The Denver Broncos have made some of the best trades in NFL history (or worst, depending on which seat you're sitting in) and they've also made some head-scratching moves through the years. Some trade mistakes have bigger consequences than others. Whether you're talking about giving up substantial NFL Draft capital to acquire a player or trading off a good player for draft picks, mistakes come in all shapes and sizes.
And the mistakes the Denver Broncos have made through the years include deals that didn't quite get made.
10 of the worst trade mistakes in Denver Broncos history
10. The Russell Wilson trade? (TBD)
I feel obligated to include this move on the list, even though you should put a huge asterisk next to it. The early returns on the Russell Wilson trade have not been good. The Denver Broncos were abysmal in 2022 and Wilson was obviously at the center of it all. When the Broncos traded multiple first-round picks, multiple second-round picks, and three quality players to acquire Wilson, everyone was expecting the guy to play like a franchise QB.
He did not. Fortunately for the Broncos and for Russell Wilson, the rest of this story is yet to be written. Make no mistake, this trade could end up moving to the no. 1 spot on the list in time, but I think it's way over the top and far too hyperbolic to already be labeling this the worst trade in NFL history as some people have.
But there's no doubt that the Denver Broncos gave up a ton for Russell Wilson in 2022-23. The Seattle Seahawks have really reloaded their roster thanks to those additional selections, while the Broncos have had to make due in other ways. Still, I think what leaves the worst taste in everyone's mouths about this move was the deal Wilson received last offseason before ever playing a down in Denver. Instead of waiting to see how things would go, the Broncos gave Wilson a mammoth $245 million deal, the biggest in franchise history.
If Wilson can't rebound in 2023, this will go down as probably the worst trade and subsequent contract in NFL history. Nobody wants to see that happen.
9. The super-random Dekoda Watson trade in 2016
There are very few things more frustrating than having to trade NFL draft capital for special teams help. Trading for Dekoda Watson in 2019 was a very curious move, indeed.
For some context to this move, the Denver Broncos had pried Rich Scangarello away from the San Francisco 49ers in the 2019 offseason to be their offensive coordinator. The Broncos had clearly realized their mistake in not hiring Kyle Shanahan in 2017, so they wanted whatever piece of his coaching tree they could get. After initially being declined an opportunity to poach Scangarello, the 49ers finally relented.
The Dekoda Watson trade felt very much like the Broncos were paying up for the 49ers allowing them to hire Rich Scangarello, and that may have been the case. With all due respect to Watson, who played in the NFL from 2010-19, this was a non-sensical trade from the very beginning. The Broncos sent a 5th-round pick to the 49ers for Watson, and that 5th-round pick ended up being used on linebacker Dre Greenlaw.
Now, 5th-round picks don't always work out, but that one is brutal in hindsight. Greenlaw has become one of the NFL's best linebackers while Watson didn't even make the Broncos' roster in 2019. He had only suited up for four games the year prior. It's a good thing most people don't know that the pick used to trade for Watson ended up being spent on Greenlaw.
I guess they know now.
8. Not making the Colin Kaepernick trade happen in 2016
The Denver Broncos have had so many issues with the quarterback position since Peyton Manning retired that it's easy to forget how close this team was to some really interesting alternate storylines.
The most interesting of them all is, what if Colin Kaepernick had taken over for the Super Bowl 50 champion Broncos?
Colin Kaepernick in Gary Kubiak's offense...can you imagine what that might have been like? Of course, at this point in time, it's easy for people to say that it would have gone poorly. Kaepernick's story is a controversial one at best and a divisive one at worst. He began kneeling during the national anthem in the 2016 season, causing outrage not only within the NFL community but the political community.
Say what you want about Kaepernick's political agenda, but the guy was a player on the rise after being selected in the second round of the 2011 NFL Draft out of Nevada. He helped lead the 49ers to the Super Bowl in just his second NFL season, and he was a dynamic dual-threat at the position as dual-threat players were really starting to gain traction in the NFL.
Had the Broncos acquired him and inserted him into Gary Kubiak's offense in 2016, we'll never know how different things could have been. The Broncos and 49ers had an agreement on the parameters for a trade involving Kaepernick going back to Denver. Kaepernick had reportedly visited John Elway's home on multiple occasions as the 49ers allowed him to pursue these trade opportunities.
