Getty Former Minnesota Vikings WR Adam Thielen running down the field against the Chicago Bears.
News continues to come out surrounding the Denver Broncos and what they want to do with their wide receiver room.
On March 19, Pat McAfee reported that the Carolina Panthers agreed to a three-year deal with former Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen.
We have now found out that the Broncos were in talks about signing Thielen.
On March 20, Thielen jumped on the Pat McAfee Show saying, “There was the Broncos, Cowboys…I had conversations with those teams and a few others.” Thielen added, “The Panthers felt like the best fit.”
“I had conversations with the Broncos, Cowboys and a few other teams.. Carolina felt like the best fit and it worked out”
The Vikings released Thielen on March 10, just days before free agency as a salary cap dump.
During his time in Minnesota, Thielen had two 1,000-yard seasons and had a career high 14 touchdowns in 2020. Thielan was voted to two Pro Bowls and named an All-Pro in 2017.
Last season, Thielen had 716 receiving yards and caught six touchdowns on 70 receptions.
Broncos Have Been Trying to Add a WR
While the Broncos have been one of the most active teams in free agency over the past week, Denver was trying to land one of Aaron Rodgers’ favorite targets with the Green Bay Packers, Allen Lazard.
According to Schultz, the Broncos were aggressive in pursuing Lazard.
The 27-year-old ended up signing a four-year deal with the New York Jets to reunite with Rodgers.
Broncos are Looking to Move One of Their Own WRs
According to Jeff Howe of The Athletic, Denver’s wide receiver Jerry Jeudy’s name has come up quite a bit in trade discussions.
Howe is reporting that the asking price for Jeudy is remaining high and the Broncos are asking for at least a first-round pick in return.
The New England Patriots, who are in the wide receiver market, called Denver to see what the asking price is for Jeudy, according to Howe.
On March 13, Dan Graziano of ESPN reported that multiple teams believe that the Broncos could trade one of their wide receivers. Graziano mentioned that Denver has had talks with teams about Jeudy, Courtland Sutton, and K.J. Hamler.
“Teams say the Broncos are asking high prices, not just dumping, but it’s not out of the question one gets moved,” said Graziano.
ESPN’s Dianna Russini also jumped in on the action saying, “The Broncos attitude from my conversations have been, ‘We will pick up the phone and listen.’”
Entering the 2022 season, Jeudy was not performing to the level of a first-round talent. Jeudy had yet to have at least 900 yards in a single season and didn’t score a single touchdown in his sophomore year after catching three in his rookie season.
The former standout out of Alabama kicked off the 2022 season with one of the best games of his career going for 102 yards on just four catches and a touchdown against the Seattle Seahawks.
Over the next five games, Jeudy didn’t perform well. Averaging just 37.6 yards per game, Jeudy and the Broncos were both getting frustrated. Then in Week 7, Jeudy kicked it up a notch and finished his last nine games of the season averaging 75.8 yards per game and found the endzone four times.
For the first-time in his career, Jeudy was playing like a No. 1 receiver in the NFL.
Denver has until May 1 to pick up Jeudy’s fifth year option.
Sutton on the other hand has not performed well since he signed his extension back in 2021.
On November 22, 2021, Sutton and the Broncos agreed on a four-year contract extension worth $60.8 million with $34.9 million guaranteed.
Before that extension, Sutton played well as one of the better wide receivers in the game. In the 43 games before signing his monster deal, Sutton caught 160 passes for 2,499 yards and 12 touchdowns.
Since signing his new deal, Sutton has played in 22 games and only has 79 receptions for 988 yards and just two touchdowns.
Dealing with multiple quarterbacks over his career, the expectation was that Sutton would break out in the 2022 season and have his second 1,000-yard season with Wilson slinging the rock.
Averaging just 55.3 yards per game last season, Sutton also had a career high nine dropped passes.
With the Broncos being active trying to add Thielen and Lazard, there seems to be a real chance that Denver moves on with one of their top wide receivers to add to their five draft picks.