The Denver Broncos need a quarterback to lead them into the future, that is something that all of Broncos Country can agree on. But how the team goes about making that happen leads to many questions.
As preparation for this Saturday's Senior Bowl has been ongoing, Cecil Lammey of Denver Sports tweeted this out, suggesting that executives around the league expect the Broncos to make a major move to get up higher in the draft to select a quarterback.
To get one of the elite quarterbacks in this draft, the Broncos likely need to have a pick inside the top three. Currently sitting at No. 12, they would need to come up 9-10 slots, which is so much more difficult to make happen that one would think.
So while this idea sounds fun and exciting, there are just a few issues with it.
The Broncos would have to give up a ton to make this happen
Just to move up about 10 spots or so in the draft in order to select a player like Caleb Williams, Drake Maye or Jayden Daniels, the Broncos will have to give up a massive sum of picks and players in the deal. That's just all there is to it.
All we have to do for reference is look back one year ago when the Chicago Bears held the No. 1 pick. The Carolina Panthers, apparently infatuated with Alabama's Bryce Young, traded their own first-round pick (No. 9 overall), their second-round pick, wide receiver D.J. Moore and both their first and second-round picks in the 2024 draft.
The Panthers parted with all of that just to move up eight spots in order to select Young. The Panthers then proceeded to have the worst record in the league this past season and Young was far inferior to the quarterback that was drafted after him at No. 2 overall, C.J. Stroud.
So, this is a very slippery slope.
Are the top 3 QBS that much better than what the Broncos could get by standing pat?
Williams is almost certainly going to go No. 1 overall to the Bears in this draft, leaving the likely quarterbacks that the Broncos would be moving up to get as either Maye or Daniels. Are those two players worth that much more than someone like Bo Nix?
For the Broncos to give up everything it would take to land a top-3 draft pick, there needs to be clear and obvious separation that the player they are getting is easily a better option. I have no idea how anyone can say that with confidence when it comes to either Maye or Daniels over Nix.
Nix, who will take part in the Senior Bowl, is a player who is drawing strong reviews during preparation for Saturday's game. The Broncos would have a very good shot at being able to draft him with the No. 12 overall pick and they wouldn't have to trade away anything to get him.
There needs to be a willing trade partner
In order for the Broncos to make a deal, they will need to get one of the teams in the top three to agree, obviously. The Bears are most likely not going to be interested in those talks, unless they plan to hang onto Justin Fields, so that leaves the Washington Commanders and New England Patriots.
Both of those teams could be interested in getting a king's ransom from the Broncos, but those two teams each have something in common. Both have a brand new head coach and both are in big need of the same thing the Broncos are — a franchise quarterback. So if the Broncos found one of these players who they were willing to trade so much in order to be able to draft, why wouldn't these other teams see the same qualities in those players and just draft that player for themselves?
It just seems like the Broncos making a move of this nature happen seem a but far-fetched.