Rumor: Broncos Exploring Multiple Trade Avenues Before Draft

Anyone who follows the Denver Broncos understands the organization's primary needs heading into the 2025 NFL Draft. Most notably, Denver must add a running back — ideally a premier, three-down back. They're also hunting for a long-term weapon at receiver or tight end to grow with quarterback Bo Nix, and looking to supplement a defensive front that could lose multiple starters after the upcoming season.

What does that mean for the Broncos, who hold the 20th overall pick? According to Sports Illustrated NFL insider Albert Breer, the team sits in an interesting spot on the board: too far from the top of the draft to net a first-round graded player but simultaneously in a prime trade-down position for potentially interested parties.

All options are on the table.

"The Broncos have explored both trading up and down—so they’re one of the few that have actually looked at moving north up the board," Breer wrote Monday. "If they were to trade up, my sense is it’d be for someone they viewed as a special offensive weapon such as, perhaps, Jeanty or Loveland. If they stay at No. 20, Loveland and North Carolina RB Omarion Hampton would be fits. But the one that’s gotten my attention for Denver is Ohio State RB TreVeyon Henderson, as the “joker” that Sean Payton’s looking for. Denver’s nicely positioned at No. 20, where a team could try to jump over the Pittsburgh Steelers for a quarterback, and Henderson could be part of the strategy in a trade down (or they could just take him at No. 20)."

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The Broncos could do the unthinkable and trade up into the top-10, potentially even top-five, to take Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty, as has been continuously speculated. Not listed above is Penn State tight end Tyler Warren, who'd also be an intriguing option for Denver, although less prudent given the hit rate for first-round TEs is historically unkind.

As hard as it is to fathom the Broncos trading up from No. 20, perhaps an even harder sell is trying to get a Sean Payton-led club to trade down in the first round. But if the Broncos believed they could nab an RB in a trade-down (like Ohio State's TreVeyon Henderson), they'd have to at least entertain pulling the trigger and go against Payton's natural predilections.

If the Broncos view Hampton or North Carolina's Omarion Henderson as such dynamic backs that they cannot imagine next season without them, Payton and general manager George Paton should hold firm at No. 20. If they believe the next crop of backs in Ohio State's Quinshon Judkins, Iowa's Kaleb Johnson, and Tennessee's Dylan Sampson are comparable, however, Denver will have several viable pathways to mull over in Green Bay.