The NFL world was shaken on Saturday following the news that the Detroit Lions traded Matthew Stafford to the Los Angeles Rams for quarterback Jared Goff, and a number of draft picks.
As we found out Saturday, the Denver Broncos were a team that Detroit ended up calling. The Lions’ asking price was too much for Denver.
The compensation the Lions received was:
- QB Jared Goff
- 2022 first-round pick
- 2023 first-round pick
- 2021 third-round pick
As shown above, the first round order of the 2021 NFL draft isn’t affected, but the fact that Detroit now owns two first-round picks in 2022 and 2023 makes me think that they could possibly ruin the Broncos’ draft plans if they do it right.
Unless something crazy happens, we should expect Jared Goff to be the Lions’ starter in 2021. That puts them in the market to look at other positions in the first round of the 2021 draft.
The Lions currently have the seventh-overall pick, while the Broncos own the ninth. Many people have given the Broncos a cornerback in their mock draft, while others have expressed interest in sending linebackers to the Mile High City.
Detroit could use a guy such as Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, a linebacker out of Notre Dame. That, to me, makes more sense for them than cornerback, as they just took Jeff Okudah third overall last year.
Owusu-Koramoah has also been linked to the Broncos in mock drafts and would provide a lot of help for that linebacker position.
Kwity Paye could be another player both teams may be interested in following the Stafford trade.
The good thing for the Broncos, however, is that there are going to be several teams who take a quarterback before their selection.
Trevor Lawrence, Zach Wilson, and possibly Trey Lance will all be gone, leaving six more picks before Denver is on the clock.
There could be teams who jump the Broncos in light of the Stafford deal. What happens to Deshaun Watson? That’s another domino that could fall.
With the Lions getting Goff in Matthew Stafford trade, other positional players could be off table for Broncos.
Assuming the top-2 cornerbacks, Caleb Farley and Patrick Surtain II, are off the board, we may see the Broncos trade down and acquire more picks, while being in position to take the third-best cornerback in Jaycee Horn.
Edge rusher Gregory Rousseau is another player who Denver could target in a trade down. We don’t know what will happen with Von Miller and even still, it could be a good idea to address that situation sooner than later.
The Matthew Stafford trade created some clarity in terms of the draft, not only this year, but for the future. We don’t know when the Broncos will select a quarterback via the draft, but the Stafford-Goff trade certainly affects the Broncos going forward in terms of other positions.