On Tuesday afternoon, NFL reporter and journalist for Heavy Sports, Matt Lombardo, suggested a rather interesting trade proposal that sent Denver Broncos star cornerback Patrick Surtain ll to the Cincinnati Bengals for multiple premier draft picks.
While this would be an ideal return for Surtain ll and the Denver Broncos who are attempting to rebuild areas of their roster, this trade idea just doesn't make sense on a variety of fronts. Lombardo also went on to insinuate that Denver "desperately needs cap space" and due to their financial situation, trading Surtain ll away would be a healthy outcome for both sides. However, the Broncos currently obtain the 15th most cap space in the NFL at $17.75M, according to Over The Cap.
In 2025, the Broncos are also projected to obtain roughly $88M which places them 10th in NFL. In 2026, Denver is projected to have the second most cap space at roughly $212M. With that being said, trading Surtain ll has absolutely nothing to do with Denver's financial situation, especially considering the team is in a healthy place, all things considered. If general manager George Paton were to trade Surtain ll, and that's a big 'if', it would be revolved around the sole purpose of replenishing additional draft capital and gearing up to address other areas of need on the roster. However, this is a very unlikely scenario.
George Paton has stated numerous times during the offseason that the team is not looking to move on from Surtain ll. While this could simply be "GM talk", it just would not make any sense to move on from your best player unless it meant acquiring a top-three draft pick. In Lombardo's trade scenario, Denver would be receiving the 18th overall pick in 2024 and a 2025 first-round pick that has a high chance of being late-first due to Cincinnati's talented team. This would likely not be enough value for Denver to propel themselves into the top three picks of the 2024 or even 2025 draft.
Yes, Denver could include their current 12th overall pick in a package to move up high in the draft, however, it just isn't a likely scenario, as previously mentioned. If Denver were to trade away Surtain ll for two firsts and a mid-round pick swap but resulted in a failed trade-up, where would this leave the Broncos? Having a plethora of first-round picks is nice, but now you have arguably the worst cornerback room in the entire NFL and aren't able to select one of the top three quarterbacks in the draft.
It's an interesting trade proposal to entertain, just not a very realistic one.