The Denver Broncos have limited capital in this year's NFL Draft and obviously did not trade back up into Round 1. The Broncos front office surely scouted some of the first-round prospects, but the team decided that former Miami Dolphins wide receiver Jaylen Waddle was going to be more valuable than a rookie prospect at pick 30.
Denver also gave the Dolphins a third-round pick and moved up in the fourth round. As of now, the team owns the 62nd pick, which would stand to be their only selection on day two of the draft. As many Broncos fans have seen, though, General Manager George Paton has feasted in this middle chunk of the draft.
Paton also loves his draft picks, so he's probably figuring out what it may cost to acquire another pick somehow. Fortunately, there are ways for the team to land, potentially, a third-round pick on Friday night, which is seen as a sweet spot of this year's class, and a well-connected Broncos insider may have just indicated that.
Mike Klis thinks the Denver Broncos will pick twice on day two of the 2026 NFL Draft
Mike Klis very plainly says that he would be 'surprised' if the Broncos did not pick twice on day two of the 2026 NFL Draft:
I’d be surprised if GM George Paton doesn’t wind up with a second draft pick tonight. #Broncos currently have a low 2nd (62 overall) and nothing else. Two fairly high 4th round picks (108, 111) could help fill 3d round hole.
— MikeKlis9NEWS (@mikeklis9news) April 24, 2026
As Klis indicates above, the Broncos could be primed to move up into Round 3 of the NFL Draft. Given the Broncos two fourth-round picks, there may be a chance that it could happen. If we use the Jimmie Johnson model of the NFL Draft Pick Value Chart, which assigns a point value to each pick, the Broncos 108th and 111th picks would be worth 78 and 72 points, respectively. Those two picks combine to add up to 150 points, which is equal to the value of the 88th pick.
Currently, the Jacksonville Jaguars own the 88th pick in this year's draft. If we take this a step further, we can glance at NFL Mock Draft Database's Consensus Big Board, which is a massive big board that takes from endless amounts of big boards and mock drafts across the NFL landscape.
Key players from this big board that are around the 88th pick include tight end Oscar Delp, running back Jonah Coleman, safety Bud Clark, and defensive lineman Gracen Halton. Now yes, there is a lot at play here that could impact the Broncos decision whether or not to trade up, but the infastructure to make it happen is there, and the possibility of a key Broncos target being somewhere in the third round is very possible.
Something as an extension to all of this that sticks out to me is the fact that Paton himself may be getting more flexible with his draft picks. Not only did the team trade multiple for Waddle, but they may have to trade more just to move up to select one player.
If this isn't an indicator that the team is fully buying into the now, I'm not sure what is. With the limited holes that the Broncos have, the team might be in a mindset that it's better to look for more roster needs and players who could contribute immediately, given the window the team finds itself in.
As, don't look now, but Bo Nix could have signed a mega-contract extension by this point next year, so this 'rookie quarterback contract' window could run out in the near future. Denver potentially trading up into the third round seems to be firmly on the table.
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