Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Courtland Sutton EXTENDED by Denver Broncos and Training Camp Standouts

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Denver Broncos got a deal done with wide receiver, Cortland Sutton. He's got a four-year deal to become a Bronco for life. We'll tell you all about that as well as some updates from training camp here on today's episode, Locked on Broncos. You are Locked on Broncos. Your daily Denver Broncos podcast. Part of the Locked-on podcast network, your team every day. It's a big day for the Denver Broncos, their fans,

Starting point is 00:00:30 and obviously wide receiver, Cortland Sutton, who got a four-year contract worth 92 million. in total money to become a Bronco for life. Cortland Sutton getting his third contract from the Denver Broncos. We'll tell you what it means. We'll tell you why the Broncos wanted to get this deal done with Sutton and why he's worth that price of admission to keep around. But Broncos country, thank you so much for tuning in and making lockdown Broncos,

Starting point is 00:00:54 your first listen of the day. Every single day, we've got a lot to unpack today from Cortland Sutton's contract to a positive update regarding linebacker Drew Sanders and the prognosis. after his MRI, as well as other training camp standouts. In today's episode of Lockdown Broncos, it's brought to you by our friends over there at GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account, and use code Lockdown NFL for $20 off your first purchase.

Starting point is 00:01:21 Of course, the big news of the day, Cortland Sutton getting a four-year, $92 million deal, $23 million in average annual contract value to get this guy in the fold for the long, And of course, this was something that's been kind of working on behind the scenes for quite some time now for the Denver Broncos. It's a contract that now runs through 2029, and it gives Cortland Sutton the chance to finish his career in Denver, which is very, very exciting considering where the team was when he was drafted as one of the worst teams in the NFL. And what he's been through as a professional with the Denver Broncos as well. but of course Broncos country, it's great to have these deals getting done. It's great to when you're winning games, right?

Starting point is 00:02:07 That's why you extend guys like this is because you're having success as a team. And ultimately, these types of deals don't get done if you don't have a vision as a team or if you're not having success as a team. And Cortland Sutton is a player that the Denver Broncos have been kind of rejecting trades for in the past. They reworked his deal last year to keep him around and sort of, give him a shot to prove that he really belongs in that long-term contract category once again. And this is representative of not only what Cortland does on the field, but the type of leader he is, the way that he's bought into the vision of Sean Payton since the very beginning back in

Starting point is 00:02:46 2023 when that's really all there was is a vision. And Sean Peyton talked about that after practice that the sales pitch for this team in 2025 with a young quarterback and having just made the playoffs is vastly different than the one. from 2023 where you're selling a vision. You're trying to sell these veteran players to buy in to something that they've been hearing for their whole career. If you're a guy like Cortland Sutton, you've heard numerous coaches come in and sell you a vision on, hey, we want to do this, we want to do that, we're going to be this, we're going to

Starting point is 00:03:16 be that. I mean, Cortland has been certainly a good soldier in that regard throughout the years, right? I mean, he's bought into just about everything, to every quarterback. And of course, he's done his part, especially in 2019 when he made the Pro Bowl for the very first time and was absolutely outstanding, regardless of Joe Flacco, Brandon Allen, Drew Locke throwing him passes. And he's had to endure that quarterback carousel for the Denver Broncos. And he's done tremendous, especially these last two years, setting a career high with 10 touchdown catches in 2023 when Russell Wilson was the quarterback. and then following that up with another eight touchdown catches this past year. And I do believe that the Broncos are justified in giving Sutton this type of deal.

Starting point is 00:04:03 This is almost exactly the type of deal that we saw Calvin Ridley get last year from the Tennessee Titans. It's almost a verbatim contract in terms of the average annual value and total money. So it's one of those things to where you really believe that the Broncos felt like, okay, we see the market increasing at the wide receiver position. We want to get this deal done as soon as we possibly can. And I believe that Cortland Sutton has earned this type of contract. The guaranteed money is what we're kind of waiting on at this point.

Starting point is 00:04:34 But Calvin Ridley got $50 million in guaranteed money. Wouldn't surprise me at all if Cortland got even more than that. But he deserves it. And he's a really great example of what this Denver Broncos team is all about is somebody that you feel like you can build around, even if like the debate around Cortland Sutton has always been the same, right? Is he truly a wide receiver one or is he not? And I think that a lot of folks split hairs over that.

