Paton: Sutton in “good place”

Courtland Sutton’s a bsence from v oluntar y workouts this month might raise some e yebrows.

For Sean P ayton and George Paton, though, the veteran wide receiver skipping April work isn’t anything to g et w orked up about.

“It’s 100% voluntary. It’s the first week of the offseason program,” Paton said Thursday.

“Sean’s talked to Courtland. I’ve talked to Courtland. He’s in a good place and we’ll just l eave i t at that.”

Sutton h as t wo y ears left o n his contract a nd just $ 2 million guaranteed of the $ 27.6 million t otal remaining on the four- year extension he signed in November 2021.

Aside from S utton, a lmost e very other player on the Broncos roster has been in town.

“Man, the turnout has been g reat,” Payton said. “I’d s ay p robably 98%. Two or three individuals that weren’t here and I’ve talked with all of them.”

Denver w ill be m ostly in t he w eight room a nd in meetings until a rookie minicamp a c ouple of weeks after the draft and then once OTAS begin May 21.

KICKOFF RULE I MPACT » One interesting subplot to the 2024 NFL season is the experimental k ickoff r ule aimed at increasing the amount of return chances per game.

Players will a lign much differently than they have in the past, which changes what teams look for both in terms of blockers and tacklers, but also potentially in returners.

“There’s a l ittle unknown,” Payton said. “The distance traveled is going to be not as far, so if you’re covering a kick, speed was fairly important as a coverage unit a nd g etting down t he f ield a nd g etting t o the ball- carrier. We’ve taken that w hole group and said, ‘ OK, we’re putting you guys 10 yards away ( from the returner).’ I think we could see a little bit of a heavier unit.

“And it’s certainly going to put a premium on your two returners.”

The Broncos wer e among the 29 teams that voted to i mplement t he change on a one- year trial basis last month a t the spring o wnership m eetings.

“We were for it for a lot of r easons,” P ayton said. “We feel like we’re one of the better s pecial t eams units. We made a l ot o f gains there. We’ve g ot a good r eturner. C ertainly as you look at the personnel, though, t he blocking schemes as y ou r eturn it, this i s going to e volve quickly, I think.”