Welcome to the NFL offseason.
The league still has conference title games set for this weekend and the Super Bowl scheduled for Feb. 11, but for 28 teams, the offseason has already arrived.
The Denver Broncos will be a fascinating team to follow this offseason as they sort out their quarterback situation and navigate a salary cap mess. The Broncos currently only hold six draft picks and we know they want to acquire more, so trades are a very real possibility this spring.
Denver’s top two wide receivers — Courtland Sutton and Jerry Jeudy — have been mentioned in reports of trade discussions for more than two years now, and those talks will likely continue in 2024.
Earlier this week, KUSA-TV’s Mike Klis wrote that “after entertaining the possibility of trading either Sutton or Jerry Jeudy last offseason, the Broncos are expected to move on from one this offseason.”
Klis has backtracked a little from his “expected to move on” statement by writing on Twitter/X page that he is “speculating,” not reporting. Still, it’s easy to connect the dots. Denver wants draft picks and the team needs salary cap space. Trading one of Sutton or Jeudy would make sense.
Playing on his fifth-year option, Jeudy is set to have a salary cap hit of $12.987 million this season. The Broncos would be free of all of that cap hit if Jeudy is traded this spring.
Sutton is scheduled to have a cap hit of $17,395,588 in 2024. Trading him would free up $9,745,588 in cap space. Releasing him with a post-June 1 designation would create $13,570,588 in cap space.
Earlier this month, Sutton wrote a message on his Instagram page that sounded like a goodbye to fans. It’s possible that the receiver already expects Denver to move on this offseason, either via trade or release.
Sutton is coming off a year in which he scored a career-high 10 touchdowns, but the Broncos might have trouble finding a trade partner willing to take on the receiver’s entire contract. Jeudy is coming off an underwhelming season in which he scored twice, but he’s younger and on a cheaper contract.
Trading Jeudy would likely be easier, but Denver might be willing to part ways with either (or both) WRs this spring. Right now, it’s merely speculation, but in the coming months, trade buzz should start to heat up.
