Broncos Not Trading Jerry Jeudy or Courtland Sutton, Owners Meetings, Salary Cap Updates, and Other NFL Bullets
A thin wide receiver market got significantly more limited on Sunday afternoon. Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton put to rest the idea that Jerry Jeudy and Courtland Sutton are available on the trade block this weekend.
- Speaking to NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero on Sunday at the Annual League Meeting, Sean Payton acknowledged the rumors surrounding Courtland Sutton and Jerry Jeudy: “I see and read just as everyone else does,” Payton said.
- However, Payton acknowledged that it’s the job of GM George Paton to field the calls and that the Broncos being void of draft picks makes the rumors plausible. Still, Payton said that Denver is in the business of “gathering talent right now” and that they “like the current group” they’re working with.
- So, at least for now, Sutton and Jeudy are off the table. It’s probably safe to assume that, at one point, the two were indeed on the block. But with Denver wanting first-round returns for the pair of talented young wide receivers, it’s possible that no one met the asking price, and Denver is comfortable not coming off of that ask. Of course, if that’s the case, Denver won’t say anything else other than they were never on the market publicly. You know, egos and such.
- With Jakobi Meyers and JuJu Smith-Shuster off the board, Courtland Sutton and Jerry Jeudy the same, the wide receiver market is paper thin. Essentially, if you’re a team looking for a wideout at this point, you’re looking for it in the draft.
- The NFL world has converged up Phoenix for this week’s annual league meetings, and the story of the day is Lamar Jackson’s tweet that he asked the Baltimore Ravens for a trade back on March 2.
- March 2 was five days before the Ravens placed the non-exclusive franchise tag on Jackson. Ravens head coach John Harbaugh had this to say this morning in Phoenix via Ian Rapoport: “I’m getting ready for Lamar. … When Lamar gets back on this train, it’s moving full speed.”
- It doesn’t appear that the Ravens are in a rush to accommodate Jackson’s request. They hold the leverage in the situation for now. But if Jackson decides to hold out for a trade or a new contract instead of playing on the franchise tag, things could get very messy. At this point, there’s no reason to believe that we’re not heading for that scenario.
- As far as I know, Lamar is not in Phoenix for the meetings. However, it might be wise for Jackson to be there and have the opportunity to meet with other teams face-to-face this week if he’s serious about getting out of Baltimore. We shall see.
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- With the first wave of free agency in the books, the Bears, Panthers, and Lions have the most money left to spend (under the salary cap). Spotrac has the Bears at $38 million, the Panthers at $28 million, and the Lions at $25.5 million. Conversely, the Dolphins, Commanders, and Vikings have the least cap space available.
- John Lynch says (via PFT) that Brock Purdy, Trey Lance, and Sam Darnold will compete for the starting job. However, Purdy is “the leader in the clubhouse.” Lance missed almost all of the 2022 season with an ankle injury. Darnold signed with the 49ers in free agency. Purdy led the 49ers to the NFC title game after Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo went down. According to David Lombardi of The Athletic, the 49ers expect Purdy to resume throwing 12 weeks after his surgery. So San Francisco hopes to have Purdy ready for camp.
- New Indianapolis Colts head coach Shane Steichen says that Gardner Minshew will compete for the starting job in Indy. Well, duh. It will be Minshew and whichever QB the Colts take in the draft competing for the starting job in 2023. Whether that QB ends up being a day-one starter remains to be seen. However, the NFL leans towards starting these QBs sooner than later. So, even if Minshew is the starter in Week 1, he won’t be for long.
- The Blackhawks dropped a Sunday evening contest to the Vancouver Canucks:
- Patrick Beverly is a national treasure!
