Denver Broncos: Buffalo Bills a trade down partner in draft
The Denver Broncos have a very valuable asset in the 2018 NFL Draft with the number five pick. The Buffalo Bills could be an intriguing trade partner…
The frenzy of excitement from the Kansas City Chiefs and Washington Redskins trade involving Alex Smith has had a ripple effect into Denver Broncos country, and has the offseason idea wheel spinning furiously.
With Kirk Cousins set to hit unrestricted free agency and the Broncos having a pretty good shot at signing him, it got me thinking about the intriguing scenarios the Broncos have in front of them with the 2018 NFL Draft.
Armed with the fifth overall pick, the Broncos have a valuable trade piece should they solidify their QB position prior to the draft entirely.
If the Broncos were to sign Cousins, it would free them up to use that fifth overall pick in a position player of their choosing, and would also give them the flexibility to trade that pick for a bounty of picks if they so choose.
Because quarterbacks are involved, the Broncos’ pick value could be greatly inflated, especially if there are multiple teams involved, but I found it interesting when looking at the trade value chart that the Buffalo Bills possess three selections in this year’s draft — 21, 22, and 95 overall — that equal the exact value on the trade value chart of the fifth overall pick.
Not that those trades are always exact according to the value chart, and like I said quarterbacks inflate the value of picks, but assume for a moment that the Broncos could extract the Bills’ two first rounders this year, and one of their two second rounders and send back, perhaps one of their fourth rounders or even their projected compensatory third rounder.
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That would give the Broncos — potentially — the 21st, 22nd, 40th, 55th, and 71st picks in this draft.
With a class of players that fits Denver’s needs almost perfectly, having a number of picks like that would be a great luxury for John Elway, especially given the fact that Cousins would likely take a bite out of the Broncos’ present and future free agent budget.
With those two first rounders, the Broncos could fortify the offensive line, defensive line, or even take a cornerback if they felt it necessary to replace Aqib Talib in that way.
Of course, no one would be opposed to the idea of drafting Quenton Nelson, Saquon Barkley, or a defender like Bradley Chubb or Roquan Smith with that top pick, but the idea of drafting two players in the first round like Orlando Brown or Connor Williams along with Will Hernandez, and having flexibility to do basically whatever you want in round two is pretty enticing.
The Broncos need this year’s draft class to fortify their depth, and getting a king’s ransom of picks for number five overall will definitely be on the table if they get Cousins in free agency.