Denver Broncos: Quarterback options for new GM George Paton
Denver Broncos QB options for new GM George Paton
3. Get aggressive
The option of Deshaun Watson, which was previously discussed here, is certainly fun to think about.
Ultimately, is there really any chance the Houston Texans are going to let Watson out of there? It just seems highly doubtful and it would almost be less surprising if the Texans let Watson sit out in protest of the team not granting his trade request than it would be to see a trade like that go down.
The other option that is not oft discussed is Dak Prescott’s situation in Dallas, where franchise tagging him again in 2021 would take a substantial percentage of their overall salary cap number, which is projected to go down this year.
That doesn’t mean the Cowboys would not end up doing it, it’s just worth noting it would cost them elsewhere (possibly significantly) to do so.
With the ideas of Watson and Prescott more pipe dreams than realistic options, what could the Broncos do that would be “aggressive but not reckless” at the quarterback position in terms of making a veteran acquisition?
The biggest name that might be available is Matthew Stafford of the Detroit Lions.
With a new GM and new head coach coming to Detroit, the conversation will likely be had about Stafford’s future with the team and what kind of assets the Lions could possibly recoup by trading him.
For the Denver Broncos and a first-year GM in George Paton, would you trade the 9th overall pick for two years of Matthew Stafford?
That’s probably too big of a pill to swallow. But the Broncos’ second-round pick in 2021? That might be a possibility.
Acquiring a veteran like Stafford who has been around the NFL for a long time at this point might be the only truly preferable option to Drew Lock, who also has only two years left on his contract.
Even with the increased budget at QB by adding Stafford in a trade, he might be the most realistic veteran upgrade at the position to justify getting rid of Lock and moving on completely. Even saying that, ‘realistic’ would still include the two teams agreeing on trade compensation and the Broncos figuring out how to re-adjust their entire budget at quarterback.
That’s not impossible, but also not easy.
The other idea for being aggressive in a trade could be going after someone like Sam Darnold, whom the Broncos were high on ahead of the 2018 NFL Draft. The guys who were high on Darnold — presumably John Elway and Matt Russell — are obviously not making the final calls anymore.
Adding Darnold via trade would likely cost more than anyone in the fan base would really love to see, and there is no doubt that if you trade premium draft assets for Darnold, you’re not bringing him in merely to back Drew Lock up and hope for the best.
Ideally, the Broncos would be able to trade for Darnold on the cheap heap and pull off something similar to what the Tennessee Titans did with Marcus Mariota and Ryan Tannehill in 2019, only adding Darnold would likely mean you are opening up the competition throughout the offseason, not just rolling with Lock and having Darnold wait in the wings in case he’s not good enough.