Unfortunately, there was a hangup with Kaepernick's contract and a standoff between the Broncos, 49ers, and Kaepernick, which resulted in the 49ers calling the Broncos' bluff and keeping him.
I can't help but feel that Kaepernick would have thrived with the rest of that Denver Broncos roster, a roster that still included Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders at the time, and one of the best defenses in the league. That 2016 Denver Broncos team won nine games with Trevor Siemian at QB.
It's hard to think back on that time and not wonder what could have been.
7. Tony Scheffler traded to the Detroit Lions
The Tony Scheffler trade to the Detroit Lions represented one among a large number of huge problems Josh McDaniels had as a coach/GM in his short time with the Denver Broncos. From 2006-08, Tony Scheffler had ascended as one of the better pass-catching tight ends in the NFL. During the 2008 season, Scheffler ranked 8th in the league among tight ends with 645 receiving yards on just 40 total receptions.
When Josh McDaniels came to down in 2009, he didn't necessarily see the long-term value in Scheffler as a pass-catcher, and after letting Scheffler play out the 2009 season in Denver, he shipped him off to the Detroit Lions in a three-team deal with the Philadelphia Eagles which involved linebacker Ernie Sims going from Detroit to Philadelphia.
The Broncos got a 5th-round pick back from the Eagles in exchange for Scheffler, and that pick ended up being used on talented but troubled cornerback Perrish Cox.
It wasn't so much that the Broncos traded Scheffler, but more about what this trade represented. Josh McDaniels must have thought he replaced Scheffler in the 2009 NFL Draft by using a second-round pick on North Carolina tight end Richard Quinn, another player acquired in another one of the worst trades in Denver Broncos history.
In that trade, the Broncos acquired pick no. 64 overall as well as a fourth-round pick (no. 132 overall) in exchange for picks 79 and 84 overall. Those two picks going from the Broncos to the Steelers (64 and 132) represent a value of 310 points on the NFL Draft pick value chart while picks 79 and 84 carry a value of 365 points. The difference of 55 points there is equal to a mid-4th-round pick.
Quinn only played two seasons in Denver and finished with more tackles (10) than receptions (4).
6. The Denver Broncos trade for RB Laurence Maroney
The theme of the worst trades in Denver Broncos history will become obvious as we continue to roll along...
Josh McDaniels, everybody.
Josh McDaniels was obsessed with doing things the Patriot way in Denver while he was the team's head coach/GM, and one of his many deals to bring former Patriots to Denver was a fourth-round pick going to the Patriots in exchange for former Patriots first-round pick Laurence Maroney.
There's just one problem: Maroney wasn't any good.
By the time the Patriots were ready to give up on Maroney, it was clear that his time in the NFL was rapidly coming to a close. He was inactive for the Patriots' first game that season and subsequently was traded to Denver on September 14 in that 2010 season. He ended up playing in four games for the Broncos carrying the ball 36 times for just 74 yards (2.1 yards per carry).
What's worse is what that 4th-round pick going back to the Patriots ended up becoming. On the surface, it seems like just a harmless day three pick going to a team in a worthwhile risk for a former first-round running back, but the signs were all there for Maroney and the Broncos ended up picking at the top of every round with the 2nd-worst record in the league.
That 4th-round pick that went to the Patriots was traded by New England to Seattle. That 4th-round pick ended up being the 99th overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft, which was used to select linebacker KJ Wright.
5. Peyton Hillis traded for Brady Quinn
The Denver Broncos made a very fun selection at the back end of the 2008 NFL Draft when they took the third out of a fascinating trio of runners from Arkansas -- Peyton Hillis.
Considered a fullback coming into the NFL, Hillis shared the backfield at Arkansas with first-round picks Darren McFadden and Felix Jones, and together, the three of them were considered one of the best backfields in all of college football. Mike Shanahan's offense was always great for players like Hillis, who could excel as a runner, blocker, and receiver.
In a fun twist of fate, Hillis would actually get to play a good amount of running back in his rookie season when injuries forced him into action during a prime time game against the Cleveland Browns, in which Hillis would actually be the hero for the Broncos.
For five games in that 2008 season, Hillis would play a major role in the Broncos' offense including running for over 100 yards in a late-November win against the Jets. Unfortunately, Hillis would be placed on IR to end the 2008 season and would have to try his hand at impressing the new coaching staff led by Josh McDaniels in 2009.
