John Elway said the Broncos “were not hell bent" on trading Demaryius Thomas, but the bottom line is they simply want Courtland Sutton to play more. And sitting at 3-5 at the season’s halfway point, Elway said the time is now.

Sutton leads the Broncos wide receivers with a 19.1 yards-per-catch average and has already proven himself to be a difficult matchup for opposing defensive backs, especially in contested-pass situations. Recently Broncos coach Vance Joseph summed up the reason to throw the ball Sutton’s way with “it’s either a big play down the field or a penalty on the guy who’s covering him."

Related players: DaeSean Hamilton, Tim Patrick

While all the hype is obviously around Sutton, and with good reason, he should get a huge boost in fantasy value with the departure of Thomas, but, guys like Hamilton and Patrick also have a chance to see increased playing time.

In the moments after Sunday’s 30-23 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, a plainly frustrated Demaryius Thomas put the odds at "50-50" that he will be traded in the coming days.

“How would you feel at your job [if] your boss, whoever, said they wanted you someplace else?" Thomas said. “And you come into work every day and have to think about it? How would you feel? But I had to do it for my team, like it was normal, act like it was normal. It just kept coming up, from left and right … I had to think about it … It’ll be interesting to see what happens in next couple days."

Related players: Courtland Sutton

Thomas is second on the team in receptions (36) and receiving yards (402) and tied for the team lead in receiving touchdowns (three) this season. But his hefty salary-cap figure for 2019 -- $17.533 million in what is the last year of his deal -- and the emergence of the rookie Sutton as a big-play threat have raised the possibility of Thomas being shipped elsewhere. The story mentioned the Patriots and Eagles as possible destinations. If Thomas is moved, Sutton would become a must-own, and it's probably worth stashing him as soon as possible if he's still on your wire.