Broncos 

The Broncos signed WR Courtland Sutton to a four-year, $92 million extension this week. Denver HC Sean Payton said Sutton is valuable in several ways for their offense and called him one of the “leaders on this team.” 

“Like any player, he’s dealt with some injuries,” Payton said, via Parker Gabriel of The Denver Post. “There’s certain years — his 2019 film is outstanding. His film last year. It’s finding that right weight and balance, and then what are the things that he does well? Certainly, he’s a strong target. He’s smart. He’s clearly one of our leaders on this team. There’s a lot of things that he brings to the table.”

Broncos WR Troy Franklin said Sutton brings a veteran presence to their receivers group. 

“He brings, I don’t know if this is the right word for it, but like security for the group,” Franklin said. “We’re all young in the room, but we can lean on Court if we need any advice. We can watch what he does on the field, off the field and things like that.
“It’s great having Court. Plus, he’s a great guy.”

As for building a team culture, Payton said they build it over time with the right type of players. 

“It happens — I don’t know that it happens with the signing of one (guy) — but you continue to look for a certain type of player,” Payton said. “And then it begins to take shape. … We can aspire to have great culture, but if we don’t sign the right players, it’s going to be difficult to impossible.”

Chiefs

Chiefs CB Trent McDuffie commented on his contract situation and noted that he is leaving discussions to his agent. He is committed to being a Chief and also said that he feels he has more room for improvement.

“When it comes to contract stuff, my relationship with my agent is the [best] I’ve ever had,” McDuffie said, via Nate Taylor. “With that, I’ve allowed him to really focus on contract stuff. For me, I really just want to focus on ball. I love being a Chief. I know the contract stuff will come.”

“Every year is a new year and you want to prove that you still have it,” McDuffie continued. “Even in the nickel, I feel I have something to prove. On the outside, I have something to prove.”

Team owner Clark Hunt spoke to the media extensively and was asked about potentially signing McDuffie to a new deal.

“One of the themes you saw was rewarding players we had drafted,” Hunt said. “I’m a big believer that you build teams through the draft. I don’t want to speak specifically about any one player, but it is a priority for us to keep the nucleus of the team together.”

Raiders

Raiders QB Geno Smith is getting along famously with OC Chip Kelly, who worked with his cousin WR Jeremiah Smith last season at Ohio State.

“I think Chip has done a great job, number one, with implementing his style of play,” Smith said, via Raiders.com. “We want to be tough, we want to be physical, we want to attack the line of scrimmage. He’s doing a great job scheme-wise, putting us in position to make plays. We’ve got a lot of great weapons on offense, so he’s putting the guys in positions to make plays. And you can see it out there from day one, just the guys who are touching the ball and getting up, getting in open space.”

Kelly also thinks that Geno is the right quarterback to run his offense to perfection.

“The beauty of it is that the guy pulling the trigger can run everything,” Kelly said. “So if we’re with Geno and say, ‘Hey, we’d like to do this.’ He can do it. If you want to do that part of the game, whether it be quick game, he can do it, throwing the deep ball, he can do it, throwing the intermediate big balls, he can do that. He’s got so much experience, and to have a veteran quarterback, it’s such a comforting feeling.”

Raiders

The Raiders hope that TE Ian Thomas can bring veteran leadership to a young group, as well as do some of the dirty work with blocking assignments.

“He’s such a good compliment to a tight end room,” TE coach Luke Steckel said of Thomas, via the team website. “He does a lot of the dirty work that a lot of guys don’t do as much anymore. … He’s played a lot of snaps in this league. Guys can learn from the reps that he’s taken. I’ve felt his presence just as a veteran leader in the room and I think he’s an underestimated athlete. He can do more in the pass game than people give him credit for. It’s just all about the opportunities and when those opportunities come up, I think he’s going to do well for us.”

Raiders OC Chip Kelly still plans to feature TE Brock Bowers as one of the top pass catchers in the offense.

“[W]hen he came in here, he was as advertised, and unbelievable work ethic, unbelievable attention to detail,” Kelly said about Bowers. “All the things you’re looking for in a player, along with just a unique skillset, to have a guy that big and that athletic and moves in that way is kind of special. So, we’re really excited about what he can bring for us.”

Despite being phased out of the offense last year with the arrival of Bowers, Raiders TE Michael Mayer figures to regain a prominent role as the team will utilize a lot of two-tight end sets.

“I thought Mike had a great offseason with us,” Raiders HC Pete Carroll said. “We started out going heart to heart and him understand what we’re all about, and he embraced it and took it as well as anybody could take the challenge of bringing it day in and day out.“