Broncos GM pushes back against notion they'll reach for QB in NFL Draft

The Denver Broncos traded for and immediately extended Russell Wilson ahead of the 2022 campaign with the expectation that he'd be their quarterback for the present and the future. It was a big risk to take, giving an older quarterback a lengthy extension, but Wilson had been among the best quarterbacks in the NFL for a decade in Seattle. There was no reason to expect his play to suddenly fall off a cliff.

Well, that's awkward. Wilson struggled mightily in his two seasons with the Broncos leading to the team releasing him after the 2023 campaign. The Broncos now find themselves saddled with Wilson's dead cap and no clear solution at the quarterback position for the present and future.

Finding a long-term solution in the NFL Draft would be ideal, but it's hard to do that with the No. 12 pick. It's not impossible, but the high-end guys always go within the first couple of selections. What's more important than taking a quarterback in the first round is taking the right one. Forcing a pick just to get a quarterback won't end well. Broncos GM George Paton knows that.

Broncos GM assures fans he won't reach for QB

"What you don't want to do is force it," Paton said, h/t ESPN. "Otherwise we'll be in this position next year and the years after. You want to get the right player at 12. Our first pick we've got to hit on, whether it's a quarterback, whether it's a tackle, a receiver, you name it, we need to get an impact player."

The Broncos know that their first-round pick is absolutely critical. They'd love to take a quarterback, but it's more important to get the pick right than to select a quarterback. Selecting a quarterback who inevitably is not the guy will just get them right back where they started.

Paton has also said that he'll do whatever it takes to get the quarterback he believes can change his franchise.

“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, h/t ProFootballTalk. “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.”

The Broncos are willing to pay a premium price, and potentially even overpay, to get the quarterback that they want. Paton doesn't view that as a reach, since the right quarterback can "change the landscape of your organization."

The Broncos know that they can get a good player at No. 12 but they also know that quarterback is the most important position in all of sports, let alone football, and Jarrett Stidham is certainly not the answer.

They're willing to do whatever it takes to get the right quarterback, but are unwilling to reach for a quarterback they deem to not be "landscape-changing."

Paton is playing this exactly the way that he should. If the Broncos can somehow sneak into the top three and select a guy like Drake Maye and Jayden Daniels, they should do just that. Trading up only to select from the second-tier guys like J.J. McCarthy or Michael Penix Jr. just doesn't make nearly as much sense. You have to love the quarterback to reach. Barring the right quarterback becoming available, the Broncos seem more than satisfied sticking at No. 12 and addressing another need if they have to.