Members of Broncos Country clamoring for one of the NFL Draft’s quarterbacks might be out of luck following general manager George Paton’s pre-draft press conference.
The most desirable quarterbacks will likely be off the board by the time the Denver Broncos are on the clock, but it doesn’t seem like trading up is a top priority for Paton.
“We have not made calls to move up,” Paton said when asked about the possibility of Denver making such a move.
With that said, it didn’t sound like Paton was completely uninterested in Justin Fields and Trey Lance, two of the draft’s quarterbacks most frequently tied to the Broncos, when prompted.
“[Lance and Fields] are different,” Paton said. “Both elite athletes. Both really strong arms. Both really talented, smart. They have all the intangibles you want in quarterbacks. You know, they’re raw a little bit but really high ceilings for both players.”
While it definitely seems like Denver won’t trade up, it’s also hard to take much away from Paton’s comments, as it wouldn’t necessarily benefit him or the Broncos to make their trade-up efforts widely known if they did exist.
The water is further muddied by the fact he was non-committal to current start Drew Lock, while still being complimentary of him.
“I don’t know about Week 1,” Paton said on the prospects of Lock entering the season as the starter. “We’re really high on Drew [Lock]. I like seeing Drew [Lock] here every morning when I come in. He’s working hard. He’s trending in the right direction. As you know he has a lot of talent. He’s becoming a better pro. But we’re still going to look at the quarterback position. I’ve said since I got here we want to bring in competition, and that’s the goal and we plan on doing that.”
No matter what angle the Broncos choose, if the quarterback position doesn’t see improved play, it’s hard to imagine them finishing outside the AFC West’s cellar.
