The Denver Broncos do not have a first-round pick, but the trade for Jaylen Waddle makes it worth it. At the end of the day, the Broncos needed to make a move like that. The roster needed a boost on offense to thrust that unit over the edge.
For multiple seasons, and in both years of the Bo Nix era, the wide receiver play was simply not good enough. There really isn't a negative in the team trading for Waddle, but if you're an NFL Draft junkie, not having a first-round pick is definitely not ideal.
Fortunately, there is a lot of top-100 talent that the Broncos could still have their eyes on, as they pick at the 62nd selection in the second round, unless, of course, they decide to trade up. The Broncos recently hosted a top lineman prospect on a top-30 visit, but this visit could go a bit deeper when we peel back the curtain.
Denver Broncos visited with Oregon guard Emmanuel Pregnon
From Denver, the Broncos hosted Oregon guard Emmanuel Pregnon on a visit, but as Luca Evans notes, Pregnon is a late-first, early-second-round prospect, so what could this mean?
#Broncos have completed a top-30 visit with Oregon G Emmanuel Pregnon (@mikeklis9news 1st reported).
— Luca Evans (@bylucaevans) April 2, 2026
Kinda interesting. Pregnon's widely projected as Day 1/early Day 2 and is taking 30s with teams at bottom of 1st, top 2nd. Denver native but this isn't local visit. Hm.
First off, Pregnon is one of the top guard prospects in this year's draft. He's a heck of a run blocker and has a ton of collegiate experience between Oregon, Wyoming, and USC. In fact, he played 53 games in college. Sure, he'll be an older rookie, but age is less of a concern for offensive linemen than other positions.
His being a plus run blocker could be huge, as the run game is one area where the Broncos have to get better. Obviously, this could end up being bad news for Ben Powers, the current starter at left guard and a player that many thought was going to be cut or traded earlier this offseason.
At the moment, Powers is going to start for this team for the fourth year in a row. He's under contract through the 2026 season, but he missed about half the season in 2025 with a biceps injury. Alex Palczewski filled in nicely in his place.
And with the Broncos having just extended Luke Wattenberg, and both Garett Bolles and Quinn Meinerz being top-3 players at their respective positions, Powers would be the odd-man out in the event the Broncos need to shed a contract.
Mike McGlinchey plays a more valuable position than Powers, so he'd be safe for the time being. If the Broncos really did want Pregnon, they would likely have to trade up more than 20 picks to get him, but he's a plug-and-play prospect and is a long-term solution as well.
The Broncos would save some money by moving on from Powers, so this could end up being a move that benefits the Broncos in more ways than one.