AFC Notes: Courtland Sutton, Brett Veach, Broncos, Chargers, Chiefs

Broncos

At the start of voluntary offseason workouts, Broncos WR Courtland Sutton is not with the team despite having two years left on his extension. Denver GM George Paton isn’t worried about Sutton’s absence.

“It’s 100 percent voluntary,” Paton said, via Gabriel Parker of the Denver Post. “It’s the first week of the offseason program. Sean [Payton] has talked to Courtland. I’ve talked to Courtland. He’s in a good place and we’ll just leave it at that.”

Chargers

The Chargers currently sit fifth overall for the upcoming draft, and they will be one of the first teams to pick that doesn’t need a quarterback. Los Angeles GM Joe Hortiz touched on what it would take to move down and sounds pretty secure where they are.

“There’s certainly, ‘It’s too good of a deal,’ because of what you’re getting back. They have to make it attractive for us to move away from those players. The whole, ‘It’s a fair trade, it’s a wash,’ I don’t think that’s a trade that we’re interested in,” Hortiz said, via Coral Smith of the team’s website. “If we’re going to trade away from great players, there has to be a reason, in terms of value, for us. Certainly, there are going to be more great players in the draft, but it has to make sense to you and it has to make sense to the team that is wanting to come up.”

“We believe we have the first pick in the draft. I know there are going to be four picks that go before us, but we believe that. If four quarterbacks go, we believe, strongly, that we have the first pick in the draft. What are teams willing to give us? Obviously, we know it’s the fifth pick and people are going to be trading on that scope. It’s got to be good value for us. Does it have to be ‘blown away?’ What is ‘blown away?’ I don’t know the answer to that.”

Chiefs

Chiefs GM Brett Veach expects 2020 third-round OL Wanya Morris to compete for a starting spot on the offensive line this offseason.

“I think we were really happy with Wanya’s development last year,” Veach said, via ChiefsWire.com. “I think he showed some signs early on [in] the OTAs that we were really excited about, continue that growth and maturation process during the training camp. Then, middle of the season there, he got an opportunity, some good, some bad. I think Wanya would tell you this: If you look at his body of work last year, on the one hand, you’re happy that he was able to come in at the pro level and be competitive. It wasn’t perfect. But it was also solid play that I think is a good foundation to build and grow on.”

“He has to come in here with the mindset that we’re going to look to bring in competition,” Veach added. “He’s got to come in here and win that position, and it’s his job to come in and be prepared to win that position. I think it’s our job to go out there and find competition, you know, for that left tackle spot. I think, again, there’s a lot of promise in there. There’s a lot of ability. But certainly, I think it’s our job to bring in some competition there. Make him earn that and work for that.”