Every year on the week of the NFL Draft, the Denver Broncos are rumored to be a team interested in trading up and trading down. The good news is, this is probably nothing to worry about, as the Broncos have been more and more transparent about their intentions every single year.
But then again, the timing of these rumors is fascinating.
While it's fun to think about the Broncos coming up from the 20th overall pick and adding one of the top guys on their board, it's almost certainly not going to happen...right? There are a few reasons to believe these rumors (coming from Adam Schefter) might have some legs, but one in particular stands out.
Schefter: Broncos have made inquiries about trading up in 1st round of draft.
— Underdog NFL (@UnderdogNFL) April 21, 2025
Schefter reported that the Broncos have "made inquiries" about moving up in round one, but there aren't many other teams joining them in being aggressive. We hear about the Broncos being interested in moving up or down in the draft at this time every year, so why is this one different? For that, we'll turn the mic over to Broncos general manager George Paton, who spoke about trade negotiations at his pre-draft presser last week.
George Paton's comments make Broncos trade rumors more interesting
"We’ve made calls—this week you make a lot of calls and then next week [are] the more serious calls. ‘Hey, if this player is here, we want to move up,’ or what have you. I’ve talked to most [general managers] in the NFL to set the table or set the plan of, ‘Hey, if your player is here and you move up, what’s the range?’ You start talking parameters. It gets more serious next week and then really draft day. Sometimes, you haven’t heard from a team and someone just really wants to come up and they are aggressive [because] their player is there. I would say this week, next [week] and then draft day. All three.”
Broncos GM George Paton (via Broncos PR)
The one reason you might need to take the rumors about the Broncos trading up more seriously this time around is something Paton said right there. He said that the more "serious calls" are happening this week. Prior to the week of the NFL Draft, calls are exploratory. The week of the draft, you're trying to gauge whether or not you'd have a deal in place with teams in case a player you want is there. One might assume, based on some dot connecting, that the Broncos do have a player in mind that they would be willing to trade up for.
For the Broncos, we could have one very intriguing potential trade-up landing spot at #7 overall with the New York Jets. The Jets hired former Broncos assistant GM Darren Mougey this offseason as their new general manager, and the line of communication between Denver and the Jets is undoubtedly strong.
Maybe these rumors are just rumors again, but if there's no competition to move up from other teams, the Broncos might also be able to move up for a player they covet at a discounted rate.
The one major reason why it wouldn't make a lot of sense for the Broncos to trade up this year? Well, actually, there are a few. First of all, the Broncos themselves recently said that the difference between players getting picked 10th overall and 20th overall is not going to be substantial on their board. Second, this year's draft is deepest at the positions the Broncos need the most.
They might get multiple starting-caliber players on Day 2 and you don't just want to sacrifice that for one guy.
Unless that guy is that special to you. The players it would make sense to see Denver trade up for would be guys like Ashton Jeanty, Colston Loveland, and Tyler Warren. It's hard to see the team sacrificing multiple potential starters to go get one of those players, but you never know. And if now is when the "serious" calls are being made, it might be time to buckle in.