After the Russell Wilson trade, the Denver Broncos’ 2023 NFL Draft capital looks pretty depleted. Here are the picks they have as of today.
Denver Broncos general manager George Paton prefers to have a war chest of NFL Draft pick darts to throw every year as opposed to a couple of arrows in a quiver.
As we approach the month of July, Paton’s list of selections is looking pretty thin thanks to a couple of big trades the team has made in the last year.
Of course, the Russell Wilson trade sent the Denver Broncos’ 1st-round pick and 2nd-round pick to the Seattle Seahawks.
Let’s take a look at what 2023 NFL Draft capital the Denver Broncos actually do have in stock right now and where they might go from here.
Denver Broncos current 2023 NFL Draft capital
As of right now, the Denver Broncos have a grand total of five picks in next year’s Draft. George Paton likes to have 10, so that means there’s obviously some work to be done.
The Broncos traded down in the 2022 NFL Draft to acquire a third-round pick from the Indianapolis Colts in this coming Draft, and that pick should turn out to be a pretty decent one as the Colts could either barely make the playoffs or miss them entirely.
The seventh-round pick from the Vikings comes from the Stephen Weatherly trade last year. The Broncos gave up a pick in the 2022 NFL Draft to get Weatherly but got that pick in return as well.
The NFL Draft is not meaningless, but the Denver Broncos will have bigger fish to fry next offseason.
There should be ramping up discussions regarding an extension for Russell Wilson with the new cash flow of the Walton-Penner group now in the ownership seats.
There is also going to be plenty of discussion around what to do with pending free agents like Bradley Chubb and Dre’Mont Jones, two of the Broncos’ most critical pieces defensively.
Again, not that the NFL Draft is irrelevant to the Broncos — they still need to have picks and add young players to the roster — but this team will have plenty of flexibility to add free agents and retain their own guys as the primary offseason acquisitions.
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I would expect to see at least seven or eight picks — maybe more — on the Broncos’ 2023 NFL Draft list by the end of training camp after trades are made.