Getty Head coach Sean Payton of the Denver Broncos.
The Denver Broncos have a quarterback conundrum on their hands and they could make an aggressive trade to address it.
Head Coach Sean Payton appears to be the driving factor.
“Last week in Frisco, Texas a rumor circulating the players’ hotel at the Hyatt Regency had Broncos head coach Sean Payton looking for his new quarterback in the 2024 NFL Draft,” SportsKeeda’s Tony Pauline wrote on January 31.
“Payton wants one of the top passers- Caleb Williams, Drake Maye, or Jayden Daniels. I spoke at length about this with several people … I was able to confirm the Broncos are interested in moving up for their quarterback of the future yet such a move would come at an enormous cost and it’s very unlikely to happen.”
The Broncos still have Russell Wilson under contract. Payton, Wilson, and General Manager George Paton have yet to say the quarterback won’t return.
But, after Payton benched Wilson for the final two games the writing appears to be on the wall.
The top passers will likely be gone by the time the Broncos pick at No. 12 overall. With each of the top three teams in the draft at least considering selecting a quarterback, the Broncos might have to get aggressive to get their man.
Pauline outlines how the teams picking at the top of the draft would need a sizeable return to part with their respective coveted draft slots. He also notes where a Broncos offer would start.
“A blockbuster deal from the Denver Broncos would surely include cornerback Patrick Surtain,” Pauline wrote. “I’m told while the franchise doesn’t want to trade Surtain, they would consider moving the corner only as a last result to secure one of the top passers.”
So, which passer would it be?
Broncos HC Sean Payton: Caleb Williams a ‘Generational Player’
GettyCaleb Williams #13 of the USC Trojans.
An argument can be made for trading up to get any of Williams, Maye, or Daniels, the presumed top three quarterbacks. But we already know that Payton is very high on Williams’ ceiling and has been for some time.
“I think he’s a generational player,” Payton said on “The Herd with Colin Cowherd” in November 2022. “Especially with the relationship our league has in gaming now, at some point, we’re going to move to a lottery system in the NFL, right? Because this is a player that possibly does that where at the end of the season … clubs begin to lose to try to put themselves in that position.
“This player, I think, is the type of player that we would look back on in five years and say, ‘He’s why the lottery exists now.’”
The Broncos finished the 2023 season 8-9, losing four of their last six games.
It may not have been a tank job. Payton, Wilson, and the Broncos failed to sustain momentum just as some other teams at the top of the draft order did. But Williams is still the top quarterback prospect in this class.
Proposed Trade Sends No. 1 Pick From Bears to Broncos
GettyCornerback Pat Surtain II #2of the Denver Broncos.
The Broncos’ reluctance to part with Surtain coupled with Payton’s affinity for Williams makes the latter the ideal target in a trade for the star cornerback. We can also use last year’s trade between the Chicago Bears and Carolina Panthers as a baseline.
Chicago traded the No. 1 pick for a package including the No. 9 overall pick in 2023 from Carolina as well as the Panthers’ 2024 first-rounder (No. 1 this year), and wide receiver D.J. Moore.
The Panthers also surrendered a pair of second-round picks, one each in 2023 and 2025.
This hypothetical package including Surtain and a pair of first-round picks could secure this year’s No. 1 pick for Denver.
Broncos get:
– 2024 first-round pick (No. 1 overall)
Bears get:
– Patrick Surtain II
– 2024 first-round pick (No. 12 overall)
– 2024 third-round pick
– 2025 first-round pick
– 2025 second-round pick
The Broncos do not own their second-round pick this year after acquiring Payton from the New Orleans Saints. They get by with a third-round pick in this scenario because Surtain is three years younger than Moore.
Surtain will need a new contract after the 2024 season. The Bears might want to have it in place before making the trade given Jaylon Johnson‘s looming free agency. It’s also possible the cornerback-rich Bears value one of the Broncos’ wide receivers instead of Surtain. That would require an adjustment in the draft compensation.
Is this enough to sway the Bears? Not if they view Williams as Payton does.
But this hypothetical scenario is in line with what the Bears got for the No. 1 overall pick last year. It includes a boost for the considerably higher grade on this year’s top prospect.