In the afterglow of Denver’s dominant Week 7 win at New Orleans last fall, a tiny subplot hung in the air like a potential pollutant.
The Broncos rolled the Saints, 33-10. They delivered an emotional coming-home win for head coach Sean Payton. They ran the ball at will. They completely discombobulated New Orleans rookie quarterback Spencer Rattler.
Rookie quarterback Bo Nix rushed for 75 yards but threw for just 164.
None of them to Courtland Sutton.
In fact, not only did Sutton fail to log a catch, but for the only time in his seven professional seasons, he didn’t get a single target.
A good number of receivers in the league — particularly one like Sutton, who felt the need to protest his contract situation through the offseason — might have groused publicly.
Sutton instead smiled and downplayed the outing as an anomaly and one that didn’t matter because Denver had improved to 4-3.
“We won,” Sutton said the following week. “That’s all that matters at the end of the day. Big win. … When you can run the ball that efficiently and effectively, it’s hard to be selfish.”
Easy to say. More difficult to actually stomach as a No. 1 receiver playing on a big salary cap number and sharing the field with the 10th starting quarterback of his career. Through seven games, Sutton had just 21 catches for 277 yards on 47 targets and was tracking toward the worst statistical season of his career.
Sutton, though, didn’t just say the right thing. He backed it up on the field.
Over the team’s final 10 weeks, he went on a run that cemented himself as quarterback Bo Nix’s go-to guy, a leader for a young position group, and a player Payton and the Broncos could envision featuring long-term.
That’s now reality after Sutton and the team agreed to a four-year, $92 million extension on Monday that comes with $41 million in guarantees. The deal ties him to the team through 2029, though it is likely more of a solid two-year commitment due to the terms.
Sutton followed the Saints donut by logging back-to-back 100-plus-yard outings for the first time in his career. Over a seven-game stretch in which the Broncos went 5-2 and solidified themselves as a playoff team, Sutton tallied 45 catches for 601 yards and four touchdowns. In that span, he averaged 9.4 targets and 86 yards per game and did so as Nix blossomed into a full-blown rookie of the year candidate.
Overall, Sutton played the final 10 weeks at a 1,366-yard pace.
Simply put, the receiver delivered and secured his own future in Denver in the process.
“Like any player, he’s dealt with some injuries,” Payton said Monday before the extension had been reported on. “There’s certain years — his 2019 film is outstanding. His film last year. It’s finding that right weight and balance, and then what are the things that he does well? Certainly, he’s a strong target. He’s smart. He’s clearly one of our leaders on this team.
“There’s a lot of things that he brings to the table.”
Sutton now checks in at $23 million per season from 2026-29, tied for 18th in the NFL in terms of average annual value.
That’s just about where he figured to end up, well short of the game’s elites but also comfortably above its middle class.
For their money, the Broncos retain a player who checks three boxes critical to Payton’s operation beyond just being a quality receiver.
He’s a leader with four seasons of captaincy under his belt already and a strong chance of getting the nod again this fall. He’s got the full and unwavering support of Nix, a young quarterback trying to ascend in Year 2. He’s become a sensei in a room full of young receivers the Broncos seem to like a lot more than the wider public.
Where Sutton goes, Troy Franklin, Devaughn Vele, Marvin Mims Jr. and Pat Bryant follow.
What Sutton does, those guys mimic.
“He brings, I don’t know if this is the right word for it, but like security for the group,” Franklin, a promising second-year player out of Oregon, told The Post recently. “We’re all young in the room, but we can lean on Court if we need any advice. We can watch what he does on the field, off the field and things like that.
“It’s great having Court. Plus, he’s a great guy.”
Similar to left tackle Garett Bolles, a third contract between the Broncos and Sutton never felt like a sure thing until that push toward the playoffs. Bolles got his extension in December. Sutton had to wait, but it felt like a matter of time. Look no further than Sutton’s sunny offseason disposition compared to his decision to skip all voluntary work in 2024.
Now he goes down as likely the second-to-last homegrown, pre-Payton player who forced his way into the Broncos’ long-term plans. Many, including Justin Simmons and Jerry Jeudy, didn’t make the cut after Payton’s first season. Pat Surtain II and Quinn Meinerz were never in doubt as foundational holdovers. Last year, outside linebacker Jonathon Cooper secured an extension, too.
Sutton became the fifth. The only other real candidate is 2022 second-round outside linebacker Nik Bonitto.
Payton, on Monday, happened to get into a conversation about team culture and how it solidifies over time rather than all at once.
“It happens — I don’t know that it happens with the signing of one (guy) — but you continue to look for a certain type of player,” Payton said. “… And then it begins to take shape. … We can aspire to have great culture, but if we don’t sign the right players, it’s going to be difficult to impossible.”
Sutton has been the right player for years in the eyes of many of his teammates.
The final 10 games in 2024 earned him the stamp of approval from Payton, too.
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