Parker joined The Denver Post in September 2022 after covering the Broncos for USA Today. Before that, he spent five years covering Nebraska football and athletics for the Lincoln Journal Star. He's a New Glarus, Wisconsin native and a University of Wisconsin graduate.
A video board displays the text “THE PICK IS IN” for the Denver Broncos during the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft at AT&T Stadium on April 26, 2018 in Arlington, Texas. The Broncos and teams around the NFL have mostly set their final prospect rankings and are now working their way through modeling particular situations and trying to come up with as many contingency plans as possible.
The less surprise, the better through the three days of picking players, which begins with the first round Thursday night. A big part of that planning is trying to figure out who might want to trade picks and when. So, everybody starts thinking about how they might want to move around the board and, just as important, how other teams may want to. “You start talking parameters,” Broncos general manager George Paton said last week. “It gets more serious week and then really draft day. Sometimes, you haven’t heard from a team, and someone just really wants to come up, and they are aggressive because their player is there.” Will the Broncos try to move up or down Thursday night from No. 20? If they make a move, here are at least a couple of situations that could present themselves. A couple of caveats: Every team values draft picks slightly differently, and there are any number of ways to try to peg value to future draft picks. For this exercise, we used theBroncos’ top priority heading into NFL draft? Outfitting Bo Nix with more playmakersRenck & File: With Broncos now contenders, Sean Payton must be bold in NFL draftIn this scenario, Cleveland takes Colorado’s two-way superstar Travis Hunter or Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter at No. 2 overall, and the New York Giants take the other. Perhaps CU’s Shedeur Sanders starts to slide down through the first round, and New York starts to think about getting back into the first round. They’d likely at least consider that Pittsburgh might be in the quarterback market at No. 21. And that means they could check in with Denver at No. 20., the Broncos may not have a player with a truly differentiated grade on the board when their pick comes up. If that’s the case, they could move back. Even if they drop out of the first round altogether, like in this example, they might well get a similar quality player as at No. 20. Or they could use their new picks to try to get back up into the mid or late 20s. If the Broncos really believe the strength of this draft is on Day 2 and early Day 3, then adding an extra third and extra fourth could be an attractive option. The Broncos, then, end up with five picks in the top 105: Nos. 34, 51, 65, 85 and 105. Maybe they could even squeeze No. 99 out of New York instead of 105. Cleveland could be in a similar boat to the Giants. They pick No. 2 overall and are similarly unsettled long-term at quarterback. Cleveland could send Nos. 33, 67 and 104 to Denver for No. 20 and No. 197 . That’s a nearly identical 6.8% premium to the Giants trade above on the Jimmy Johnson chart. The absolute ideal situation for Denver: Both the Giants and Browns are trying to get ahead of Pittsburgh and have to jockey to put together the best trade package for Denver. “It’s almost a game of chicken of who is willing to pay the biggest price and how much do they love one of these quarterbacks?” NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah mused last week about the possibility. “I don’t even know that they like the same quarterback. That’s kind of an interesting thing. Denver Broncos first-round selection in the NFL football draft quarterback Bo Nix looks over a jersey after a news conference Friday, April 26, 2024, at the team’s headquarters in Centennial, Colo. Payton said last week that coaches and executives develop a feel for who they can do business with and who is more averse. “There are certain ones that you know right away that you can do business without either having to feel like they are getting a win,” Payton said. “That’s important.”In this case, the Broncos are likely only considering a big move up the board because Boise State RB Ashton Jeanty is falling a bit. This doesn’t seem likely — Jacksonville at No. 5, Las Vegas at No. 6 and the Saints are all possible landing spots, and Chicago or Dallas could more easily move up from No. 10 and No. 12, respectively, too. One other note here: The Broncos cannot move up as high as No. 5 without decimating multiple years of draft capital. No. 20 and their 2026 first-rounder may not be enough to get to No. 9, let alone No. 5, unless the market is severely depressed. Future picks typically come at a discount price. Here we use one round as a guide and take the midpoint of the first round to get 420 points as a baseline value for Denver’s 2026 first-rounder. The Saints would be telling Payton, “Look, you’re going to be really good. You’ll be picking near the end of the first round next year. It’s not that great of a pick to acquire.” This deal results in a modest 3.1% premium paid by Denver, which gives you an idea of just how expensive a move up like this is. The upshot for Denver is clear: The rookie quarterback window is open. If you believe Jeanty transforms your offense, you can justify going up to get him and paying a steep price. In this example, picking up No. 131 in a swap also keeps Denver at seven picks for the class.If Pittsburgh is looking to take a quarterback at No. 21, the club will certainly have a sense that other teams could try to move up to No. 20. If nothing else, this could represent an easy opportunity for the Broncos. Last year, Minnesota moved up one spot to No. 10 to ensure it could get J.J. McCarthy — ironically, Payton took credit for being an “active participant” in trying to propagate the idea that he was interested in McCarthy. Instead, of course, Denver happily took Bo Nix at No. 12. Now, Denver could try to play the other side of that coin. The beauty of this is that Denver could take the same player at No. 21 that it would have taken at No. 20. And it moves ahead of Pittsburgh in the third round and picks up an extra fourth-rounder in exchange for helping Pittsburgh land its quarterback — or, say, a defensive tackle that the Steelers feel strongly about. If the Steelers are fending off real competition for No. 20, they could also send their fifth or swap that pick for one of Denver’s sixths .Asking Eric: In-law’s demands test family patience Keeler: CU Buffs spring football takeaway? Best thing Deion Sanders can do for QB Julian Lewis is redshirt himAnti-Trump protesters return to Denver for latest 'Hands Off!' rally at CapitolTeen whooped with excitement after throwing fatal rock in Jeffco spree, second accomplice testifies Moving gun ammunition behind the counter, Polis' first veto and more from the Colorado legislature this week
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Boise State wide receiver Cam Camper to enter NFL Draft, participate in Broncos Pro DayCamper was previously in transfer portal
Read more »
Broncos Receive Confidence Boost from ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. Ahead of NFL DraftThe Denver Broncos are happy to hear this and will most certainly be takers.
Read more »
Broncos NFL draft prospect tracker: Denver has met with several late-round WR targetsThe Broncos are armed with picks no. 20, 51, 85, 122, 191, 197 and 208 in April’s NFL draft. Who are they looking at taking with those picks? Here’s the latest.
Read more »
Broncos Mailbag: Will Denver target RB Cam Skattebo in NFL draft?Parker joined The Denver Post in September 2022 after covering the Broncos for USA Today. Before that, he spent five years covering Nebraska football and athletics for the Lincoln Journal Star. He's a New Glarus, Wisconsin native and a University of Wisconsin graduate.
Read more »
Broncos' Draft Success in First Three Rounds Receives NFL RankingIt's been a topsy-turvy decade of drafting for the Denver Broncos, but are they on the right track now?
Read more »
Broncos doing heavy diligence on NFL draft wide receivers, from first round to PFAsIn an unfortunate stroke of irony, the Broncos’ climb to the summit in Denver has them sitting in a chasm in Green Bay.
Read more »