Starting point is 00:05:01 I don't believe necessarily that he's in that Jamar Chase, Justin Jefferson category of wide receiver, but you don't have to be. In today's NFL, you can get the job done with a variety of different guys out there. And Sutton is capable of kind of dominating and taking over games. So we've seen that in the past. just hasn't been as consistent as you would like from a guy who carries that wide receiver one designation. And ultimately, I think his pay is reflective of that, right? I mean, yes, his age is also reflective of what he's getting paid here.

Starting point is 00:05:33 But at the same time, for a guy like Cortland Sutton to get a $92 million contract is reflective of the fact that he goes about his work in the way that the team wants him to do it. And they believe that he can be a fixture during what I hope is a long championship. window for the team with Bo Nix at the quarterback position. They've now locked in Bowes wide receiver one. And yes, I do believe there's that untapped potential, even with a guy who's been in the league since 2018, because Cortland Sutton has constantly had to deal with the fact that he's really been the only guy in this Denver Broncos offense. And even when he's had help, there's been sort of qualifiers that go along with that

Starting point is 00:06:13 or asterisks that go along with that, right? When you have Jerry Judy around, your quarterback play is as bad as it's ever, been. When you finally get other guys around you healthy, your offensive play calling is as bad as it's ever been. You got quarterbacks going through injuries. You got inconsistencies in the running game, preventing you from getting your great matchups throughout the course of a game or becoming way too predictable by always playing from behind. I don't think there's a bunch of excuses that we need to make for Cortland Sutton, but I do believe there are a lot of reasons why he could really catapult going forward for the Denver Broncos because now you've got Evan Ingram in the mix.

Starting point is 00:06:50 You've got young receivers ready to break out like Marvin Mims, Devon Veilet, Troy Franklin, and then Pat Bryant, who's coming on early at training camp. You've got all these pieces. The running game is expected to be vastly improved here in 2025. You just feel like Cortland is getting ready to potentially face arguably the best matchups that he's seen in the NFL. And to me, that would indicate that there's, a chance that we could see better from Cortland Sutton now as he's approaching his late 20s,

Starting point is 00:07:20 right? Or in his late 20s, we could see a better version of him now than we did early on in his NFL career when he was dealing with all those other uncontrollable factors out there on the field. So great news for the Denver Broncos, in my opinion, to get Cortland Sutton signed to this long-term deal to bring him in, had over a thousand receiving yards last year, eight touchdowns. And I also believe that you could see just an improved chemistry between he and Bo Nix. I don't think that's impossible either. Those guys have only had one year together on the job. And how many times did we see Cortland Sutton get multiple years in a row with the same quarterback, right?

Starting point is 00:07:59 So it's going to be very exciting to see how those two can build on what they did last year, where it was really productive and arguably the best year of Sutton's career on a per target basis. he was outstanding for the Denver Broncos last season, although, again, we want to see more of a consistent week to week, and maybe it's the target share. Maybe that's what, maybe that's all that it is, is we got to get Cortland the ball even more than we were. So we'll see what the Denver Broncos do in terms of that. But for now, you can be excited Broncos country because wide receiver won in Denver, Cortland Sutton. He is under contract for the foreseeable future. If you were thinking about buying that Cortland Sutton, Jersey maybe now is the time to do so if you don't already have one.

Starting point is 00:08:43 But he's under contract for the next four years, four years, $92 million, $23 million a year, very justifiable based on comparables around the league and a very fair price, once again, for the Denver Broncos, who will see what the implications are in terms of their present salary cap situation. And obviously, you'll monitor, okay, who's next on the board? Is it Zach Allen? Is it Nick Benito? Is it John Franklin Myers?

Starting point is 00:09:10 Now that Cortland Sutton's deal is done in the books and signed, you can move on to other players and get maybe some more deals done here as training camp continues to roll along. In Broncos country, speaking of player news, obviously we were all waiting with bated breath at what the prognosis was going to be for linebacker Drew Sanders. He was carted off the field on Saturday.

Starting point is 00:09:34 Fortunately for him, according to Sean Payton, Sounds like maybe a best case scenario, given the injury that he did suffer. We'll tell you his timeline for a return to the field, which is going to happen in 2025. But Broncos country will talk about Drew Sanders and much more from training camp coming up next on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos. This episode is presented by Yahoo Fantasy. Fantasy football is back. So fire up the group chat, get your draft board ready, and buckle up for a season filled with breakouts, busts, and all the overreactions we live for. It's all going down on Yahoo Fantasy.