Spoiler alert: He didn't.
Hillis inexplicably only received 17 touches in Josh McDaniels' first year with the Broncos. He was traded in the 2010 offseason, along with a 5th and 6th-round pick, to the Cleveland Browns in exchange for quarterback Brady Quinn. At the time, the acquisition of Quinn was at least somewhat interesting because he was a first-round pick in 2007 and might have still had something, but Peyton Hillis as a throwaway was inexcusable.
He ended up having a couple of really great seasons for the Browns, racking up over 1,600 yards from scrimmage in 2010 with 13 total touchdowns. He was voted by fans as the Madden cover athlete for the Madden 12 video game. Although he didn't repeat the success he had in 2010, Hillis certainly provided more value in the coming years than Brady Quinn did.
4. Trading Brandon Marshall to the Miami Dolphins
Another bad trade, another tip of the cap to Josh McDaniels.
By the time the 2009 season had ended, it became clear that Josh McDaniels' goal was really to eliminate any and all traces of what Mike Shanahan had built in Denver from 2006-2008 as the Broncos had multiple young players in the Pro Bowl, including the quarterback (Jay Cutler) and his top receiver (Brandon Marshall).
Brandon Marshall was initially drafted by the Denver Broncos in the 4th round of the 2006 NFL Draft out of Central Florida. Although he was an obscure pick at the time, he quickly became one of the best receivers in the NFL and the no. 1 receiver on the Denver Broncos' roster.
The Broncos had no need to trade Marshall in the 2010 offseason when McDaniels put him up for sale to the highest bidder. The team had traded away Jay Cutler for Kyle Orton, so there was not an albatross of a contract at the QB position preventing the team from paying Marshall. Off-field issues could have led to McDaniels ultimately wanting to trade Marshall, but whatever the motivation, it was misplaced.
The Broncos did get decent value for Marshall -- a 2010 second-round pick along with a 2011 second-round pick -- but once again, it was the principle of the move that didn't make any sense. The Broncos had obviously planned on drafting a quarterback in 2010, which they did (Tim Tebow). Their bridge quarterback at the time -- Kyle Orton -- had established a really strong chemistry with Marshall.
Even though the Broncos wanted to add more receivers in the NFL Draft, there was really no good reason to rid themselves of Marshall. Even though nobody is overly high on Orton as a quarterback for the Denver Broncos, I can only imagine how different the 2010 season might have been had he been able to throw to both Marshall and Brandon Lloyd, one of the greatest one-hit-wonders in the history of the franchise.
And if the Broncos had extended Brandon Marshall instead of trading him, just think about how good he could have been with Demaryius Thomas on the other side and Eric Decker in the slot...
3. Trading for Joe Flacco was a horrendous mistake
The Denver Broncos only traded a fourth-round pick to acquire Joe Flacco in the 2019 offseason, but their mistake was taking on Flacco in any capacity.
You know the feeling you had in school of absolute dread when the teacher needed a volunteer to do something, and you tried your best to not make eye contact, pleading for the teacher to call on anyone else? That was kind of the feeling among many in Broncos Country in the 2019 offseason.
There was always the possibility of acquiring Flacco, which nobody in the fan base wanted to see happen, but deep. down inside I think everyone knew it was happening. It was all too predictable for John Elway's brand at the time.
Elway himself stated at Flacco's introductory press conference that they felt Flacco was just entering his prime years. Nobody else was fooled. The Broncos sent the 113th overall pick to the Ravens for Flacco (RB Justice Hill) and although the Ravens didn't pick an All-Pro with that selection like some of the other players on this list, a guy like Tony Pollard was still on the board at that point in time.
This isn't about the draft compensation, though. This is about the Broncos taking on Flacco and his contract, which was a horrendous move at the time. The Broncos would have been better off rolling with Case Keenum for another year. Flacco had an embarrassingly low touchdown percentage of 2.3 percent in his time with the Broncos (8 games). He threw just six touchdown passes compared to five interceptions, and he had eight fumbles.
Joe Flacco is probably the worst quarterback the Broncos have had in the post-Peyton Manning era when you consider his pay grade compared to a guy like Paxton Lynch.
