Insider Urges Broncos to Make Blockbuster Draft Trade to Land NDSU QB Trey Lance

If Denver Broncos GM George Paton was of a mind to listen to renowned media figures, he'd be working the phones to negotiate a trade-up the NFL draft board to land one of the most coveted quarterbacks in the 2021 class.

Longtime Denver insider Woody Paige of the Colorado Springs Gazette is pounding the table for Paton to trade up with the Detroit Lions at pick No. 7 in order to land North Dakota State QB Trey Lance.

Paton should negotiate with the Lions again. He connected with Detroit, which holds the seventh pick, in the Matt Stafford auction. The Lions now have Jared Goff, but new coach Dan Campbell did make the trip to Lance’s Pro Day. The Lions might be thinking future QB.

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It's true that a Paton-to-Detroit phone call for pick 7 wouldn't be the first one originating from UCHealth Training Center. Paton did more than kick the tires on Stafford before the Lions dealt him to the L.A. Rams.

But if the Broncos were to move two spots up the draft board, would the juice Lance provides be worth the squeeze? Maybe long-term.

In the short-term, moving up to take a quarterback, instead of staying put at pick 9 and taking the best defensive player on the board, wouldn't help Vic Fangio compete in 2021 or give him any better odds of holding onto his job. In fact, the odds say, it'd do just the opposite.

Rarely do QBs tapped to start as rookies lead their team to a plus-.500 finish. Just last year, Justin Herbert rewrote the NFL rookie passing records but it wasn't enough to save Anthony Lynn's job as head coach. The Chargers finished 7-9.

There are exceptions to the rule, of course, but they're exceedingly rare. A play for Lance would be about setting up the future (beyond 2021), with Drew Lock being a temporary placeholder while the rookie marinates.

What if the Broncos defied all odds and logic and managed to win enough games to qualify for the playoffs next season with Lock under center and Lance holding the clipboard? What would Paton do then? Paige answers.

The Broncos would draft Lance to be Lock’s reserve this year. Yet, he could operate as a wildcat back in situations, be installed if Lock became injured for the third consecutive season and take over toward the end of the season if Lock falters.

If Lock succeeds, Lance could be traded before 2022 for a first-round pick.

Lock might not have a ton of value on the trade market today with an 8-10 record as a starter but if he led the Broncos to the playoffs in Year 3, he'd provide a tremendous return on the block. But then, Paton would go from now having a proven commodity under center, which the Broncos have toiled for elusively for the past five years, only to trade him away at the penultimate moment for another high-upside shot in the dark?

Drew Lock's Career Stats (PFR). — Pro-Football-Reference.com

Yeah, no.

Paige's article reads more like fantasy than rational football sense. But, stranger things have happened in the NFL.

Especially if/when a GM falls head-over-heels for a QB in the draft. Paton traveled to Fargo to get an eyeball-witness look at Lance in the flesh at NDSU's pro day. Time might tell just what sort of impression Lance left on Paton that day.

For now, Paton's focus is on NFL free agency. The 'legal tampering' window opens on Monday, March 15, and then, the Broncos will be off to the races as the first-year GM begins reshaping this roster in his image.

Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen.

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