Broncos WR Courtland Sutton: Extension talks “moving in the right direction”

JOHNSTOWN — The offseason is sweet and the candy is sour for Courtland Sutton.

The Broncos wide receiver was all smiles here Saturday as he kicked off a campaign for his newly released candy, Sutton Sours. Later this month, he’ll get back to what until last summer had been a normal part of his offseason routine: taking part in Denver’s voluntary offseason workout program and organized team activities.

That even though Sutton and the Broncos have not yet come to terms on a contract extension.

Still, Sutton told The Denver Post on Saturday here that he believes his representation and the club are “moving in the right direction” regarding a long-term deal.

“My team has had a really good conversation with the guys up there in the front office, and I think it’s working in the right direction,” Sutton said. “Ultimately, you just want to know you’re working in the right direction. I think they see and have seen what I’ve brought to the team.

“I’m open and optimistic about the fact that I’ll be able to be here for the rest of my career.”

That’s a substantial tone shift and change in approach from a year ago, when Sutton skipped all of the Broncos’ voluntary offseason work. When he reported to a mandatory minicamp in June — the only portion of the offseason he could have been fined for missing — he called contract talks between himself and the only organization he’s ever played for a “stalemate.”

Eventually, Sutton agreed to add up to $1.7 million in earnable incentives to his contract and cashed in $1.5 million of it by putting together the best football of his career — and certainly the best season he’s had since tearing his ACL in 2020.

Sutton caught 81 passes for 1,081 yards and eight touchdowns while becoming the go-to option for rookie quarterback Bo Nix and being voted a captain by his teammates for a fourth straight year.

In the process, he made a convincing case for a contract extension. Sutton is entering the final season of a four-year, $60.1 million extension he signed in November 2021. He is due a $13.5 million base salary for 2025 and has no guaranteed money left on his contract, though that will change if the sides can agree on an extension in the coming months.

Sutton said Nix’s ascendance, Denver’s return to the playoffs and his confidence in how the organization thinks of him all add up to an excitement level to attend the voluntary portion of the offseason.

“One of the biggest things is the season we had last year was amazing, and leaning into that and wanting to build on that and not wanting to take any steps back from that, I think the offseason is a big part of that,” Sutton said. “And then obviously us having a quarterback. Man, going into the offseason knowing, “this is going to be our quarterback of the future — being able to build on that and having that consistency and that foundation already set going into the offseason is amazing.”

In acknowledging that Sutton is planning to attend the voluntary portion of team workouts two weeks ago at the NFL owners meetings in South Florida, head coach Sean Payton said there is “no timeline” for an extension.

“I’m excited that he’ll be there whenever we get going and we’ll go from there,” Payton said.
But I know there isn’t any timeline.”

General manager George Paton narrowed it down slightly, saying he thought any contract extensions the Broncos work on will happen after the NFL Draft, which runs April 24-26. The Broncos have several players who are due or close to due for extensions, including Sutton, defensive lineman Zach Allen, outside linebacker Nik Bonitto and potentially others, like defensive lineman John Franklin-Myers.

“You’ve seen how we’ve done our business,” Paton said at the owners meetings. “Typically, let’s get through the draft. We’ll be open to conversations after the draft and into the summer and sometimes into the season as well.”

Last year, Denver finalized massive extensions for right guard Quinn Meinerz in mid-July and for cornerback Pat Surtain II the week of the Broncos’ season opener.

In the meantime, the only pursed lips for Sutton might come if he tried his own candy. He was relaxed and smiling wide as a long line of Broncos fans filtered through a sporting goods store to buy his newest concoction and score an autograph in the process. At least a couple hundred people — and a few furry friends — got photos and autographs from Sutton, who spent weeks on different candy options from Colorado Candy Company before settling on a sour.

“I love candy,” Sutton said. “It’s something that, it’s one of my Achilles heels for sure. … They probably sent a good amount, we went back and forth for a couple weeks — it might have been more like a month — trying to figure out what we liked. We narrowed it down to some flavors and we got it right.

“I love sours. I’m thinking about it right now and it’s making my cheeks tingle.”

That’s the only sour taste in Sutton’s world these days.

The Broncos are back to being a playoff-caliber team, they have a quarterback, and Sutton feels good about his place in the organization.

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