We all know the Denver Broncos need a quarterback. All thoughts of offseason bliss were dismissed when heir to the Manning throne, Brock Osweiler, left for a big payday in Houston. Now the Broncos are left with Mark Sanchez and Trevor Siemian. Sanchez is notorious in the worst way and Siemian is a completely unknown quantity. Negotiations for San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick have evaporated and that could mean that Sanchez will be leading the way in 2016.
While Sanchez could prove to be a passable stop-gap measure, the Broncos must plan beyond next season. Peter King of the Monday Morning Quarterback offered up an intriguing draft scenario.
“It’s silly to even think, because it would take so much to move this far. The only way it makes a scintilla of sense for the Browns is if Denver parts with the expensive Von Miller,” King wrote. “I just don’t see it. But I include Denver here because I can’t see John Elway entering camp with, say, Mark Sanchez, Nick Foles and Connor Cook. Doesn’t mean it won’t happen, but it would surprise me.”
While King admits that this is far-fetched idea, there are supporting arguments. The draft class this season isn’t particularly outstanding, but it is decent, which is more than what most would say about the 2017 draft class. Sports analyst Kirk Morrison of NFL.com said that aggressive moves in the first round could come as a consequence of the L.A. Rams move from pick 15 to the No. 1 in the draft.
“I think this is a trickle-down effect. When you look at the quarterbacks left you got Connor Cook, Christian Hackenberg, Dak Prescott, Paxton Lynch these are the quarterbacks impacted by this trade that teams may now go grab them,” Morrison said. “Next year’s class, outside of Deshaun Watson, Brad Kaaya, the college ranks don’t really have a good quarterback, you need to grab one this season.”
Everyone expects Carson Wentz and Jared Goff to be drafted somewhere in the top five. Lynch seems to be the third choice and most mock drafts have him drafted before the Broncos will get a shot at him. With the Browns in possession of the second overall draft pick, and having just acquired Robert Griffin III, it’s a question of what they can get versus what the Broncos need.
When the L.A. Rams moved from 15th to first overall, they did it by giving up their first and third round picks this year and next year, along with two second-round selections this season. As King pointed out, the only conceivable way this could happen is if the Broncos parted with Von Miller, who is currently skipping OTAs. Reports are that Miller and the Broncos are having a rough time agreeing on a long-term deal, and with the Broncos yielding absolutely nothing so far this offseason, no one seems safe.
To move from the 31st to the second pick overall the Broncos would have to give up not only Miller, but everything that the Rams gave up as well. Even with Elway’s magical bargaining skills the bill would come out to Miller, their first and second round picks this year and next year along with their two third-round selections this season.
Crazy? Probably, but crazy happens every day in the NFL.