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Rumors circled the Denver Broncos earlier this offseason about potential plans to trade a starting wide receiver. One player involved in those trade rumors: six-year veteran Courtland Sutton

Sutton says he appreciates interest from other teams, but clarifies he wants to stay in the Mile High City. "It's flattering that other teams see me as a guy that can come in and be a guy for them," he said via NFL.com. "I love that I'm here. This is where, ultimately, you guys know that I want to be at. This is home."

Sutton wants to keep working with Denver to achieve the ultimate goal, and says the addition of head coach Sean Payton and the other coaches he brought in have given extra motivation to the team to collect wins next season.

"I've been able to come here and continue to build the thing that we're aspiring to get to," Sutton said. "Coach Payton coming in, bringing the coaches in that he's brought in, bringing the guys in that he's brought in. You know, everybody's bought in and ready to take this thing to the next level."

The Broncos struggled last season, going 5-12 in quarterback Russell Wilson's first season with the team. They ranked last in points scored and 29th in completion percentage (60.4), all resulting in a last-place spot in the AFC West. 

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Nathaniel Hackett was fired after 15 games and a Super Bowl-winning coach was brought in for 2023, with everyone in the building hoping the change will make a difference when it comes to next year's record. Sutton says the team is looking at it all as a chance to start over.

"Everybody's taking this as another opportunity to put forth their best foot and showcase what we know the Denver Broncos are and what we stand for," Sutton said. "It's nice to be able to have a fresh start."

Payton has a resume filled with success and has proven he can run an offense that gets results. The wide receiver talent was there last season for the Broncos, but the pieces did not come together as expected. With one year under his belt for Wilson, along with coaching changes and a new approach, Sutton is hoping to see better stats than last season.

Sutton finished the year with 64 receptions for 829 yards, which is not the worst showing, but two touchdowns and a career low of 13.0 yards per catch made the season far from one to rave about.

This offseason, the 27-year-old has put in the work to increase those numbers during his next campaign. He has been studying the record-breaking 149-catch season from New Orleans Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas in order to make these improvements.

"I actually just got, not too long ago, I just got Michael Thomas' 2019 targets from his year that he broke the [receptions] record," Sutton said. "Just diving into it. Being able to see how he may have ran a route that we are learning right now. Figuring out ways to be able to get open because obviously he had a really good year that year. So to be able to find ways to implement the things he did well into my game, I feel like we'll be able to have a lot of success."

The Broncos are not in the easiest division, with the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, the rising Los Angeles Chargers and the Las Vegas Raiders, who are a wild card. Even so, with what they are developing as the season approaches, Sutton and the Broncos should be able to improve off last year's five-win campaign.