Jeff LegoldSenior writer for ESPN3 minutes to read
Will Jerry Goody Thrive Under Sean Payton?
Jeff Legwold explains why the Broncos picked rookie option Jerry Jeudy.
Englewood, Colorado. In the weeks leading up to the 2023 NFL Draft, Denver Broncos decision makers kept saying how much they believed in wide receiver Jerry Goody’s potential.
On Monday, the team officially demonstrated it by naming Jody to fifth year. Gowdy, who was the Broncos’ first-round pick in 2020, is signed through the 2024 season.
Jody will earn $12.98 million in 2024, the fifth and final year of his rookie deal.
The move was expected though, as a week before the draft Broncos general manager George Button had yet to say whether the team would field a fifth-year option. But he said “we’re high, really high, on Jerry…we love Jerry, he’ll be here.”
The Broncos used their opening pick of this past weekend’s draft — 63rd overall — on wide receiver Marvin Mims Jr.. at Oklahoma, but Patton said the selection was made simply because Mims was the top pick on the draft board at a point.
“It has nothing to do with any of our receivers,” Button said.
Coach Sean Payton said in owners’ meetings in March that the Broncos would reject the interest some teams had in acquiring Jeudy in a trade earlier this season.
Jody, who has been described by many competitive players and coaches as an elite road runner, finished last season on a high note. After returning from an ankle injury in December, he gained 523 yards over the final six games of the season.
That six-game drive also included Gowdy’s first career triple play—December 11 against Kansas City—to go with five catches, 154 yards in the season finale against the Los Angeles Chargers.
Gowdy missed seven games in 2021 due to injuries and missed two more games last season, but he was the only wide receiver on the team to finish more than twice.
Gowdy had a six-goal offense that routinely struggled to score and finished the year as the lowest scoring offense in the league at 16.9 points per game.