The Facts: Head coach Sean Payton is still newly arrived in Denver, and he has no intentions of bidding farewell to a couple of mainstays at wide receiver. Speaking to NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero on Sunday at the Annual League Meeting, Payton provided a point-blank response to the swirling trade rumors around Courtland Sutton and Jerry Jeudy. "I see and read just like everyone else does," Payton said. "Then occasionally, when someone really crowds the plate, I throw a fastball right at their chin, and they back up, and they're like, 'Alright.' And so I haven't thrown any fastballs lately, but we're not trading those two players."

Diehards Line:Payton continued: "When people call and the phone rings like it does this time of year, (general manager) George Paton's job is to pick it up and say, 'Hey. Tell you what, we're not.' And so, we've received calls, you bet. Those are two good football players. But we're in the business of gathering talent right now. Why do people call? Because they know we're void of draft picks and that we might, because there was some discussions a year ago, I think, regarding Courtland. But we like the current group that we're working with. ..." With Sutton still just 27 and Jeudy set to turn 24 ahead of his fourth season in Denver, either wideout would go a long way in replenishing the draft picks swapped to bring Russell Wilson to Colorado, but the value is still higher with them catching passes from him. The two players were wide receivers 1A and 1B for Denver in 2022, with Jeudy leading the team in receptions (67), yards (972) and touchdowns (six). Sutton tied for second on the club with two receiving TDs and was alone in second with 64 receptions for 829 yards. The player lagging far behind with the third-most catches was tight end Greg Dulcich (33), and Kendall Hinton was the only other WR with double-digit catches (24). Either one leaving would take away roughly a quarter of Denver's 3,592 team passing yards from last season. That won't fly for a team and new head coach counting on Wilson to have a resurgence after flopping in his first year as a Bronco.