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Starting point is 00:11:07 And of course, anytime a player gets carted off the field, it does not. look good. But Broncos country, Sean Peyton, he provided a positive update regarding Sanders and his injury, what it looks like for him to get back onto the field here in 2025. And we'll tell you all about that coming up next on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos. But I want to just say a quick thank you to all of you that make Lockdown Broncos your first listen of the day every single day. If you haven't already done so and you're listening to this or watching this, hit subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts as well as on YouTube and become part of the discussion. We always love engaging with other members of Broncos country and making you part of the show

Starting point is 00:11:44 here at Lockdown Broncos. So let's talk about Drew Sanders. Of course, guy gets carted off the field and you get plenty of comments saying, hey, this guy's cooked. This guy's never going to be able to play. This guy's always injured. This guy's made a glass.

Starting point is 00:11:59 Things like that. Got to hold out and reserve a little bit of judgment here. Of course, football is a very physical game. And these guys deal with a lot of different stuff. And so Drew Sanders, obviously, it's been frustrated. from a fan perspective to watch over the last two seasons where he's changing positions, he's struggling with injuries, struggling to stay on the field. And you want a guy like that to succeed, right?

Starting point is 00:12:20 You don't want situations like we saw last year with Greg Dolcich, where ultimately the team just got too frustrated. You can't keep a guy around. You can't keep a guy who can't stay available, can't stay on the field or isn't producing when he does get chances to be out there on the field. So I get the tension and the frustration with Drew Sanders. but according to head coach Sean Payton after practice on Monday,

Starting point is 00:12:42 sounds like a four to six week, potentially up to eight week recovery process for Drew Sanders. And that according to Peyton was kind of the best case scenario. Because after he had the MRI, it was discovered that it was a ligament tear, not a tendon situation. And that's good news because the Broncos don't want Drew dealing with any sort of tendon tears. The ligament tear is something that they can work their way back from, apparently. And according to Peyton, now Drew is just,

Starting point is 00:13:09 weighing the options of whether or not to get surgery. And there's been situations where both have been successful in recent history to kind of look at as sort of a reference point for him. So we'll see what ends up happening there. And of course, we'll keep you updated as that situation progresses along. But if we go with the maximum amount of time, right, up to eight weeks off the field, that would obviously put Drew Sanders out into late September, which means that we're likely to see him start the season on injured reserve.

Starting point is 00:13:39 and players can be brought back off of that. They don't have to be added to the 53-man roster first anymore. He can go on injured reserve at the end of camp when they make roster cuts and things like that. And he could still come back this season. And I do believe that we'll see the Broncos bring Drew back when he's ready to go. And he'll be an asset to this team. Depth at the linebacker position has been tested to say the least over the last couple of years, right? And now it's being tested with his injury.

Starting point is 00:14:07 Alex Singleton walked out the field with trainers, although it doesn't sound like there's anything to worry about there. According to Sean Payton, actually, he was kind of just talking about how the duo of Drey Greenlaw and Alex Singleton, those guys have the potential to really mesh well together. Peyton said that he believes those two guys have complimentary skills out there and even compared Dre Greenlaw to Mike Tyson, the boxer, right? And he said that's just kind of how he hits out there. He's just, he's a tough, nasty physical dude. and somebody that when the pads come on, Peyton's like, you hear him, right? So he's that type of physical playmaker at the linebacker position, whereas Alex Singleton is that guy who just flies around the field and flies to the football. And it's a difference of you have one guy that's sort of an enforcer and one guy who's sort of a

Starting point is 00:14:53 tackling machine, right? And I think Dre Greenlaw brings to the table what the Broncos have been missing at that position. And so, of course, we want to see him stay healthy to begin this season. And if those two guys can stay healthy, I think that Dre makes Alex that much better. I don't think that Alex is always going to just be weighing down the defense as one of the weaklings on the team. Coming back from injury, you know, you sort of are slightly pessimistic, maybe he's cautiously optimistic as a better way to put it when it comes to Singleton returning to form because this is a guy that had 177 tackles in 2023. So he is a machine. and back then he was making a lot more plays behind the line of scrimmage.

