Courtland Sutton may be a Denver Broncos player for life after signing his new deal and with the way the wide receiver is playing, he may end up on some pretty special lists.
From an ocean away on Tuesday Sutton detailed some of the reasoning for re-upping in his beloved Colorado at $92 million across four years.
“Everyone kept asking me after I signed the new contract, ‘You could’ve gotten more, you could’ve gotten more,’” Sutton shared from London ahead of the Broncos bout with the New York Jets, according to the team’s transcript of his post-practice media availability. “It wasn’t really about that. We talked about this in training camp. I believe in this team. I think we have a great team.”
Sutton hasn’t experienced a great team with the Broncos quite yet. He was instrumental in helping the group quench their playoff drought last fall but his first six years in the pros were spent with a revolving quarterback situation and a team that middled at best.
Add Sean Payton and a splash of Bo Nix and everything has changed for the Orange and Blue as a group. For Sutton, 30 this week, it’s given him a chance to take his quality play to a bigger stage.
“Being able to have a quarterback like Bo, being able to have a coach like coach Payton. Just a full offense that has confidence, belief and faith in you, it lets you go out there and play free,” Sutton shared. “When you know that everybody believes in you and you know that there isn’t one person that’s like, ‘Maybe he isn’t the guy.’ It just allows you to come to work every day with a sense of, ‘You’re going to get everything out of me because I know you believe in me.’ To be able be a part of that, be a part of an organization that the [Walton-] Penner [Family Ownership Group] is putting together is really cool to see.”
Sutton is already seventh in franchise history in catches, eighth in receiving yards and 10th in receiving touchdowns. Now he’s accomplishing his standout play on a standout team. Like on Sunday when he caught eight passes for 99 yards in Payton’s signature win over the unbeaten reigning champion Philadelphia Eagles.
“When I first got here, the ownership was kind of wavering, there was like an up and down of what was going on between who was going to own the team and who wasn’t going to own the team,” Sutton said. “So there was a little bit of this and a little bit of that, but to be able to be a part of an organization that is as first class as this, I think it just all plays within itself and I’m just grateful and I’m going to continue to try to be the best version of myself.”
“I know I say it all the time, but it’s the truth. Each day I’m just trying to be a better version of myself.”
