There were rumors before the start of the 2024 season that the Denver Broncos were potentially involved in a three-team trade that would have sent wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk to the Pittsburgh Steelers and Courtland Sutton to the San Francisco 49ers with draft compensation to the Broncos.
According to Dianna Russini (back in late August), the 49ers were willing to trade Brandon Aiyuk to the Steelers if they could get a good receiver back in return. She said that they even offered a 3rd-round pick to the Broncos for Courtland Sutton to make this deal happen, but that the Broncos shut it down.
The 49ers only were willing to trade Brandon Aiyuk if they could get a top-flight WR to replace him. They offered a third-round pick to Denver for Courtland Sutton, and then would’ve dealt Aiyuk to the Steelers, but the Broncos declined the offer.
— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) August 29, 2024
So, he stays in SF.
Now, the plot has thickened a little bit. The San Francisco 49ers are feared to have lost their star receiver Brandon Aiyuk after their Week 7 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, and they may have lost him for the duration of the season due to a torn ACL.
Brandon Aiyuk injury could fire up Courtland Sutton trade rumors with Broncos, 49ers
49ers HC Kyle Shanahan told reporters that the team is worried WR Brandon Aiyuk tore his ACL.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 20, 2024
Sean Payton did sort of diminish those trade rumors and both the Broncos and 49ers figured out contractual stuff with Sutton and Aiyuk, respectively. With that in mind, if the 49ers were willing to offer a 3rd-round pick for Sutton back in late August, and they are still willing to offer something like that today, things could get interesting.
I'm not saying the Broncos will be motivated to trade Courtland Sutton, but I don't think they would scoff at the phone calls. There are a few reasons for that.
The Broncos just scored 33 points and won a game in which Courtland Sutton did not even record an official target. He did contribute a first down by drawing a penalty on a Saints defensive back, and he contributes in other ways that don't show up on the box score, but Sutton's job is to show up on the box score.
He's the presumptive #1 receiver in Denver right now. And for him to go a single game with 0 official targets is ludicrous. But the Broncos found a way to not only win the game, but have a lot of success moving the ball and putting the ball in the end zone.
The 49ers have been down bad most of the season with Christian McCaffrey over in Germany getting second opinions on his injuries. Their skill guys have missed time this season. Brock Purdy is throwing picks at a higher rate than any of us has seen. The 49ers are going to panic pretty quickly and we know that John Lynch -- the GM of the 49ers -- has a really good rapport with Broncos GM George Paton.
I would not be surprised in the slightest if the Broncos got calls on Sutton from the 49ers, specifically, nor would I be surprised if the Broncos entertained the idea of trading Sutton.
We've been seeing the role of Troy Franklin grow a lot in recent weeks. Devaughn Vele looks like he's going to be a significant part of the offense. The Broncos are giving Marvin Mims a chance to prove himself and although the results haven't been great, he's a recent second-round pick who needs to continue to get chances.
The Broncos also just added former Saints 6th-round pick AT Perry to the practice squad, and he provides another height-weight-speed option. Not to mention, Josh Reynolds will eventually be coming back off of injured reserve. If the Broncos could add another 3rd-round pick for Sutton while getting more snaps for guys like Vele and Franklin?
They might just be willing to play some ball.