Starting point is 00:15:36 When Josie Jewel left and we saw him take on a different role in 2024, it wasn't exactly the same level of production. But with somebody next to him that he can trust like Dre Greenlaw, you really get the sense that somebody like Singleton can come back strong from his injury. And the Broncos obviously believe that as well because they didn't make a ton of moves to upgrade linebacker this offseason. They kind of went with other than Drey Greenlaw, right? They went with kind of the status quo.

Starting point is 00:16:01 You bring back Justin Sernat, who played pretty well last year in his opportunity. You bring back guys like Lavelle Bailey, 24 undrafted free agent that the team really likes. And then you've got a couple of other guys competing out there for roster spots. And so the injury to Drew Sanders, according to Peyton, it's one of those short-term deals instead of more of a long-term deal as far as the roster outlook. But he did acknowledge they'll be looking at all positions. And we'll see what happens at linebacker if they add somebody. because obviously now you probably need another body for camp at the very least. So we'll see if they bring anybody in.

Starting point is 00:16:34 But if they bring in another veteran to come in and compete at the position, that could be kind of interesting in terms of the long-term outlook for Drew Sanders with this team. And of course, you know the team is feeling bad for him, but at the same time, there's the business side of the NFL. And ultimately, eventually you do have to make business level decisions. But because Drew was drafted when Sean Payton was first brought on as Denver Broncos head coach, you can't help but wonder if the, leash will be a little bit longer for him, especially because they have kind of flipped him back

Starting point is 00:17:04 and forth between the edge and off ball linebacker, things like that. So we'll continue to update you on any roster situations that go along, injury updates that go along Broncos country. But how about the team getting back out there on the practice field for the first time this off season with the pads on? Garrett Bowles said after practice, you put it well, it's not really football until the pads come on. And we have plenty to update you on in terms of players who stood out at practice, observations from those who were in attendance,

Starting point is 00:17:30 and plenty more coming up on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos. Today's episode of Lockdown Broncos is brought to you by Game Time. We've all been there, right? Logging on early and waiting forever for concert tickets to go on sale, only to lose your spot for a show that you've been dying to see. I mean, live music should be about making memories, not dealing with the stress of ticket shopping, right? That's where Game Time comes in.

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Starting point is 00:18:59 the trenches look like and who's continuing to stand out as training camp rolls along. Once again, Broncos Country, thank you so much for making us your first listen of the day. One of the key things that we haven't really gotten much of an update on this off season, because the team hasn't been wearing pads until Monday's practice was the running back position. And of course, the trenches, the offensive line, the defensive line, guys getting the opportunity to be a bit more physical with the pads on. And sounds like all of the running backs at the top of the depth chart, meaning J.K. Dobbins, R.J. Harvey and Jal McLaughlin. At least we presume them to be at the top of the depth chart at this point.

Starting point is 00:19:36 Sounds like all of those guys looked good out there at practice. Each had a couple of impressive runs. I even saw a couple of different tweets from Zach Stevens and others saying that one run in particular by R.J. Harvey drew some ooze and oz as the Denver Broncos continue their training camp practice installation period. That's an important note here as well, Broncos country. It's not like these players, are going out there and scrimaging right now. They are still in the installation phase, which they're doing now with the pads on that they had already done, things that they have already gone through. They're installing it now with the pads on.

Starting point is 00:20:10 So it's obviously full speed. Guys are still capable of going out there and standing out and making plays. But it is an installation phase of training camp, which is important to note, I think in the overarching, just kind of, okay, this is the context of what they're doing out there at training camp.

Starting point is 00:20:26 A lot of times that context gets lost in the absurd. and it does matter in these sorts of things. So they were really working the running game. And I think that you hear some good things about these running backs that are presumed to be at the top of the depth chart. That's what you want. That's exactly what you want. And of course,

Starting point is 00:20:42 you want to hear that these guys are staying healthy, but to be looking explosive out there, to be physical, to be bringing to the table exactly what everyone kind of anticipated. That's exactly what the Denver Broncos need from the running game. And how about opening up those running lanes? Well, Ryan Edwards, he said that there were some decent lanes to run through and that both J.K. Dobbins and R.J. Harvey found those lanes to run through. So the vision of these backs is going to be crucial for the Denver Broncos this year because that's been a problem, quite frankly, over the last couple of years.

