© Gabriel Christus/Denver Broncos
Report: Broncos Have 'Made Calls' About Trading Down From Pick 12
The Denver Broncos are at a pivotal fork in the road with the NFL draft just two days away.
The Denver Broncos threw the NFL draft prognosticators a curve ball on Monday by acquiring quarterback Zach Wilson via trade from the New York Jets. Much like the mock draftsters and insiders across the fruited plain, Broncos Country wants to know how the Wilson acquisition affects Denver's plan at quarterback entering the NFL draft.
Set to kick off on Thursday, April 25, the 2024 draft features a deep quarterback class. Considering that Denver's quarterback situation is easily among the worst in the NFL, the speculation has centered around Sean Payton identifying and drafting his guy.
But now insiders like The MMQB's Albert Breer are pumping the brakes on the Broncos taking a quarterback in Round 1 after the Wilson trade. With Oregon quarterback Bo Nix's draft stock fluctuating wildly, Breer reports that the Broncos, who currently lack a second-round pick, have made calls about trading up in the draft while also exploring plans to trade back.
"The Denver Broncos’ acquisition of Zach Wilson adds another layer to their quarterback situation heading into Thursday. Denver has done its homework on the draft class—they hosted Penix on a 30 visit, and traveled to Michigan to work out J.J. McCarthy—but has other needs to address and no second-round pick. So while Denver’s sniffed around on trading up, they’ve also made calls on moving down. The connections to Oregon’s Bo Nix have persisted. He’s a player you might be able to wait on until the second round. But, again, Denver doesn’t have a 2," Breer wrote on Tuesday.
Sitting at No. 12 overall, the Broncos are just outside feasible striking distance of one of the Big Four quarterbacks, including USC's Caleb Williams, LSU's Jayden Daniels, UNC's Drake Maye, and Michigan's McCarthy. Subsequently, the prospect mocked to the Broncos most often at No. 12 has been Nix.
But not everyone outside the league is convinced that Nix is a first-round-caliber quarterback. However, if the Broncos pass on taking a quarterback at No. 12, they'd have to wait until the third round and the No. 76 overall selection before they'll be on the clock again — barring a trade.
So perhaps Payton and Broncos GM George Paton are looking to trade back, stockpile a second-rounder, and perhaps more, and hope that Nix is there in Round 2. The likelihood of Nix still being on the board even by the second round is low, especially considering the Las Vegas Raiders' need at quarterback, who pick right after Denver at No. 13 overall.
Breer reports that Daniels is the apple of the Raiders' eye, and while the reigning Heisman Trophy winner is expected to go No. 2 overall to the Washington Commanders, that hasn't stopped Vegas from also exploring trade-up opportunities. The Arizona Cardinals might be takers in a trade-up, and there's always the Atlanta Falcons at No. 8, but moving up to either spot from No. 13 would still remove Daniels as an option for the Raiders.
It's hard to see the Raiders not taking a quarterback at No. 13, whether the Broncos stand pat and take one, trade up or trade back. With Williams, Daniels, Maye, and McCarthy expected to be long gone by then, that means the Raiders would likely be choosing between Nix and Washington's Michael Penix Jr. at No .13, giving the Broncos less than 50/50 odds that the Oregon QB will still be available in the event of a trade-back.
It would be a colossal disappointment if the Broncos don't emerge from Round 1 with a future franchise quarterback. Breer is echoing the fears Broncos Country has had since the news of the Wilson trade broke.
If Wilson's arrival precludes Denver from drafting a quarterback in a rich class, Payton and Paton are going to have some explaining to do. And selling the Broncos' new uniform designs in the team's merch stores will be the least of team president Damani Leech's problems.
Without a signal-caller to cultivate hope and win back some trust and excitement, good luck selling tickets to football games in the fall to a Broncos fan base that has suffered through eight years of incompetence, sub-par quarterback play, and one sub-.500 season after another. Apathy had set in for a large swath of Broncos Country before the Wilson trade.
Pass on a quarterback in the draft later this week, and that apathy is likely to morph into abject disinterest. At some point, that will impact Denver's bottom line. After all, we're talking about a team that has lived in the NFL doldrums now for the better part of a decade — due, in large part, to inexplicable and oftentimes tone-deaf decisions.
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