Denver Broncos’s recipient, Courtland Sutton, signed a $ 60 million contract over four years in 2021. The second round choice of 2018 signed less money than some could have expected, given the receiver market at the time.
Rapid advance until today and Sutton enters the Last year of this agreement. Broncos have renegotiated the last two years of the agreement, in which Sutton can gain up to $ 1.5 million in incentives depending on its performance.
The question, however, is whether Sutton will be really extended and, in the affirmative, for how much. Let’s look at the current receiver market and see what Sutton could get.
Let’s be clear: Sutton is not a large receiver n ° 1, but it is good. This means that he will not become one of the best paid receivers once he has signed a new agreement, he will probably see a significant increase concerning APY wages of $ 15 million in the agreement he signed in 2021.
The best receivers get more than $ 30 million, but Sutton will not approach this number. Then, you have receptors that could be considered among the best n ° 2 receptor in the NFL, some of which could be a n ° 1 for certain teams. These receivers, such as Tee Higgins, Jaylen Waddle and Devonta Smith, earn $ 25 million at $ 29 million.
Sutton will not necessarily approach a salary in this range, but it will get closer. This is because when you look at the following level, you find receptors comparable to Sutton for one reason or another.
Let’s start with Michael Pittman Jr., who signed a $ 68 million contract over three years in 2024 with $ 41 million fully guaranteed. Pittman is a large n ° 1 receiver but not the largest that could be more productive if the colts obtain a better quarter-arre in 2025.
Then we can watch Calvin Ridley, who obtained a $ 92 million contract over four years with $ 50 million fully guaranteed in 2024. Ridley was a productive player last season, even with a lack of quality quarter game. He was also drafted in 2018, he has been in the league for as many years as Sutton.
A third to consider is Nico Collins, who obtained an extension of $ 72.75 million over three years in 2024 with $ 32.116 million fully guaranteed. Collins has been a reasonably productive player in the last two seasons, although he is in no way an elite receiver.
If we use these three players as the basis of a new contract for Sutton, a contract of $ 98 million over four years would make sense. It costs an average of 24.5 million dollars per year. Broncos could offer $ 52 million in guarantees, which would go beyond Ridley’s full guarantees.
If Sutton was extended before the start of the 2025 season, he could get a signature bonus that would give him additional money beyond the $ 14 million he was already saying this season.
The Broncos could then structure the contract so that it has all the money in 2026 fully guaranteed, and perhaps part of its wages in 2027 fully guaranteed. However, broncos would not want to guarantee too much because they would like to have a way to get out of the agreement in 2027 without too much pain.
Broncos could offer Sutton something in exchange for 2027 by having a list bonus which is paid at the latest on the fifth day of the year of the 2027 League. This means that broncos should make a decision early on the opportunity to keep Sutton, and if they cut it, it would have the chance to find another team at the start of the free agency.
In summary, any extension that Sutton obtains should be a type “two years, so we will see” a type of agreement, which means that the broncos maintain it for 2025 or 2026 but have a possible outcome in 2027 and a final means in 2028. It spends 30 years this year, so broncos do not want to be engaged with it for too 19 2025.
Are broncos ready to extend it? Time will tell us, but if the Broncos want to keep it, extend it before the start of the 2025 season can be the best option.
