Denver Broncos mock draft with a trade for Antonio Brown

The Antonio Brown trade

This trade makes sense on a number of levels.

The Broncos don’t necessarily need the 10th overall pick in this year’s draft. With Joe Flacco now part of the roster, the team is not in desperate need to draft a quarterback at that slot.

Therefore, they can afford some flexibility. The Steelers apparently only want a mid-round pick in return for Brown considering the writing is on the wall — he wants out — and they have really no leverage unless there is a long list of suitors for his services.

There should be for just a mid-round pick.

The Broncos’ offense was horrendous when Emmanuel Sanders went down last season. He’s trying to be ready for the start of the 2019 season but with an Achilles injury, there’s no guarantee of that happening.

If the Broncos trade for Brown, Sanders likely won’t be back, which is unfortunate.

However, Brown has three more years of team control on his contract and is younger than Sanders.

The Steelers could move up to the 10th overall pick and get a disruptive defensive front seven player, perhaps a guy like LSU linebacker Devin White. A trade like this would allow the Broncos to move back and keep their options open in round one.

They would also recoup a draft pick from the Steelers on day three, as the value of moving up 10 spots in the first round is roughly a second-round pick on the (unofficial) trade value chart. The Raiders received a 3rd and 5th to move down from 10 to 15 in the 2018 NFL Draft.

If Brown’s value is set at around a 4th-round pick, adding a 4th-rounder to this type of trade seems reasonable.

This would give the Broncos a true number one receiver and arguably the league’s best to boot. He’s a big personality but he didn’t cause any real problems in Pittsburgh until Ben Roethlisberger started calling him out in public.

Who cares if he shows up to training camp in a helicopter? You have to lighten up and have some fun.

If the Broncos were able to pair Brown with Flacco, Phillip Lindsay, Royce Freeman, Courtland Sutton, DaeSean Hamilton, and whoever they bring in at tight end, they might just have something brewing offensively.