Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton retooled the team’s roster this offseason.
The Broncos lost several key starters on both sides of the ball this spring, some by choice and some for financial reasons. Denver released quarterback Russell Wilson in a coach’s decision, cut safety Justin Simmons to save salary cap space, traded wide receiver Jerry Jeudy to the Cleveland Browns and lost linebacker Josey Jewell and center Lloyd Cushenberry during free agency.
After seeing the team part ways with so many key teammates, receiver Courtland Sutton had a perfect reaction on social media. Sutton shared a famous GIF of Wil Smith standing in an empty house in the final scene of “The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air.”
That was back in March and Sutton was not available to speak to the media until he reported for mandatory minicamp earlier this month. During his media availability, Sutton was asked about his reaction to teammates being let go this offseason.
“That’s above my pay grade,” Sutton said on June 11. “I know that the guys upstairs — the people upstairs that make those decisions — they have a rhyme and a reason for why they do it. It’s not for us to understand, we probably will never understand.
“The thing that I have come to understand with this business that we’re in is they’re always going to say it’s just business never personal, so we’ve got to move accordingly.”
Sutton skipped the voluntary part of the team’s offseason program in protest of his contract situation. He was noncommittal when asked if he would report to training camp without a new contract. Wilson, Simmons, Jeudy, Jewell and Cushenberry won’t be on the field when camp begins next month. We’ll see if Sutton shows up.
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