Broncos Trade Courtland Sutton, Land Draft Capital in Wild 3-Team Proposal

This would be good compensation for Courtland Sutton, even if it's not perfectly plausible for the Denver Broncos.

Dec 3, 2023; Houston, Texas, USA; Denver Broncos wide receiver Courtland Sutton (14) warms up before playing against the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium. / Thomas Shea-USA TODAY Sports

With Denver Broncos training camp set to kick off on July 26, with the veterans reporting on July 23, all eyes remain on the still-unresolved Courtland Sutton situation. Sutton skipped the entirety of the voluntary portion of the Broncos offseason training program in a quest for a bit of a pay raise.

With two years left on his contract, Sutton is reportedly seeking a $2.5 to $3 million raise on his existing $13 million salary. That shouldn't be difficult for the Broncos to oblige before training camp, and yet, so far, no accord has happened.

Meanwhile, the San Francisco 49ers find themselves in a similar situation with All-Pro wideout Brandon Aiyuk, who is seeking a new contract that pays him on a level commensurate with his contributions. With the rumor mill a-blowin', CBS Sports' Cody Benjamin floated a three-team trade scenario with Aiyuk at the center, which included the Niners, Broncos, and Washington Commanders.

In Benjamin's mock trade, the Broncos deal away Sutton to San Fran, acquiring Jamison Crowder from the Commanders, while Aiyuk lands in Washington. The Broncos also get a 2025 third-round draft pick on top of Crowder, while the Niners get a second-rounder, plus Sutton. Both draft picks come from Washington in Benjamin's scenario.

Here's what Benjamin wrote by way of explanation.

"Let's get funky, eh? Denver is in a bit of a contract bind of its own, with Sutton contemplating a training-camp holdout as he seeks a pay raise entering Year 7. While Sean Payton may not prefer to part with his club's most accomplished wideout, he could also use more resources for the long-term build around rookie quarterback Bo Nix. Crowder is aging, but his reliability as a possession target would probably appeal to Payton's eye for efficiency. San Francisco, meanwhile, would essentially be renting a proven downfield starter in Sutton while also recouping a second-rounder by shipping Aiyuk to Washington," Benjamin wrote.

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I'm not going to critique the plausibility of Benjamin's trade proposal. I have questions about it, but I'm going to stick with what he's laid out.

Crowder enters a contract year, set to make $1.260 million. That lack of long-term commitment could appeal to the Broncos, but it might also be a deterrent.

At the end of the day, though, this trade wouldn't be about landing Crowder. The player would be a distant second to the third-round draft pick Denver would acquire for the 28-year-old Sutton. Crowder hasn't produced anything noteworthy on the field since 2019.

For comparison's sake, Sutton hauled in a career-high 10 touchdown catches last year, to go along with 59 receptions and 772 yards in a low-volume passing offense. The last time Crowder even approached a 500-yard receiving season was in 2021 with the New York Jets.

Sutton had offseason ankle surgery, which is a big reason why the Broncos didn't push back on his absence. Plus, OTAs are 'voluntary,' after all — going by the strict letter of the law. While it's customary for veterans to attend them all, barring an emergency or family function, a player can't be disciplined for skipping them.

Mandatory minicamp is a different story. And Sutton showed up at Broncos HQ for a couple of days, avoiding fines that would have been in the tens of thousands of dollars. While there, he spoke of his desire to remain a Bronco and his hopes that the standoff doesn't leak any further than it has to.

“I had some surgery on my ankle from the last game," Sutton said back in June. "I linked up with the training staff here and they sent me down in Florida to a guy that they were comfortable with. I was down there working with him and getting my ankle right. I was having a really good rehab process. Talking to the team, Coach [Payton] were on the same page of me being able to stay down there and continue to get my ankle to where I need it to get to so I would ultimately be able to get ready for the season.”

So, while Sutton's absence has been billed as a contract holdout, it could be more about allowing him the time for his ankle to heal up. The Broncos were involved in at least ensuring that he was getting treatment from the right people in Florida, which shows the team still very much has skin in the Sutton game.

Again, he's under contract through the 2025 season, but after doing all of the heavy lifting for the Broncos' passing offense last year, seeking a $3M raise isn't asking for the world, especially with the team resetting the quarterback position. Sutton — who has become an expert at maximizing a quarterback carousel — has to start over and find chemistry with his new passer, but while the Broncos continue to hold an "open competition" for the starting job, the veteran wideout can't really get started in building that bond.

It's another reason why the Broncos would be wise to dispense with the open competition thing, and just bite the bullet on naming Nix the starter before training camp. However, it seems that Payton wants to at least keep up appearances, internally, that Nix has to earn the job, so in the meantime, pass-catchers like Sutton have to make the most of their reps.

But until and unless Sutton reports to training camp on July 23, that's a non-issue. And while this situation remains unresolved, the rumor mill will continue to speculate on possible resolutions, some of which might not include Sutton as a member of the Denver Broncos moving forward.

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