The trade deadline is a week from tomorrow. On that front, if the Broncos are hoping to move Courtland Sutton, they may have helped their cause by getting him a healthy number of touchdowns in the first seven weeks of the season.
At 2-5, Denver has had a disappointing season (increasing speculation that it will be a seller at the trade deadline), but Sutton has caught 5 touchdowns, tying for 3rd-most in the league. They’ve featured him heavily in the red zone, and he’s come through for them. He and Russell Wilson has a nice rapport in that part of the field.
Inside the 20, Sutton has caught 6 of the 8 passes thrown his way, including those 5 touchdowns. Most notably, he came up with the great TD catch late in the Arrowhead game.
The Broncos have another wide receiver who’s been mentioned in trade talks: Jerry Jeudy. Heading into the season, most (including myself) were thinking Jeudy was a lot better than Sutton. But while Jeudy has been similar to Sutton between the 20s, he hasn’t been a factor in the red zone. They’ve thrown him 2 passes in that part of the field, and they’ve both resulted in completions that lost yards.
Whether there’s a team out there interested in Sutton, I have no idea. I don’t see any teams out there with a screaming need at the position. I have heard a lot more about teams potentially wanting to trading wide receivers (Mike Evans, Hunter Renfrow, Hollywood Brown) rather than teams wanting to bring them in. Sutton has a base salary of $14 million, which is significant.
But the touchdowns are impressive. Thus far he’s one of the few players who’s caught over a third of his team’s touchdown passes.
| PLAYERS WITH AT LEAST 3 TOUCHDOWN CATCHES | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Player | Ind | Team | Pct |
| WR | Tyreek Hill, Mia. | 7 | 16 | 44% |
| WR | Stefon Diggs, Buff. | 6 | 15 | 40% |
| WR | Jakobi Meyers, L.V. | 5 | 8 | 63% |
| TE | Mark Andrews, Balt. | 5 | 8 | 63% |
| WR | DJ Moore, Chi. | 5 | 12 | 42% |
| WR | Courtland Sutton, Den. | 5 | 13 | 38% |
| WR | Adam Thielen, Car. | 4 | 8 | 50% |
| WR | Mike Evans, T.B. | 4 | 8 | 50% |
| WR | Romeo Doubs, G.B. | 4 | 10 | 40% |
| WR | Keenan Allen, LAC | 4 | 11 | 36% |
| WR | Jordan Addison, Min. | 4 | 14 | 29% |
| WR | Gabriel Davis, Buff. | 4 | 15 | 27% |
| TE | Travis Kelce, K.C. | 4 | 15 | 27% |
| WR | Marquise Brown, Ari. | 3 | 6 | 50% |
| WR | JaMarr Chase, Cin. | 3 | 7 | 43% |
| WR | Kendrick Bourne, N.E. | 3 | 7 | 43% |
| WR | Tutu Atwell, LAR | 3 | 7 | 43% |
| WR | Christian Kirk, Jac. | 3 | 8 | 38% |
| WR | Davante Adams, L.V. | 3 | 8 | 38% |
| WR | A.J. Brown, Phi. | 3 | 9 | 33% |
| TE | Dalton Schultz, Hou. | 3 | 10 | 30% |
| TE | George Kittle, S.F. | 3 | 10 | 30% |
| WR | Jayden Reed, G.B. | 3 | 10 | 30% |
| WR | Nico Collins, Hou. | 3 | 10 | 30% |
| WR | Amon-Ra St. Brown, Det. | 3 | 11 | 27% |
| TE | Donald Parham, LAC | 3 | 11 | 27% |
| WR | Josh Reynolds, Det. | 3 | 11 | 27% |
| TE | Sam LaPorta, Det. | 3 | 11 | 27% |
| TE | Cole Kmet, Chi. | 3 | 12 | 25% |
| WR | Brandon Johnson, Den. | 3 | 13 | 23% |
| WR | Justin Jefferson, Min. | 3 | 14 | 21% |
| WR | Rashee Rice, K.C. | 3 | 15 | 20% |
—Ian Allan