ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- After deciding against trading away any wide receivers last season, the Denver Broncos will need to strategize on whether anyone will have to go before free agency opens in March.
"It's always difficult when you have to make decisions relative to players you've coached,'' Broncos coach Sean Payton said. " ... I think that's part of trying to figure out this game. The salary cap -- those are challenges that every year you're familiar with.''
In multiple interviews during Super Bowl week, Payton likened the Broncos' decisions to a puzzle box "that you flip over.''
The first massive domino will likely be quarterback Russell Wilson. If the Broncos release Wilson -- the decision many expect after Payton benched him with two games remaining in the season -- they will take on $85 million worth of dead money against their salary cap over the next two seasons.
While Payton and general manager George Paton continue to outline a scenario where Wilson stays -- Payton said several times in Las Vegas last week that he and Wilson have a "great relationship'' -- Wilson's release would put the future of several of the Broncos' veteran players under the microscope, especially wide receivers.
Courtland Sutton, Tim Patrick and Jerry Jeudy are currently among the Broncos' top nine salary cap charges for the 2024 season -- sixth, seventh and ninth, respectively. And before the Broncos make any decision on Wilson, the team already projects to have $9.6 million of dead money and be roughly $24 million over the cap next season if it is set at $242 million.
The only extended run over the past four seasons that Sutton, Patrick and Jeudy have had together was 10 games in 2021. With the constant changes at quarterback and on the coaching staff, Sutton's 1,112-yard season in 2019 is the team's only 1,000-yard season from a player in the past seven years.
The Broncos also used a second-round pick, No. 63 overall, on Marvin Mims Jr. last April. Mims was selected to the Pro Bowl as a returner and showed himself to be ready for more responsibility next season.
"I don't think about none of that,'' Jeudy said at season's end when asked about the potential of changes. "I just want to be more consistent, keep being consistent. It's like I said [to others] we had the most wins since I've been here, so that's progress, but it's about having the right guys to do what the coaches want.''
Patrick, who has missed the past two seasons with injuries (torn right ACL in 2022, torn left Achilles in 2023), has no guaranteed salary remaining in his contract. With a salary cap charge of $15.572 million next season, his could be a contract that the Broncos try renegotiating for salary cap relief.
Sutton, whose 10 touchdowns were tied for fourth in the league last season, has a cap charge of $17.325 million, according to Roster Management System, and $2 million of his $14.5 million base salary becomes guaranteed on the fifth day of the league year. Even a guarantee like Sutton's could be something the Broncos want to address.
Jeudy drew the most trade interest at various points last year, including in the last hours before the trade deadline, according to league sources. He will play under the terms of the fifth-year option the Broncos picked up in May, so his $12.987 million base salary is already guaranteed.
Payton planned to begin roster meetings with his coaching staff on Monday, where decisions about the salary cap, depth chart and potential targets in free agency would begin to take shape.
"I still feel like if we're all together, the potential is off the charts,'' Sutton said as the season drew to a close. "We all want to be here when we turn it around, be a part of that. All you can do is control the controlables, what you can control, that's it.''