Starting point is 00:21:14 It's been a big reason why the Broncos haven't really had much success running the football is because, I mean, the offensive line is opening up the holes and the running backs just either aren't seeing them or they're not getting to the hole quick enough. whatever the case may be, it just, it figures that the running game is going to be one of the most vastly improved areas of this team in 2025. So this was a stepping stone in the right direction. I also found this observation from Ryan Edwards very interesting. He said, Trent Sherfield is underrated, special teams ace, but don't discount an offensive role this year. That is a fascinating observation because I feel like, at least in terms of my perspective on the Trent Sherfield, signing. That was a Tremon Smith 2.0 type of signing. And remember, Tremon provided zero value as a cornerback for the Denver Broncos. And so I've just kind of been assuming that Trent is not going

Starting point is 00:22:08 to provide all that much value as a receiver for the Broncos, although he's been better as a receiver in the NFL than Tremon has been at corner. So it's exciting to hear that Trent is out there kind of showing out at receiver as well. The Broncos need that depth. They need that veteran floor razor out there. And not that you want to see Trent Sherfield catching 50 passes this year. I mean, you want other guys to be stepping up in the offense. But if he can play that sort of veteran, you know, well-rounded role, come up with a tough catch here and then and play strong special teams for you, man, that could be a really

Starting point is 00:22:45 underrated signing for George Payton and this Denver Broncos front office to bring a guy like that into the mix. So really love that update from Ryan Edwards as well. And then, of course, everybody that's been at training camp has been talking nonstop about Evan Ingram and the impact that he's been making already, catching another number of passes from Bo Nix, showing off his ball control or his ball skills, his body control, especially near the sideline where he's able to make difficult catches. He just got a great feel for spacing. He's got a great feel for where he's out on the field. He's got a great feel for how to beat certain types of defenders, really, really excited about this. the developments that are continually coming out regarding Evan Ingram out there for the Denver Broncos.

Starting point is 00:23:29 And then another standout from our good friend Ryan Edwards was Malcolm Roach. I think that Malcolm Roach was called out by George Payton earlier this offseason as one of those signings from last year's free agent class that was quietly one of the most important signings that they made. And frankly, he may be one of their best ones. He's a guy that we talk a lot about, you know, the Cortland Sutton extension, Zach Allen, John Franklin Myers, Nick Bonito. So what about Malcolm Roach?

Starting point is 00:23:55 He's also entering a contract here this year and has been somebody who has been an absolute culture setter for this Denver Broncos. There's reports that he comes out to training camp practice every single day singing and you can hear Malcolm Roach. And he's such a just a big personality for this team and fits really well with the organization. And so maybe he's one of those guys that's been getting underrated in terms of his impact or potential impact in the long term for the Broncos. and somebody that they'd be looking to extend as well. We don't know necessarily where things would be at with him because nothing has been discussed publicly by anybody regarding Malcolm Roach in that regard.

Starting point is 00:24:35 But I do believe it would be in the Broncos' best interest to try and keep him around. And of course, you can't keep everybody, right? That's the ugly side of the success that NFL teams experience. You can't always keep everybody. But the way the Broncos have been writing up contracts, like the Cortland Sutton deal, being on par with a deal that was signed by Calvin Ridley last year in Tennessee.

Starting point is 00:24:59 I mean, that's indicative right there of the fact that this team knows how to get very reasonable deals done. And they are willing to go maybe higher in the guaranteed money or whatever it may be if it's upfront money that the player wants. Whatever that is, it feels like the Broncos are getting a lot of very team friendly contracts from guys like Pat Sertan, whose contract immediately almost felt like was down at the top five at the bottom of the top five in terms of cornerback contracts in the league. Quinn Miners, his deal as one of the highest paid offensive guards in the history of the league.

Starting point is 00:25:32 That's been dwarfed by other contracts lately as well. And you can think of another number of examples of that across the spectrum on this Broncos roster. It just feels like they're getting really great bang for their buck when it comes to the players that they are signing or resigning. They're getting guys at bargain prices. So we'll see what ends up happening next Broncos country. and of course we'll have all the training camp updates that you are longing for as camp rolls along.

Starting point is 00:25:57 The Broncos will be back out there on the practice field on Tuesday, and you can expect an update from us on everything that goes on, whether it's player performance, if it's hopefully not anything on the injury front, roster moves, whatever it may be Broncos country. We appreciate you all so much for rocking with us every single day. We'll catch you on the next episode of the show.

Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Courtland Sutton EXTENDED by Denver Broncos and Training Camp Standouts

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