Sean Payton Talks Up 'Competitive' Broncos WR: 'He Can Run'

If you thought the Denver Broncos signed wide receiver Trent Sherfield merely for his special teams prowess — guess again.

The Athletic's Nick Kosmider reported Saturday that Sherfield, who inked a two-year, $8 million deal in free agency, has been a "frequent target" during the early stages of training camp, evidently doing enough to pique the interest of Broncos head coach/offensive play-caller Sean Payton.

“He’s tough, and he can run," Payton said of Sherfield. "The other thing he can do is block, and so we’ve always had a handful of receivers that can run and stretch the field and when you get one that can do that and then block also, you can set up play action, marries well to the run game. He’s pretty competitive.”

The well-traveled Sherfield, 29, entered the league as an undrafted free agent in 2018, spending his first two seasons with the Arizona Cardinals, followed by one-and-done stints with the San Francisco 49ers, Miami Dolphins, Buffalo Bills, and the Minnesota Vikings.

Combined, he's caught 86 career passes for 1,013 yards and six touchdowns across 112 games. The 6-foot-1, 206-pound wideout logged all 17 appearances for Minnesota in 2024, primarily on special teams (221 snaps).

"Trent Sherfield Sr., the veteran wide receiver the Broncos signed in free agency in large part because of his experience on special teams, has been a frequent target of Denver’s quarterbacks in camp, picking up where he left off during the team’s offseason program," Kosmider observed. "Sherfield has routinely created space over the middle and has shown sure hands in traffic."

While Sherfield has no chance of unseating WR1 Courtland Sutton or disturbing the ascension of likely WR2 Marvin Mims, the multi-dimensional Vanderbilt product should now be considered a threat to push whomever loses the WR3 competition — Devaughn Vele, Troy Franklin, or Pat Bryant — while doubling as a core special-teamer.

“We felt like it was important," Payton said in May of Sherfield's signing. "After the 2023 season, one quick way to improve your team—we were near the bottom of the league in 2022 in special teams. So very quickly [during] the last two years, it’s been the opposite. That emphasis—it’s easy to say, ‘We want to get better in the kicking game,’ but you have to commit to that. I’ve worked with [Special Teams Coordinator/Assistant Head Coach] Darren [Rizzi] before, and that will still be a priority for us."