Broncos insider puts an end to Courtland Sutton trade rumors once and for all

Any thought that the Denver Broncos might be trading veteran wide receiver Courtland Sutton can officially be put to bed. Although there is ongoing tension between the Broncos and Sutton due to his contract situation, 9News Insider Mike Klis has put some finality to the rumors that have been ongoing for nearly two years at this point.

Sutton is not being traded.

"A trade does not seem to be an option. It's worth noting Sutton is not demanding a trade, which is fine because the Broncos aren't trading him. The time to have entertained this option was during the draft and that passed without any talk of a trade. And so Sutton will continue working out on his own in Florida."

- Mike Klis

Sutton has just $2 million in guaranteed money remaining on his contract, which is an issue for him because he also has two years remaining on the contract. The Broncos aren't motivated to get to the negotiating table and give Sutton a lot of new money thanks to the fact that they are spending nearly $38 million for Russell Wilson to play for the Pittsburgh Steelers this season.

It's not that Sutton isn't deserving of new money -- he is coming off of arguably the best year of his pro career with 10 touchdown catches -- but the idea of re-signing Sutton is likely going to have to wait at least another year. Or maybe a few months.

Despite the fact that Sutton is upset with his contract, he has the 17th-highest cap hit of any wide receiver in the league this year at over $17.3 million. According to Spotrac, his current salary of over $15 million in average annual value is ranked 24th-most among receivers in the league.

So Sutton has a top-24 contract among receivers. Considering how much has changed since Sutton signed his deal, the fact that his contract has held up as a top-24 deal seems pretty good on his end.

But you can also empathize a bit of Sutton here. The Broncos have continually changed quarterbacks while Sutton has been on the roster. There has been no stability at the QB position since he arrived, and he played his best football with Russell Wilson at the helm. Sutton and Wilson are close. There were a number of players who weren't thrilled with the process of how the Broncos went about getting rid of Wilson, and you can't help but wonder where Sutton landed on that whole ordeal.

Still, with two years remaining on his deal and no trade in sight (as Klis pointed out -- Sutton hasn't requested a trade, either), cool heads will almost certainly prevail over the course of the remainder of the offseason. Will the Broncos give Sutton any more guaranteed cash? That's the big question at this point, but it looks like they've drawn a bit of a line in the sand with this year's budget and they're sticking to it.

And as far as a trade? Well, they're sticking to that as well, which is to say -- they're not trading Courtland Sutton.

Things can change at the drop of a hat in the NFL, so you can't ever say never, but this is clearly not something the Broncos are motivated to do.