After the whole Russell Wilson fiasco, the Denver Broncos officially moved on from the quarterback this offseason. With that, the franchise looks forward to its future and keeps its previous draft mistakes from repeating this year.
The Broncos have hardly made a draft pick for the past three years for quarterback Wilson and head coach Sean Payton. But not this season.
The franchise has made it clear that they are not dismissing the idea of trading more future draft picks as they are looking for a potential QB to take over the offense in place of the nine-time Pro Bowler.
In a conversation with Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, Payton claimed it’s ‘realistic’ for the team to trade up in the upcoming NFL Draft and select their future franchise quarterback.
He [Sean Payton] said they’ll look at it, and noted, ‘It’s good to be Monti [Ossenfort] right now.’ Hard to know what it will cost eventually . Wrote Rapoport on X
Here at the AFC Coaches Breakfast, I asked #Broncos coach Sean Payton how realistic it was for him to be a potential trade-up team?
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 25, 2024
“Realistic.”
He said they’ll look at it, and noted, “It’s good to be Monti (Ossenfort) right now.” Hard to know what it will cost eventually…
At the moment, the Broncos have the No. 12 overall pick in the first round and traded their second-round pick to the New Orleans Saints last season. The cost of trading would eventually depend on how high the Broncos intend to go.
Though they may have the option of the New England Patriots No. 3 overall pick, as their HC Jerod Mayo stated, they are open to the conversation. But they would only go forward with it if they received a deal-breaking offer.
For that to happen, Denver may have to put their first-round picks in 2025 and 2026 on the trade line. However, if it happens, they would get the chance to draft from the top three prospects of the 2024 class.
USC’s Caleb Williams, LSU’s Jayden Daniels, and North Carolina’s Drake Maye are most likely considered the best QBs in the upcoming quarterback-heavy draft. However, the Broncos aren’t being considered a playoff contender team next season, regardless of who they draft as the starting QB.
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