The Denver Broncos are going to be without a first-round selection in this year's NFL Draft, but the team does not seem to be upset about that. Denver willingly parted with their first as a means to bring in superstar Jaylen Waddle at wide receiver, cementing their status as a legitimate Super Bowl contender. The Broncos are going to need to add to their roster through day two and three selections, but their decision makers are not terribly concerned by that reality.
This year's draft class figures to be a good one, but some positional groups are deeper than others. Another weird place the Broncos found themselves in is that their roster does not have a ton of holes, so there really isn't a major pressing need that the team needs to address in the first round. Simply, did the Broncos even really need a first-round pick this year?
At this point, it might be easier to argue no than it would be to argue yes. The Broncos are beginning to say the quiet part out loud about where they believe the 30th overall selection would have fit on their roster, and I'm not sure the pick would have even seen a rotational role on the field this year. Sean Payton doesn't seem to disagree, and he made that abundantly clear to the media he met with on Tuesday.
Sean Payton did not think the 30th overall selection was going to make too much of a difference on the Denver Broncos' roster
While meeting with the media, Payton shed some light on the trade for Waddle and made it incredibly clear that the team did not feel as though any player available to them at 30th overall would make an impact on their 2026 roster. After reading this quote from Sean Payton, you can see exactly why the Broncos were willing to move on from their first rounder and third rounder.
"We spent a lot of time looking at that selection, and trying to determine – we could safely say that pick would’ve been one of these 7 or 8 players. And we didn’t feel like that would help us as much.”
Payton did not hold his punches when talking about the state of the players around the 30th selection, and it should not exactly come as a surprise to anyone. A few mocks had the Broncos taking a safety with the 30th selection, which would be an absolute disaster for this current team. The Broncos probably need a safety less than any other position on the field, but the Dolphins have several holes and can go several different directions with the pick.
Good for the Dolphins to now have this opportunity, but the Broncos are much better off without it. Miami has a long road of recovery ahead of it, while the Broncos are going to need to find a way to score more points in a quicker way in 2026. This deal is going to work out incredibly well for everyone, but it's clear the Broncos were very low on the talent projected to be available around 30th overall.