 2025.

The Broncos gave Sutton two years of fully guaranteed salary, including an option bonus of $12 million and a $4.735 million base salary for 2026. The option bonus, if exercised, is treated like a signing bonus.

However, per Over The Cap's Jason Fitzgerald, the Broncos chose not to exercise Sutton's option bonus for 2026, meaning that money will be paid as base salary.

Why it Matters

Courtland Sutton chops it up with Jaylen Waddle and Zach Allen pre-game. | Hector Acevedo / IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire

The decision not to exercise the option bonus increases Sutton's cap charge to about $24 million for 2026, but the Broncos have the cap space to accommodate the move. The Broncos still have about $16 million in cap space.

What this move does is, in exchange for taking a larger cap hit this season, the Broncos can reduce Sutton's cap charges in future seasons and give them more flexibility to get out of the deal in the future if it comes to that.

Anytime a player has a contract restructured, with base salary converted to a signing bonus or an option bonus exercised, it can reduce a player's current-year cap hit but at the expense of increasing future-year cap hits. In Sutton's case, though, paying the option bonus as base salary does the opposite.

Sutton's 2027 cap charge will now come down to about $26 million. He has $10 million of base salary that is injury-only guaranteed, becoming fully guaranteed on March 17, 2027.

As long as Sutton does not suffer a significant injury, the Broncos could cut him before March 17, either taking $15 million in dead money with $10 million saved if done as a straight cut, or $6 million in dead money with $20 million freed if done with a post-June 1 designation.

Now, Sutton's cap charge is $27.5 million in 2028 and $28.2 million in 2029, with less dead money assessed and more cap space freed if he is cut at that point.

The Takeaway

What happens with Sutton after 2026 remains to be seen, but the Broncos now have more flexibility to move on from him in 2027 — if they want to.

The Broncos are still in a good position on the 2026 cap, and while that will mean less carryover for 2027, they should still have enough left to help with next year's cap situation.

The Broncos are currently projected to have $27.1 million in cap space in 2027, but that's with 38 players under contract and before carryover, incentives, and escalators are accounted.

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