Broncos draft rumor: Team has interest in trading up with Browns

According to Michael Lombardi, the Denver Broncos could be talking with the Cleveland Browns about a trade for the 10th overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.

With just one week before the 2020 NFL Draft, the Denver Broncos could be poised to make a move up the board.

There have been a number of rumors that the Broncos are interested in moving up, some saying it could be for an offensive tackle and others for a receiver, but that rumor has been picking up steam as NFL insiders and analysts all over the place have been hearing about it.

Michael Lombardi, a former NFL executive and NFL Network employee, has heard that the Broncos and Cleveland Browns are talking about a trade involving the 10th overall pick in the draft.

This report from Lombardi, along with a rumor relayed by NFL Network’s Peter Schrager and The Athletic’s Dane Brugler, lead me to believe that the Broncos are genuinely interested in posturing themselves to get a top wide receiver on their board.

If the Broncos can get a deal done with the Browns and the Browns are not targeting any specific player with the 10th overall pick at this point, it’s possible this could happen before the 2020 NFL Draft.

The Browns could have their eyes on one of the top four tackles in the draft — Georgia’s Andrew Thomas, Iowa’s Tristan Wirfs, Louisville’ Mekhi Becton, or Alabama’s Jedrick Wills — but it’s likely they have identified some ideal scheme fits, specifically guys at left tackle.

Since new head coach Kevin Stefanski is going to be implementing an offense similar to what the Broncos had with Gary Kubiak and, to a degree, Rich Scangarello, it stands to reason that the Browns would prefer guys like Andrew Thomas, Ezra Cleveland, and Austin Jackson to some of the other guys who might be more suited to either the right side or a power-oriented offense.

Thus, moving down makes sense for Cleveland. They can accumulate additional picks, maybe see if the Broncos will part with a player like Isaac Yiadom or Todd Davis (Cleveland’s defensive coordinator is Joe Woods).

The Broncos have three picks in the third round to work with and with 10 draft picks overall, they have long been considered an ideal trade-up candidate, even if it was beyond the first round.

If the Broncos traded up with the Browns, the likeliest targets would be Alabama’s Jerry Jeudy or Henry Ruggs and Oklahoma’s CeeDee Lamb.

John Elway spoke earlier in the offseason to the importance of getting the offense to a point where it could compete with some of the other high-scoring, high-flying teams around the league. Adding one of those playmakers at receiver would help take the Denver offense to the next level.