Broncos 'open to everything' in draft, including trading up high to select a quarterback

ENGLEWOOD – Head coach Sean Payton said last month it would be “realistic” for the Broncos to trade up high in the draft for a quarterback. General manager George Paton has seconded that.

The quarterback-needy Broncos hold the No. 12 pick in the April 25-27 draft. However, the top three signal callers all will be long gone by then in USC’s Caleb Williams, LSU’s Jayden Daniels and North Carolina’s Drake Maye. And Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy also could then be off the board.

But would the Broncos, who didn’t have first-round picks in either of the previous two drafts, be willing to move up by trading future first-round picks?

“I would just say if it’s a player that you think can change the landscape of your organization moving forward, like quarterback, then you do whatever it takes to get him,’’ Paton said Thursday at a pre-draft news conference at the Centura Health Training Center. “If there’s consensus in the building, a love in the building, you’re aggressive and you try to get him. It doesn’t mean you’re going to get him, but you try. So we’re open to everything. We’re wide open.”

Williams is likely to be taken No. 1 by Chicago. Washington at No. 2 then could select Daniels and New England at No. 3 could take Maye. That is, unless either team is enticed by a trade. Arizona, at No. 4, doesn’t need a quarterback, but could look to swing a deal with a team that wants McCarthy.

“George, he has talked to all these teams in front of us,’’ Payton said. “Obviously (the compensation) depends on how much further you go up. Also, if there’s someone else doing the same thing. … (Moving up) certainly is a possibility and then it’s how much you can palate.”

The Broncos last month released starting quarterback Russell Wilson and incurred $52 million in dead money on the salary cap. They have not signed another quarterback yet this offseason, leaving Jarett Stidham as the fallback option to be the starter in 2024.

Stidham has four career starts in five seasons. Two came to close last season when Wilson was benched, and Payton has admitted he did not learn a great deal more about Stidham in those games.

“Do we have to draft a quarterback?’’ Payton said. “You would say, ‘Man, it sure looks like we have to draft a quarterback.’ And yet, it has to be the right fit and the right one.”

Paton agreed.

“What you don’t want to do here is force it,’’ Paton said. “Otherwise, we will be in this position next year and the years after. You want to get the right player at No. 12. Our first pick, we have to hit on, whether it’s a quarterback, whether it‘s a tackle, a receiver or you name it. We need to get an impact player.”

Paton didn’t rule out that the Broncos also could look to trade down. That scenario could come into play if they don’t trade up and the top four quarterbacks are all gone by No. 12.

The most highly rated next two quarterbacks are Oregon’s Bo Nix and Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. However, many draft analysts have them rated as late first-round or even second-round picks.

“You don’t want the huge reach,’’ Paton said of drafting a player due to need at a much higher spot than he is rated on the team’s overall draft board.

Paton was director of player personnel for the Minnesota Vikings in 2011 when they reached for a quarterback at No. 12 and took Christian Ponder, who did not work out. Then-Vikings general manager Rick Spielman later pointed the finger at himself for that pick.

After the top six quarterbacks, the next group of signal callers includes South Carolina’s Spencer Rattler, Tennessee’s Joe Milton and Tulane’s Michael Pratt. They are projected by many analysts to be third-round picks at best.

“I do think that it’s a good quarterback class,’’ Paton said. “(There are) seven, eight quarterbacks that we like (and) that we think can play in the league one day. I’m not going to get into how we have them rated or the top 10. I’m not going to go there, but it is a good quarterback class. … We think that we can take a quarterback early, we think (we can get one in) the mid-rounds. We think that there are going to be quarterbacks throughout the draft that are interesting to us.”

The Broncos do not currently have a second-round pick and their next scheduled selection after No. 12 is No. 76 in the third round. Overall, they have eight picks.

“One thing we know is that we are going to get a really good player at 12,’’ Paton said. “We’d had teams call to move up, and we’ve had teams call to move back. We have flexibility, but we know at 12, if we stand pat, we are going to get a really good player.”

Stay tuned to see whether the first player the Broncos select next Thursday is a quarterback.