One of the wide receivers who has been loosely linked to the Pittsburgh Steelers throughout the last few weeks is the Denver Broncos’ Courtland Sutton. The Broncos are in the middle of a complete rebuild as they released QB Russell Wilson and his massive, guaranteed contract and traded WR Jerry Jeudy to the Cleveland Browns. They just drafted Oregon WR Troy Franklin in the fourth round, which could be another reason why Sutton is eventually dealt.
Ian Rapoport talked about that possibility on the NFL Network broadcast during Day 3 of the draft.
“The Denver Broncos, it makes sense for them to re-shape the receiver room. We talked about the Jerry Jeudy situation, of course traded to the [Cleveland Browns],” Rapoport said. “Tim Patrick took a big pay cut, and then Courtland Sutton, who certainly is one of their top returning receivers, that stayed away from offseason workouts, wants an adjustment to his contract…Makes a lot of sense for Sean Payton to look a little bit for the future, and I would expect teams to inquire about Sutton.”
The Steelers cleared some cap space in the days leading up to the draft with a reported Alex Highsmith contract restructure. That made it seem like a WR trade was a distinct possibility as they needed to clear some cap space to accommodate some of their contracts in a possible trade. There were reports that the Steelers were trying to make things happen with San Francisco 49ers WR Deebo Samuel yesterday early on Day 2 of the draft, but the asking price was reportedly too high.
Could the Steelers figure out a way to pry Sutton away from the Broncos and add another talented receiver alongside Roman Wilson and George Pickens? It would be a bit of a surprise this late in the draft with many of the valuable draft picks already spent and less ammunition to package together for a trade. But if the Broncos want to save some cap dollars, they could take a later-round pick like they did for Jeudy to get it done.
