In the classic comedy “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” our hero and protagonist, Clark Griswold, makes grand plans for an anticipated Christmas bonus by putting a massive deposit on an in-ground pool before the bonus actually arrives.
When Clark receives his bonus and sees it’s for a Jelly of the Month Club … he doesn’t handle it well. Hopefully things go a little better for Denver Broncos wide receiver Courtland Sutton in his bonus pursuit in the Week 18 regular season finale against the Kansas City Chiefs in Denver.
“Courtland Sutton restructured his contract in the summer, with incentives that triggered escalator bonuses,” Fox Sports NFL reporter Peter Schrager wrote on his official X account on January 3. “With 82 receiving yards Sunday, the Broncos receiver earns an extra $500,000 bonus.”
To be clear, Clark Griswold eventually received his bonus — doubled it actually — and presumably got his pool. For the type of money on the line for Sutton, he could get an in-ground pool … and depending where you live in the U.S., probably the house to go with it.
While Sutton’s bonus chase is a great side story, the main story for the Broncos is that a win over the Chiefs clinches a playoff spot for the first time since 2015 — something that seems way more likely to happen if Sutton has at least 82 receiving yards.
Sutton Brought Career Back to Life in 2024
Aside from being just 82 yards from cashing out on a massive bonus, Sutton is also just 17 yards away from a 1,000-yard receiving season — headed into the regular-season finale he has 76 receptions for 983 yards and 7 touchdowns.
If Sutton can hit that mark, it will be the first time a Broncos player has passed 1,000 receiving yards since 2019, when Sutton had 72 receptions for 1,112 yards and 6 touchdowns and made his lone Pro Bowl.
It’s been a year of career revitalization for Sutton, who spent much of the offseason in a protracted contract dispute with the Broncos as he sought a raise on the 4-year, $60.8 million contract extension he signed in November 2021.
The answer ended up being a restructured contract that created an extra $9.5 million in salary cap space for the Broncos and converted $11.875 million of Sutton’s $13 million salary into a bonus and added $1.5 million in incentives — part of the $500,000 he’s trying to snag in Week 18.
Sutton is still due another $14 million in 2025 in the final year of his contract, and his play has set him up for a lucrative extension at some point.
Sutton Called One of NFL’s ‘Worst Investments’
Bleacher Report’s Ryan Fowler put Sutton on his “NFL All-Overpaid Team” headed into the season — a reflection of both Sutton’s inability to reach the highs of his 2019 campaign and the Broncos’ abject failure as a franchise.
Sutton has spent the last 4 months proving doubters wrong.
“Denver’s de-facto No. 1 wideout over the last handful of seasons, Courtland Sutton has failed to amass over 830 yards receiving in each of the last four campaigns,” Fowler wrote on August 29. “While 2023 saw him reach a new career high in touchdowns (10), the 28-year-old hasn’t evolved into the matchup nightmare the Broncos thought he’d become after his electric 2019 campaign (1,112 yards).”
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Broncos WR Courtland Sutton Can Clinch $500K Bonus in Finale