Courtland Sutton’s come a long way at reading cornerbacks. But man, does he have some ground to cover when it comes to reading a stinking room.
Full disclosure: The usual gang of idiots up in the Grading The Week offices think OTAs are slightly overrated. OK, completely overrated. It’s another example of the NFL trying to suck all the oxygen out of the room for an entire calendar year. Another excuse to make the media take attendance and the sports-talk hosts windmills churn during a sports calendar that’s about to slow down to a crawl. (Darn you, Nuggs and Avs!)
And it usually works. But as a “bar” for “dedication” to a club, or heck, even winning, it’s a spotty barometer, historically. Seven players skipped the Chiefs’ OTA session on Thursday, including star defensive tackle Chris Jones, left guard Joe Thuney and cornerback Jaylen Watson.
Guess what? Team GTW will bet you Travis Kelce’s signing bonus that Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes are probably going to be just fine come the fall.
As for Sutton, well …
Courtland Sutton and the Ring of Fame – D
… let’s just give the big guy an “A” for intent. And an “F” for the execution.
While the Broncos were grinding through OTAs on Thursday, Sutton tweeted out congratulations to Riley Odoms and Steve Foley for their selection to the organization’s Ring of Fame. On one hand, classy move.
On the other, Sutton posted it during a window when his team was practicing without him. The veteran wideout is, to date, the most public no-show for the first big team-centric events of Year 2 of the Sean Payton Era.
Now, again, to paraphrase our old pal Allen Iverson, we’re talkin’ about OTAs here. And yet it was a more than curious look for Sutton to congratulate Odoms and Foley in his post while noting that making the Ring of Fame “has always been one of the goals outside winning a Super Bowl in Denver!”
And, hey, one of GTW’s goals is to win the lottery. Another is to buy a PS5 so we can spend whatever free time we have in July and August playing “NCAA Football 25” until the crack of dawn like we’re 28 again.
But, odds are, neither of those things are gonna happen. Just like, odds are, unless Sutton is part of a Broncos playoff team, and a contributing asset to said playoff team, that whole “Ring of Fame” thing’s just a pipe dream.
Although it’s still more likely than him landing a serious raise from the Broncos. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler says Sutton’s camp would like to jump from the $13.6 million he’s slated to make in cash to the “$15-16-million range.” Groovy. And the GTW kids would like a pony.
Shilo Sanders’ NIL reality – D
You’ve got to understand something about life on Planet Prime: Like a certain former president who’s pretty much always in the news, the truth isn’t necessarily the truth. The truth is what you make it.
A video is shot of Deion Sanders’ kids showing their dad a sweet house in Boulder, so the truth must be that they’ve bought that house for him. (They didn’t.) The Buffs won three more games in 2023 (4-8) than 2022 (1-11), so the truth is that some serious corners must have been turned on the coaching front. (They weren’t.)
On3.com estimates — and “estimates” is the key word here — that CU safety Shilo Sanders is worth roughly $1.1 million in endorsements tied to his name, image and likeness (NIL). But when a Texas court found the younger Sanders liable for $11.89 million for an altercation with a security guard when the Buffs safety was just 15 years old, Team Deion’s books looked nothing like the estimates. Shilo’s petition to bankruptcy court claimed he made $193,713 from January to October 2023; $216,950 in 2022; and $17,360 in 2021. See, when it comes to the Coach Prime Show, that whole “keep receipts” thing works both ways.
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