The Denver Broncos and Sean Payton are hard at work trying to pick up the pieces from a disastrous 2022 campaign.
Payton has already professed he’ll try to make Russell Wilson more comfortable on the field while taking away some of his personal perks off of it. This hard-nosed recalibrating approach is probably what the Broncos needed.
They might also need their coach to bluff for them in trade negotiations.
During the start of the NFL’s annual league meetings, Payton told NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero that trade discussions for receivers Courtland Sutton and Jerry Jeudy have indeed happened. However, the somewhat rebuilding Broncos apparently aren’t seriously entertaining offers.
Yeah, sure.
“Those are two good football players [Sutton and Jeudy],” Payton said. “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.”
Hmm, not exactly a hard-line denial that the Broncos won’t trade Sutton, Jeudy, or both! Payton knows what he’s doing. After surrendering seemingly everything draft capital-wise for Russell Wilson and himself, Payton and Denver need assets. They need an influx of young foundational talent to build around to make his era work. This is not a team ready to “win now,” so to speak.
Payton specifically ensuring he notes “we’re void of draft picks” is likely less acknowledging his organization’s dire draft straits and more an out-and-out “up your offers” to teams calling about Sutton and Jeudy.
Because let’s be honest: There are a lot of contender-worthy teams who could use an ascending weapon like Jeudy. Meanwhile, Sutton would probably best be served by a fresh start. The veteran hasn’t recorded at least 1,000 yards receiving since 2019. He is who he is in Denver.
The Broncos are not in an advantageous position to wait for Sutton to finally rebound. The same sentiment applies to not taking any lucrative offers for a 23-year-old wideout like Jeudy. They need a big deal or two, Payton knows it, and he definitely just desires more in compensation. It’s one of the only ways the Broncos will dig themselves out of their draft-pick hole created by Wilson and Payton.
It’s one of the only ways they’ll become relevant.