Denver Broncos: This draft-day trade could net team QB of the future

If the Denver Broncos really want a different quarterback, there are multiple avenues to take.

The quarterback carousel this offseason figures to be as interesting as ever, and for a team with some questions at quarterback, the Broncos could be in the market for a new signal caller.

The team may not necessarily be ready to throw in the towel on Drew Lock, but with all of the suddenly available options, they may not be able to resist. Two of those options include Deshaun Watson and Matthew Stafford, two proven starters that seem to be on the outs with their current teams.

I’ve already talked about not being a big fan of the idea to trade for Watson and the sentiment would be similar as it relates to Stafford, though he could likely be acquired for much less.

The Broncos should roll with Lock and not trade for any quarterback unless they can somehow convince the Green Bay Packers to trade Aaron Rodgers, unlikely as that may be.

But if new general manager George Paton is antsy to make a move for a quarterback that  he considers to be an upgrade over Lock, there is a spot the team could move into during the NFL draft that could help the team achieve just that.

The Broncos sit at No. 9 in the draft. It’s all but a certainty that Trevor Lawrence is going to go to the Jacksonville Jaguars. After that, many analysts have BYU’s Zach Wilson as the next-best quarterback on the board.

That means that Ohio State’s Justin Fields could start to fall a bit.

The Miami Dolphins aren’t going to take a quarterback at No. 3 and the Cincinnati Bengals won’t be looking for a quarterback with the No. 5 pick. The one team the Broncos would have to worry about in this scenario would be the Atlanta Falcons, who could select a quarterback with an aging Matt Ryan still on the team.

Born in Kennesaw, Georgia, Fields going to the hometown Falcons would make a lot of sense. But if he gets past them, this trade scenario could come into play.

In this scenario, the Philadelphia Eagles drop back just three slots in the first round while also getting an additional second-round choice from Denver. The Broncos see the No. 6 slot as ideal as they leap ahead of the Detroit Lions, a team that will be in the quarterback market if (when) it trades Stafford.

The Broncos could then use that choice to snag Fields, a player the Lions would almost certainly be ready to pick. In Fields, the Broncos would get a young, battle-tested quarterback who can do it all.

Fields was one of the top recruits in the country coming out of high school and has had success as a quarterback at every level.

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He is a dual-threat quarterback and a supreme athlete. Not only can he make all of the throws, he is quite accurate as well generally a good decision maker. There is a lot to like about his game and following Ohio State’s huge win over Lawrence’s Clemson Tigers in this year’s College Football Playoff, there was chatter about how Fields could be the No.1 overall pick.

Because Lawrence appears to possess once-in-a-lifetime talent, he will be the first pick. But Fields would be one heck of a consolation prize and for my money, a much better pick than Wilson.

So if the Broncos want to make a deal for a new quarterback, this makes much more sense that giving away multiple first-round picks (plus more) to get Watson or to give up high draft choices to get Stafford.

If the Broncos could move into the No. 6 slot for this price, or something similar, that would be the move to make to get an upgrade at the quarterback position.