DENVER, CO – NOVEMBER 20: Courtland Sutton #14 of the Denver Broncos looks on during the national anthem prior to the NFL game between the Las Vegas Raiders and Denver Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High on November 20, 2022 in Denver, Colorado. The Las Vegas Raiders won in overtime. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images)
The Denver Broncos’ spacious receiving room could offer a solution to many depleted, out-of-season teams throughout the NFL.
In 2023, the Denver Broncos are still making a roster that can take on stiff competition in the AFC West.
Although the Russell Wilson trade wasn’t over yet, the Broncos followed it up with another big name acquisition: Sean Payton from the New Orleans Saints.
The veteran Super Bowl-winning coach is one of the NFL’s greatest offensive minds, which is exactly what Wilson and the Broncos need to become a competing playoff force.
Payton has already made big moves in free agency to overhaul the Broncos roster, and the latest reports out of Denver suggest that the entire wide receiver room is up for trades.
Sources with multiple teams believe the Broncos could trade WR. Denver has had talks with teams about Courtland Sutton, Jerry Jeudy, and KJ Hamler. Teams say the Broncos are asking high prices, not just dumping, but that’s not out of the question of being moved.
— Dan Graziano (@DanGrazianoESPN) March 13, 2023
If Payton makes another splash off the season by trading a wide receiver to the Broncos, he could greatly benefit an NFL team in desperate need of a wide receiver this spring.
Here are just a few of the teams that could be most likely candidates for a trade to the Denver Broncos from Sean Payton.
3. Courtland Sutton’s Broncos business partner: New England Patriots
They no longer engage in opposing conferences, but it’s still entirely possible that Payton could make a mutually beneficial trade with his old friend Bill Belichick.
Both have been under the tutelage of Bill Parcells, who has fostered like-minded coaching philosophies over the years. Sean Payton has expressed his desire to model the New Orleans Saints after the Belichick Patriots, and the two have shared common practices in the past. It’s no coincidence that Belichick and Payton captained two of the NFL’s most talented teams during the 2000s.
Payton and Belichick have also traded with each other on several occasions, and in two of those exchanges, Payton sent through two wide receivers: Jalen Saunders and Brandin Cooks. Now that the Patriots have lost Jacoby Meyers to the Las Vegas Raiders, they can trade the Broncos for Cortlandt Sutton, as Payton will likely stick with Jerry Goody.
Sutton’s base salary is a costly $14 million, and if the Broncos waited to trade until after June 1, they would only get $3.8 million with $14.4 million in savings. It’s more than the Patriots offered Myers, but Sutton would be an upgrade at receiver and New England has plenty of room to handle Sutton’s salary.
