ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Courtland Sutton helped the Denver Broncos end their protracted playoff drought last season.
Now he'll get the chance to help restore some of the franchise's lost luster.
“The biggest thing for me was being able to be here and bring back the years that Broncos fans have known,” Sutton said Tuesday, less than 24 hours after signing his four-year, $92 million extension that was more than a year in the making.
“The organization has such a long, historic tradition of being successful and I've been here through the thick and the thin and there's a lot of promise on the other side of the horizon here," Sutton said.
Sutton has played for five head coaches in Denver and alongside twice that number of starting quarterbacks. He figures he's hit the sweet spot in his eighth NFL season with quarterback Bo Nix and coach Sean Payton.
Sutton had his first 1,000-yard season since 2019 last year when he caught eight touchdown passes a year after hauling in a career-best 10. He helped the Broncos end an eight-year playoff drought.
Although he'll turn 30 this season, Sutton is the latest receiver to receive a big payday. He said he was able to sign a third contract because of his growth mindset keeping him fresh.
He said his philosophy is to get 1% better every day in some aspect of life or football.
“I tell the young guys all the time I'm always trying to find ways to master and become better at my craft on and off the field, and I'm a thief when it comes to finding ways to be better, whether it's a recovery thing, whether it's watching film," Sutton said. "I'm always trying to find something to be better at.
"Complacency scares me."
Several Broncos veterans are angling for new contracts this summer, including Nik Bonitto, Zach Allen and John Franklin-Meyers, but it was Sutton who was the team's top priority.
“He's everything you want in a pro,” said Payton, who summoned Sutton into his office when he took the job two years ago, showed him his 2019 film and told him that's the wide receiver he wanted to see on the field.
Sutton turns out to be the prototypical big receiver Payton covets in his offense.
“No. 1, he epitomizes what we’re looking for,” Payton said. “And then you match that with his play. I mean, just each box you’re checking, leadership, work ethic. I’m excited for him and for the club. Sometimes they take a little bit of time but I think throughout the process there was never that feeling that it wasn’t going to get done. It was just a matter of when."
Sutton concurred, saying, “I had the utmost faith that something was going to get done and the last thing that I wanted to do was be a distraction.”
Payton compared Sutton to Marques Colston, whom he had in New Orleans.
“Marques was maybe a little quieter, but day in and day out so consistent in their performance and then in the game days they were very similar,” Payton said. “They both play split end, strong hands in traffic, really, really good football instincts.
“He doesn't have too many bad days. And those guys with the right energy, there's a lot to be said for that. Because you're going to hit some tough times, you're going to hit some walls during the course of any season. And he's one of those that is part of the solution always.”
Sutton was Nix's favorite option last season and the pair figures to keep that connection going now.
“Bo’s my guy,” Sutton said. "To be able to share the locker room with him, share the field with him, is a special thing. I just look forward to what’s ahead and us continuing to build what we can here.”
NOTES: ILB Alex Singleton underwent surgery Tuesday on his right thumb, which he broke during Monday's practice, and is expected to miss a week.
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Denver Broncos tight end Evan Engram, left, greets wide receiver Courtland Sutton before taking part in drills at an NFL football training practice Monday, July 28, 2025, in Centennial, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Denver Broncos wide receiver Courtland Sutton warms up at an NFL football training practice Monday, July 28, 2025, in Centennial, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Denver Broncos wide receiver Courtland Sutton takes part in drills at an NFL football training practice Monday, July 28, 2025, in Centennial, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. forces in the Caribbean Sea have seized another sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump administration says has ties to Venezuela, part of a broader U.S. effort to take control of the South American country’s oil.
The U.S. Coast Guard boarded the tanker, named Veronica, early Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote on social media. The ship had previously passed through Venezuelan waters and was operating in defiance of President Donald Trump’s "established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean,” she said.
U.S. Southern Command said Marines and sailors launched from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford to take part in the operation alongside a Coast Guard tactical team, which Noem said conducted the boarding as in previous raids. The military said the ship was seized “without incident.”
Several U.S. government social media accounts posted brief videos that appeared to show various parts of the ship’s capture. Black-and-white footage showed at least four helicopters approaching the ship before hovering over the deck while armed troops dropped down by rope. At least nine people could be seen on the deck of the ship.
The Veronica is the sixth sanctioned tanker seized by U.S. forces as part of the effort by Trump’s administration to control the production, refining and global distribution of Venezuela’s oil products and the fourth since the U.S. ouster of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid almost two weeks ago.
The Veronica last transmitted its location on Jan. 3 as being at anchor off the coast of Aruba, just north of Venezuela’s main oil terminal. According to the data it transmitted at the time, the ship was partially filled with crude.
Days later, the Veronica became one of at least 16 tankers that left the Venezuelan coast in contravention of the quarantine that U.S. forces have set up to block sanctioned ships, according to Samir Madani, the co-founder of TankerTrackers.com. He said his organization used satellite imagery and surface-level photos to document the ship movements.
The ship is currently listed as flying the flag of Guyana and is considered part of the shadow fleet that moves cargoes of oil in violation of U.S. sanctions.
According to its registration data, the ship also has been known as the Gallileo, owned and managed by a company in Russia. In addition, a tanker with the same registration number previously sailed under the name Pegas and was sanctioned by the Treasury Department for being associated with a Russian company moving cargoes of illicit oil.
As with prior posts about such raids, Noem and the military framed the seizure as part of an effort to enforce the law. Noem argued that the multiple captures show that “there is no outrunning or escaping American justice.”
Speaking to reporters at the White House later Thursday, Noem declined to say how many sanctioned oil tankers the U.S. is tracking or whether the government is keeping tabs on freighters beyond the Caribbean Sea.
“I can’t speak to the specifics of the operation, although we are watching the entire shadow fleet and how they’re moving,” she told reporters.
But other officials in Trump's Republican administration have made clear they see the actions as a way to generate cash as they seek to rebuild Venezuela’s battered oil industry and restore its economy.
Trump met with executives from oil companies last week to discuss his goal of investing $100 billion in Venezuela to repair and upgrade its oil production and distribution. His administration has said it expects to sell at least 30 million to 50 million barrels of sanctioned Venezuelan oil.
Associated Press writer Ben Finley contributed to this report.
This story has been corrected to show the Veronica is the fourth, not the third, tanker seized by U.S. forces since Maduro’s capture and the ship also has been known as the Gallileo, not the Galileo.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks during a press conference, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks at a news conference at Harry Reid International Airport, Nov. 22, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill, File)
