On Tuesday, Dallas Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones told reporters that he's working on "two pretty substansive trades" that could be finalized in the run-up to or shortly after this week's 2025 NFL Draft.
Jones did not specify his intended targets, revealing only he's "been working on [them] today." Naturally, this led to a cavalcade of social media speculation claiming Denver Broncos wide receiver Courtland Sutton is involved in the apparent talks.
Which NFL Network's Jane Slater checked into — and quickly rebuffed.
"I see it all on my timeline snd no idea where it originated so I asked and no disrespect to anyone putting it out there but the Courtland Sutton to Dallas via trade 'fake news' per a source informed," Slater wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Coming off a season in which he posted career-highs in targets (135) and receptions (81), Sutton is entering the final year of a deal he amended in 2024, which has no guaranteed money remaining. That itself appears to be the source of the "rumor": the idea Denver may flip him rather than pay him.
However, unlike last April, Sutton participated in the start of the offseason program and anticipates the club operating in good faith toward a lucrative extension. The organization, for its part, is willing to meet at the bargaining table upon the conclusion of the Draft.
"We felt like he had a real good season. He’s important to what we are doing," Broncos head coach Sean Payton said at the Scouting Combine in February. "All of that will happen in time. I don’t think now is the time.”
Echoed general manager George Paton: "Courtland is one of our guys. He’s a team captain. I’ve said this for a couple years in a row, we want him here. We’ll have those discussions at the right time.”
Look for negotiations to ramp up as soon as next week, when Sutton is (very likely) still wearing orange and blue and buttressed by an enhancement of talent around him. The Broncos are in the business of adding — not subtracting — weapons for franchise quarterback Bo Nix.
“We drafted two receivers last year. The good news is, after their first year, we really like their progress," Payton said during his pre-draft press conference last week. "Just take [WR] Marvin [Mims Jr.] for a second from Year 1 to Year 2. We saw the return ability, and we saw glimpses of it in his rookie year. [He had] more production obviously in his second year. [WR] Troy [Franklin], the same way. [He] came in, picked things up. Courtland is such a positive role model and leader for these guys. [WR Devaughn] Vele, I could even hit on all these guys, just relative to our overall depth. We’re going to add numbers to the position when you look at what we take to training camp, whether that’s through the draft or free agency. I would say we’re happy with the two we selected a year ago, the one we selected two years ago and the guys that are already here. Now if one of those players arrives in a round where we’re looking at it, that’s the trick to this. You can target guys sometimes. We’re all guilty of really liking a player and then trying to… But let’s not bypass the crystal for a blender if we need a blender. So I think you’re still looking at value. It’s the value-need discussion, and I think that exists in every draft room today. Sometimes you can manipulate that yourself. Certainly in tie breakers it’s important. There are a number of good young receivers in this draft, and we’ll see how that unfolds. I do feel good about that group we have, and I think that they’ve shown obviously last season, the jump we took offensively from where we were at to scoring on offense and all of those things. Obviously the addition of [QB] Bo [Nix], those all contribute to that.”
