The Denver Broncos might be inclined to move up to secure their quarterback, which appears to be Drew Lock, in the 2019 NFL Draft.
Drew Lock is going to be a huge topic of discussion over the next few months for the Denver Broncos, but how badly does John Elway want to get him?
We’ve already talked about the fact that Elway may have to move up from the 10th overall spot in the 2019 NFL Draft in order to get Lock, but the question now becomes how high?
Matt Miller and Conor Rogers at Bleacher Report and the Stick to Football podcast recently discussed this topic as well, and think the Broncos would have a decent chance of moving up to the second or third overall spot in the Draft with the 49ers or Jets respectively.
The #Broncos may have to trade up for Drew Lock. Here are two teams I’m hearing are targets. That and more in a new @sticktofootball https://t.co/5uCVC46n8d
— Matt Miller (@nfldraftscout) January 30, 2019
The topic of Elway, Lock, and trading up in the Draft starts right away in that podcast, so give it a quick listen. Those guys agreed that the 49ers and Jets don’t really have to stick in their current draft spots and may even have some incentive to trade down as they are low on selections in this year’s Draft.
They even went so far as to say they think the cost to move up from 10 to two or three might be significantly less than in years past because the teams have some relational equity and there are no ‘no brainer’ prospects for either team to take.
Their arbitrary trade offer was for a pair of second-round picks in addition to the first-round swap this year to get the deal done.
That would be a pretty huge haul but is it enough to get a team to move down that far in the top 10? Maybe, maybe not. The 49ers and Broncos have a good working relationship between John Elway, John Lynch, and Kyle Shanahan. That’s part of the reason the 49ers eventually relented and allowed Rich Scangarello to interview for (and get hired on) the Denver Broncos’ offensive coordinator position.
The Broncos may not have as obvious a connection with the Jets, but the guys on the podcast made an interesting one. Jets VP of Player Personnel Brian Heimerdinger is the son of the late Mike Heimerdinger, who was the Denver Broncos’ wide receivers coach from 1995-99 and assistant head coach/quarterbacks coach from 2006-07.
Heimerdinger’s father worked for Mike Shanahan and it’s clear that friends of Mike’s are friends of Elway’s at this point. The Broncos have eight selections in this year’s draft including extra picks in the fourth and fifth rounds.
They could easily trade some picks this year to move up for the quarterback they want, and if you can get a guy you can build the franchise around, you shouldn’t think twice about it.
The price to jump up and get a quarterback seems to be an overall value of an extra first and third-round pick based on recent history, or something pretty close to that.
It would be wise of the Broncos to get in position well in advance of the 2019 NFL Draft. We saw the New York Jets trade up last year in the middle of March for the third overall selection. They swapped first-round picks and gave up three second-round picks to move up.
Ironically, their lack of a second-rounder this year is what could ultimately prompt a trade down with the Broncos.
If Elway loves Drew Lock as much as everyone is saying he does, he may have to get aggressive and move up for him. Some still feel like the Broncos would be able to get him at 10 overall but recent history has shown us that you aren’t getting the QB you covet in round one unless you trade up.
Buckle in for an exciting couple of months.