Courtland Sutton mastered the spectacular catch, but is he in Broncos’ plans?

Courtland Sutton didn’t get a trophy for the honor he received Wednesday. And the truth is, no one is going to remember a social-media video posted on the league’s official account for long after it went live.

But when the NFL posted a video of what it felt were the top 10 receptions in the NFL last season, it might as well have been a Courtland Sutton highlight reel.

The 10 best catches of the 2023 season. Agree with No. 1? pic.twitter.com/3LfY3UDAub

— NFL (@NFL) February 21, 2024

He didn’t have reception No. 1. But three of the top 10 belonged to No. 14: his touchdown catches in Kansas City, at Buffalo and on the road against the Los Angeles Chargers. To some degree, all defied description. They were low-percentage possibilities that saw Sutton lunge, stretch, contort and adjust in order to make the play.

All were in traffic, too.

“He’s got really good instincts for the ball when he’s down the field,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said of Courtland Sutton at midseason. “He’s someone who’s very comfortable in traffic. Some guys are good with the noise and some guys aren’t as good. I think that’s a real strong suit of his.”

While Sutton did struggle at times coming off of his 2020 ACL injury to generate the same degree of separation he often found early in his career, the 2023 campaign showed anew that Sutton’s superpower is his ability to make plays without separation. And at times, that kept the Broncos offense — which struggled to move the football consistently on either the ground or through the air — viable.

But if Russell Wilson is not in the mix, the dynamic changes.

RUSSELL WILSON’S DEEP-BALL STRENGTHS HELPED SUTTON

In six seasons, Courtland Sutton’s best work came in two bursts.

The first was in the opening half of the 2019 season, when he hit the campaign’s halfway point on pace for a 1,250-yard season. He didn’t sustain that pace in the balance of what would be a 7-9 campaign, and while it was enough to get him to his only Pro Bowl appearance, he’s never matched that form since then in terms of yardage.

But last year, he did amass 10 touchdown catches in the season’s first 13 games — including a stretch of five-straight games with a scoring reception from Week 6 through the Week 11 win over Minnesota. Two of the scores in that span ended up in the NFL’s top 10 receptions for the year.

The 2019 surge to open the year came with Joe Flacco as the starting quarterback. His 2022 spate of scores involved Russell Wilson. Neither Flacco nor Wilson are plus players in terms of rhythm and timing. But their deep passes get plenty of air under them, allowing for maximum time with which the receiver can adjust to the ball in flight and position himself.

This is what Courtland Sutton does best, of course.

But will it mesh with another quarterback?

COURTLAND SUTTON IS NOT LIKELY A POTENTIAL CAP CASUALTY

Sutton’s ability to adjust could be the best friend of a quarterback with the right skill set. And while the Broncos can save $9,745,588 of cap space by cutting him, they will incur another $7.65 million of dead cap by doing so. A trade likely leaves the same split. In both cases, a post-June 1 designation will soften and spread out the blow.

But his mastery of the spectacular means that he increased his value last season, even though he didn’t have the sort of high-level yardage accumulation other teams seek. He has just two 100-yard games in 48 contests since his ACL injury, and hasn’t hit the century mark in 29 games.

So, is Sutton in the Broncos’ plans?

It may well depend on the type of quarterback they land. A passer willing to push the ball downfield on a regular basis — such as Jameis Winston or Sam Darnold — would actually make it worth the Broncos’ while to bring back Sutton unless another team wows them with a trade offer.

But even in an offense predicated on timing, there is still room for the home run.

And as we saw in 2023, few are better at that than Courtland Sutton.

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