The Denver Broncos are gearing up for a variety of changes this offseason, which will influence what path they take for the 2024 season in Sean Payton’s second season leading the charge. Could the Broncos’ receiver room look entirely different next season?
Will the Denver Broncos receiver room look different next season?
If I had told you before last season that Courtland Sutton would lead the team with ten touchdowns, most people wouldn’t have been surprised. But what if I told you that outside of Sutton, Denver’s production at the receiver position would be widely inconsistent and that behind him and Jerry Jeudy, three running backs were the next leading receivers in terms of catches?
2023 saw the Broncos’ offense improve drastically compared to what Broncos Country was accustomed to seeing the previous seven years. However, the result was still the same: the offense wasn’t good enough for them to win games.
Let’s recap. In training camp, the Broncos lost Tim Patrick to a torn Achilles which put a huge damper on the plans Sean Payton had for the offense. Rookie Marvin Mims shined in Week 2 against the Washington Commanders, where he hauled in two catches for 113 yards and one touchdown, but Payton’s offense hardly looked his way much after that.
Brandon Johnson emerged into the role envisioned for Patrick and finished the season on a promising note, hauling in 19 catches on 30 targets for 284 yards and four touchdowns. Twelve of his 19 receptions were enough to move the chains for Denver offensively last year.
Toward the end of the year, the Broncos relied a little bit more on Lil’Jordan Humphrey, but the Broncos offense didn’t do enough to put their pass catchers in positions to succeed.
Will Courtland Sutton and Tim Patrick both return?
As it stands today, the Broncos are $24M over the cap and will have to make some roster moves and potentially ask several players to restructure their contracts. Coming off of a 10-touchdown season, it will be hard for Denver to ask Sutton to restructure or take a pay cut, especially because he carried the offense for a large part of the season.
Patrick might not have as much leverage in the nasty business side of the NFL. He’s suffered two season-ending injuries in back-to-back training camps, and it’s very likely Denver will ask him to take a pay cut or restructure his deal.
One thing I do know is that Payton is a huge fan of Patrick, and toward the end of the season, the big receiving target advanced even further in his rehab and recovery to sprinting and cutting.
According to Spotrac, Sutton’s cap hit in 2024 will account for $17.2M. They also suggest the potential out for his contract is 2024, where if the Broncos moved on from him this offseason, it would account for $7.65M in dead cap.
Moving on from a player to create more salary cap space isn’t the best idea, especially when that player is the main producer for the team’s offensive scheme.
Patrick has a cap hit of $15.5M and a dead cap of $6M. It’s worth noting that for two consecutive seasons, Patrick restructured his contract to help create cap space for the team. In March of 2022, a $6.9M roster bonus was converted into a signing bonus, creating $4.6M in space for the team. He did the same thing in September of 2023, converting $6M of his roster bonus into a signing bonus which helped free up $3M in cap space.
After 2024, he’s set to become a free agent, but he could also be a cap release.
As always, rumors tend to run rampant around this time of the year, and with the NFL Combine coming up, it’s possible the team could gauge potential trade interest in Sutton from other teams.
Jerry Jeudy bracing for final season in Denver?
After being drafted in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft, Jerry Jeudy’s career as a member of the Denver Broncos has been a rollercoaster and not all of it has been his fault.
Denver’s offense has been such an up-and-down product since he arrived. While Jeudy struggled with drops during his rookie season, that hasn’t really been an issue with him since. Still, you see discourse from fans about Jeudy, and those who are the most critical of him reference him as a drop artist.
In his rookie season, Jeudy had ten drops. 2021 saw him have one, 2022 saw five in 15 games, and 2023 saw him drop two passes in 16 games. Jeudy’s a very talented receiver who hasn’t thrived in the environment the Broncos have created around him.
He was the second-leading receiver behind Sutton this past year, hauling 54 catches for 758 yards and two touchdowns.
Jeudy is set to make $12.9M after the team exercised his fifth-year option last offseason. He’ll become an unrestricted free agent after this year.
His name drew trade interest from various teams last offseason and in the buildup to the NFL trade deadline, but Denver didn’t part ways with him. While it’s still possible a team could trade for him this offseason, it’s hard to imagine another team looking to trade for him taking on $12.9M and risk losing him elsewhere in free agency next season.
Circumstances considered, it’s likely that Jeudy will have a new quarterback throwing to him if he remains on the roster in 2024. That could allow him to thrive, or it could impact his production depending on who is under center.
Right now, there’s so much uncertainty about the Broncos direction at the wide receiver position going into 2024.
Other roleplayers looking to contribute to Denver Broncos offense?
Going into 2024, the Broncos have Marvin Mims, Brandon Johnson, Phillip Dorsett, Jalen Virgil, and David Sills V under contract.
Mims should receive a bigger role this upcoming season after his rookie year. Johnson proved that he can be a valuable role player in Denver’s offense and will likely be in the mix.
Dorsett, Virgil, and Sills will all be on the roster in training camp and will compete for spots on the active roster. With all of the questions surrounding Russell Wilson’s contract and his future with the team, Denver’s cap situation, it doesn’t appear that the team will likely invest in free agency to add pieces to the roster at the position.
It wouldn’t be a surprise if they add a receiver in this year’s draft with one of their six guaranteed picks in April. Regardless, the Broncos offense has to be better this upcoming season with putting their playmakers in a position to have a larger impact on the potential outcome of games.
