The very unfortunate reality of the Denver Broncos right now is this -- a fire sale could be coming. The Broncos are 1-4 heading into their Thursday night matchup in Week 6 against the Kansas City Chiefs. With the very real possibility of facing a 1-5 record in just over 24 hours (from the time of this post being written), there are a handful of prominent players who could be playing in their last game with the team.
Due to the Broncos making a number of major trades in recent years, the team needs to recoup some NFL Draft capital and they could do their best to collect picks for the 2024 NFL Draft and beyond. Again, it's the unfortunate reality of the team. We're not talking about a 3-2 team that could jump to 4-2 and a tie for first place in the AFC West with Kansas City. We're talking about a team that is competing for one of the top three picks in next year's draft.
If the Broncos lose to the Chiefs, a number of notable players will likely be on the move, but who? Let's take a look at four to watch for.
4 Denver Broncos players who could be gone if the team loses to Chiefs
1. Courtland Sutton, WR
I think one of the most obvious candidates on the Denver Broncos to be traded right now is wide receiver Courtland Sutton. The Broncos got calls on Sutton during the offseason, and they decided not to trade him because none of the offers were good enough, apparently. I wonder if those offers are the same, better, or worse at this point. Sutton has done some nice things for the Broncos this year but is clearly not the WR1 type that we once thought he could be back in 2019.
Sutton is a good player, though, and if the Broncos lose to the Chiefs, I think he'll have some decent value on the trade market. The Broncos will undoubtedly be forced to pay some of Sutton's remaining salary, which should drive up the price in a trade a little bit. We see other receivers getting traded for future late-round pick swaps, but the Broncos aren't dumping Sutton so much as they are reloading/rebuilding. They don't have to trade him. and if other teams want him, they'll have to make compelling offers.