ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — George Paton applauded the effort, even if there was no way he was going to bite.
The Broncos general manager, speaking to the media Thursday ahead of next week’s NFL Draft, was asked how many quarterbacks Denver, which owns the No. 12 pick, has graded among its top dozen prospects.
“I’m not going to talk about our board,” Paton said with a grin. “I appreciate the question.”
The truth is the Broncos don’t know what they will do on April 25 when they are on the clock with a first-round pick for the first time since 2021. The team, Paton said, is in a position to draft a “really good player,” but they aren’t solely in control of who that player might be, not with so much movement set to occur before it’s their time to make a pick.
“If we had tip sheets on who everyone else is taking it would be a lot easier to answer that question,” head coach Sean Payton said.
The other teams in the league don’t need a tip sheet to know the Broncos need a quarterback. In fact, there may not be a team in the NFL with a more glaring hole at the sport’s most important position.
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Since releasing Russell Wilson in March, the Broncos have not added any other quarterback behind Jarrett Stidham, the longtime backup who has made four career starts. The Broncos have both a near- and long-term need at a position that has seen 13 different players make a start since Peyton Manning retired after the 2015 season. Payton has said it’s his responsibility and that of the team’s other decision-makers to end the constant turnover at the roster’s most critical spot.
“Look, I mean, do we have to draft a quarterback?” Payton said. “You’d say, ‘Man, it sure looks like we have to draft a quarterback.’ And, yet, it’s got to be the right fit, the right one.”
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Fit isn’t the only consideration. There has to be an actual path to selecting a quarterback the Broncos believe they could drop into their offense. In the first round, that could mean Jayden Daniels of LSU, J.J. McCarthy of Michigan, Drake Maye of North Carolina, Bo Nix of Oregon or Michael Penix Jr. of Washington. But the Broncos are far from the only team pursuing some combination of those quarterbacks. It’s not only that the teams holding the top three picks — Bears, Commanders, Patriots — have a similar need at quarterback. Teams clumped near the Broncos — Giants (No. 6), Vikings (11), Raiders (13) — could also be seeking to make a splash at the position.
“That’s what makes this year a little interesting,” Payton said.
It’s also why the biggest question surrounding the Broncos as the draft approaches is whether they are willing to make a big trade to move up the board and select the quarterback who could get them off the proverbial hamster wheel at the position. In a vacuum, surrendering future draft capital is a palatable maneuver if it cements the spot. The Bills six years ago traded two second-round picks to move up from No. 12 to No. 7, where they selected quarterback Josh Allen, and they’d gladly give up three times that haul if they were put in the same position. That’s what having a game-changing quarterback does for a team.
But Denver’s situation requires additional context. The Broncos traded two first-round picks and two second-round picks in 2022 as part of the package they sent to the Seahawks to acquire Wilson. They gave up another first-round pick and a second-round selection last year to acquire the rights to hire Payton from the Saints. The Wilson era was a flop, resulting in only 11 wins during his 30 starts across two seasons, a pain exacerbated by the missed chances to add good players to the roster the past two seasons.
Paton said that “forcing” a pick for a quarterback could leave the Broncos in a similarly tough situation next season, but he also acknowledged that they can’t allow the recent past to scare them away from making an aggressive move if the right quarterback is within reach.
“If it’s a player you think can change the landscape of your organization going forward, like a quarterback, then you do whatever it takes to get him,” Paton said. “If there’s a consensus in the building, the love in the building, you’re aggressive and you try to get him. It doesn’t mean you’re gonna get him, but you try. So we’re open to everything. We’re wide open.”
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Still, so much is out of Denver’s control. Opportunity may not match desire. The Bears are all but printing Caleb Williams jerseys at this point. New Commanders general manager Adam Peters said on Thursday the team has no plans of moving out of the No. 2 spot, where they could draft Daniels, Maye or McCarthy. The Patriots at No. 3 could be more open to move, but they also need a new quarterback. The Cardinals at No. 4 are perhaps willing to acquire picks and move out of their spot for a team coming up to get a quarterback, but Denver, which doesn’t have a second-round pick, will have competition that holds more ammunition.
The Broncos certainly aren’t framing next week’s first round as a quarterback-or-bust proposition. Paton said the team likes a number of signal-callers throughout the draft. A player like South Carolina’s Spencer Rattler could be a third-round prospect. Perhaps Tulane’s Michael Pratt or Kentucky’s Devin Leary could be options in the fourth. And Paton’s prevailing message Thursday was that Denver will be in a position to add an impactful player at the top of the draft at a premium position — tackle, cornerback, edge rusher — no matter how the board falls.
But the major question remains: Will the Broncos land one of the draft’s top quarterbacks?
Not even they know yet.
“We don’t know who is going to be there,” Paton said. “We’re going through every scenario — every scenario in the first, the third, the fourth. We don’t know, so I don’t know how anyone else knows.”
(Photo of Sean Payton and George Paton at Thursday’s pre-draft news conference: RJ Sangosti / Getty Images)
