Courtland Sutton Still Away from Broncos, Hoping to Send Message

Courtland Sutton is still away from the Denver Broncos and the Pittsburgh Steelers trade hopes will rely upon their contract talks.

Nick Farabaugh |

Updated: May 14, 2024

Steelers Playoff Denver Broncos WR courtland Sutton — ORCHARD PARK, NY - NOVEMBER 24: Denver Broncos Wide Receiver Courtland Sutton (14) prior to the National Football League game between the Denver Broncos and the Buffalo Bills on November 24, 2019, at New Era Field in Orchard Park, NY. (Photo by Gregory Fisher/Icon Sportswire)

The Pittsburgh Steelers have called the Denver Broncos about Courtland Sutton. But to this point, the Broncos have not been interested in their overtures. But Sutton has not budged on his ask for a new contract on top of that. What does that mean? Pittsburgh is going to have to play a waiting game for their wide receiver trade.

Broncos beat reporter Mike Klis says that Sutton is still away from the team and hopes to send the organization a message that he wants a new contract. It’s still voluntary workouts, but at the very least, it is noteworthy for the Steelers.

“Courtland Sutton is working out on his own in Florida while sending message to team he’d like a pay bump,” Klis wrote.

But a trade request? Nope. The Broncos do not have any intentions to trade Sutton, and it seems like the contract situation is not going to lead to a trade, either.

“A trade does not seem to be an option. It’s worth noting Sutton is not demanding a trade, which is fine because the Broncos aren’t trading him. The time to have entertained this option was during the draft and that passed without any talk of a trade. And so Sutton will continue working out on his own in Florida,” Klis wrote.

The allure of Sutton is not crazy. He has built-in chemistry with Wilson while he is a big-bodied wide receiver who could play outside, which would take pressure off rookie Roman Wilson to be an immediate contributor to the team. The deal is a bit expensive for the Steelers, but it might be the price they have to pay to land someone like Sutton at this point in the offseason, especially because there will be teams that will be bidding for Sutton’s services, not just the Steelers.

But Sutton makes so much sense from a fit standpoint and while there are some concerns about his game and it’s not perfect, the move makes a lot of sense. The Broncos will want to surround rookie quarterback Bo Nix with weapons, though, and that does hurt the chances of this happening. It will come down to those contract talks and Denver’s willingness to give into what Sutton wants. He is still under contract through the 2025 season, so there is still two seasons of control under his current deal with the team.