2. Trading up for Alphonso Smith in 2009
The Denver Broncos have made a lot of head-scratching trades throughout the team's history but I don't know if any trade is as embarrassing as the infamous Alphonso Smith trade during the 2009 NFL Draft.
Operating his first NFL Draft with the team, Josh McDaniels was full of hubris and had way too much power. He felt like he could do literally anything he want, so he did. He had already made a string of unpopular moves by this point but during the 2009 NFL Draft, he made a move that would be unanimously hated by everyone in Broncos Country.
All of a sudden, everyone watching the 2009 NFL Draft was surprised to see the Denver Broncos logo pop on the screen for the 37th overall pick. The Seattle Seahawks traded the 37th pick to the Broncos and the Broncos selected Wake Forest cornerback Alphonso Smith, only 5-foot-9 but a ballhawk, to be certain. He picked off 21 passes and had four pick-sixes in college.
Unfortunately, any excitement from selecting Smith was short-lived as the graphic revealing the terms of the trade popped up on the screen. The Broncos had acquired the 37th overall pick from Seattle in exchange for a 2010 first-round pick.
Come again?
The Broncos traded a 2010 first-round pick for the 37th overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft. That 2010 draft pick ended up being the 14th overall pick, which the Seahawks used on star safety Earl Thomas.
Even though the Broncos already had an additional first-round pick in 2010 thanks to the trade we're going to talk about next on this list, it was still a foolish use of draft resources. You're taking a loss even if you win the Super Bowl in that instance. It's not a good trade no matter what way you slice it and the Seahawks' GM at the time (Tim Ruskell) probably couldn't say yes fast enough.
What's worse? McDaniels would grow impatient with Smith after just one season. He traded him to the Detroit Lions in 2010 for a 6th-round pick and TE Dan Gronkowski. Now, we can't say that McDaniels was obsessed with Rob Gronkowski from his time in New England just yet. Gronk wasn't even drafted by the Patriots until 2010 so his NFL career was not even underway by the time of this trade. But perhaps McDaniels saw that his old boss drafted Gronk and felt like he needed to get a piece of that family as well.
1. Trading Jay Cutler to the Bears in 2009
There can be no other trade in this slot for the time being. The Denver Broncos trading away Jay Cutler in the 2009 offseason is still the dumbest trade in franchise history, and that obviously includes a list in which they traded a 2010 first-round pick for the 37th overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft.
Josh McDaniels was a horrendous GM, for the most part. He made some decent draft picks in two years with the Broncos and brought on players like Brian Dawkins, but he was horrible. It's part of the reason why some consider him the worst head coach in franchise history, even over Nathaniel Hackett. The reality is, McDaniels was a better coach than Hackett, but he was a horrible leader and a horrible general manager. He embarrassed the franchise.
When McDaniels was hired in 2009, he had one job -- take a team that had been on the cusp for three straight seasons and push them over the top. The Broncos had a good offense, and offense was McDaniels' specialty. Jay Cutler had just made his first Pro Bowl in 2008, but McDaniels' first order of business in Denver was not to get Jay Cutler excited to work with him, it was to sit him down and verbally undress him, taking such an aggressive measure to start a conflict that Cutler would demand a trade.
Which McDaniels was seemingly happy to accommodate. McDaniels did the unthinkable and put Jay Cutler up for sale that offseason. I'm still shocked to this day that Pat Bowlen didn't step in, but Bowlen chose McDaniels over Cutler at the time, and that's the reality of things. McDaniels sent Cutler to the Chicago Bears for a really nice haul of picks, which included first-round picks in 2009 and 2010. It also included quarterback Kyle Orton coming back to Denver.
It was misery. Everyone was excited to see what McDaniels could do with the promising weapons Denver had on offense. He had obviously done tremendous work in New England with Tom Brady and company. Now you bring the NFL's next wunderkind offensive mind -- just like Mike Shanahan once was -- and give him a bunch of Pro Bowl "toys".
And he blew it. He royally blew it. Cutler didn't go on to have a Hall of Fame career or anything, but it's once again the principle of the matter. McDaniels traded away a franchise quarterback just to prove he was the man in charge of the operation. It was a dumb decision then, and it looks worse with every passing year. It will take a colossal failure from Russell Wilson to replace this as the worst trade gaffe in Denver Broncos history, at least in my eyes.