For what feels like an eternity now, the Pittsburgh Steelers have been linked to every wide receiver that is available, or potentially available leading up to the 2024 season. This is a problem they created for themselves when they traded away WR Diontae Johnson during the first week of free agency. George Pickens is a good starter on the outside, but opposite him, there are a bunch of question marks. One of the primary trade targets that has the most realistic chance of actually happening is Denver Broncos WR Courtland Sutton. Jeremy Fowler reported on ESPN’s NFL Live for the first time today that teams have in fact reached out about Sutton.
“Courtland Sutton, this is a unique situation because they clearly want him there at his salary at about $13.6 million he’s due in cash. He wants a little bit of a sweetener,” Fowler said. “They haven’t done that yet, although I think they may be open to that down the road. They have gotten trade inquiries on Sutton. They have rebuffed those up to this point. Will that change? We’ll see if maybe there’s an enticing offer closer to camp.”
Fowler reported on SportsCenter back on May 18th that Sutton is looking for a raise to about $15 or $16 million per season. The Broncos are in the middle of a reset after parting ways with Russell Wilson and trading away WR Jerry Jeudy, among other offseason losses in free agency. They aren’t exactly in the right position to be giving players raises, but if Sutton were to leave, their WR room would look pretty rough for their first-round rookie quarterback Bo Nix.
They drafted Troy Franklin and Devaughn Vele, who Sean Payton is high on, but it would still be a tough situation to throw a rookie into. Just yesterday, NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport was a guest on a Denver radio station and said it doesn’t feel like Sutton will be traded. When Payton has been asked about Sutton throughout OTAs, he has mostly dismissed the topic and maintained that he is a leader of the team that they want to have around.
Tomorrow is the start of June, and teams can execute trades or cut players and spread out the dead money between this year and next year with the post-June 1 designation. This has been one of the significant milestones on the calendar for a possible trade, but there is no urgency to get it done immediately after June 1. A trade could happen all the way up until the start of the season, or even in the beginning portion of the season if things aren’t going well with the WR room.
Sutton would be an intriguing addition to the Steelers for multiple reasons. He already has rapport with Russell Wilson from their time spent together in Denver. Sutton was pretty productive with Wilson as the quarterback, even if the rest of the team struggled. In 2023, he had 59 receptions for 772 yards and 10 touchdowns. At 6-4, 216 pounds, he would add some size to the room that is otherwise mostly comprised of undersized receivers.
Could the Steelers have been one of the teams to reach out? It seems very possible. They might have to wait until Sutton’s contract talks with the Broncos reach more of a standstill before any action happens.
