When the Denver Broncos made the fateful decision to pull the trigger on a rebuild, they were sitting on six selections in the 2024 NFL draft. For the first time since drafting Pro Bowl cornerback Patrick Surtain II in 2021, the Broncos could look forward to actually having a first-round pick.
The Broncos’ rebuild has been complicated by the punitive realities of the team’s decision to release quarterback Russell Wilson, which came with an $85 million dead-money hit to the salary cap in Year 1, which the team will split over the next two seasons. Sitting at north of $20 million above the salary cap when the offseason began, the Broncos had to work quickly to get skinny before the new league year opened in March.
That led to some unfortunate cap casualties, like Pro Bowl safety Justin Simmons. It also meant that Denver couldn’t re-sign many of its free-agent starters hitting the market, like linebacker Josey Jewell and center Lloyd Cushenberry III.
Trading Jerry Jeudy helped the Broncos get under the cap in time for the NFL deadline, clearing $13.5 million off the books, and netting two additional 2024 draft picks. That brought Denver’s grand total to eight selections in this year’s draft.
Let’s examine Denver’s 2024 draft war chest:
Round 1: Pick 12
Round 3: Pick 76
Round 4: Pick 121 (from Miami)
Round 5: Pick 136 (from Cleveland via Carolina)
Round 5: Pick 145 (from New York Jets)
Round 5: Pick 147
Round 6: Pick 203 (from Cleveland through Houston)
Round 6: Pick 207 (from San Francisco)
Conspicuously absent from Denver’s draft war chest is a second-round pick, which was dealt last year to the New Orleans Saints as part of the trade package to acquire Sean Payton’s coaching rights. Normally, I’d tell Broncos fans not to let that bother you, as Denver was absent a second-rounder last year entering the draft, but maneuvered up the board to take Pro Bowl wideout/returner Marvin Mims Jr. with pick No. 63.
However, this year, the arithmetic is skewed because of Denver’s gaping hole at quarterback. It’s fair to say that the Broncos have the worst quarterback situation in the NFL currently, with Jarrett Stidham sitting atop the depth chart and Ben DiNucci the only other signal-caller under contract.
That means that Denver’s draft capital this year has to be earmarked for a QB. Now, that could be as simple as standing pat at No. 12 overall and taking the best quarterback on the board, which could include prospects like Oregon’s Bo Nix and Washington’s Michael Penix Jr., or it could necessitate Denver being aggressive and packaging a deal to move up the board for, say, UNC’s Drake Maye or Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy.
If the Broncos have a first-round grade on either Nix or Penix, perhaps they’ll be content with staying at No. 12. If not, a trade-up will be required, which would force the Broncos to budget numerous picks from this year’s, next year’s, and possibly even 2026’s draft war chest.
Having that additional fifth- and sixth-rounder via the Jeudy trade could be a godsend, giving the Broncos more “darts” to throw at the board — to quote GM George Paton — or the means to deal and move up a little in the middle rounds if things fall a certain way and a prospect the team loves is within striking distance.
Paton’s fifth- and sixth-round resume isn’t so good since joining the Broncos front office in 2021. But if the draft really is — in the best sense — an educated game of crapshoot — then having more picks to play only increases the odds of the Broncos benefiting from the law of averages.
Time will tell. The 2024 NFL draft kicks off on Thursday, April 25.
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2024-04-06 20:17:16
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