The Denver Broncos still need a tight end, and a trade with Philadelphia would help them get one on Day 2.
The Denver Post submitted its final mock draft today, and Luca Evans and Parker Gabriel have the Denver Broncos trading up to get quarterback Bo Nix an elite tight end.
Their mock draft opened up with a caveat of sorts about how much GM George Paton loves his draft picks. But Paton has only held onto one first round pick in the last five draft cycles, so there’s plenty of flexibility in play here.
“I’ve probably traded too many, God darn it,” Paton joked at league meetings in March. “But I think it’s worked out.”
It definitely did just that if you like the trade for receiver Jaylen Waddle, but it also leaves a gaping hole at tight end if you don’t like Evan Engram, who’s the current choice as a receiver. The possible tell here is that the Broncos won’t even open up their facility on Day 1 of the draft, which means Denver would have to give up too much draft capital to become part of the initial action.
But the Broncos could “certainly” move up a few slots from their current selection at No. 62, as coach Sean Payton stated in his pre-draft press conference last week.
That could put the Broncos in play for tight end Eli Stowers of Vanderbilt, who has become a “darling” of the Broncos’ pre-draft media cycle, according to the writers.
The problem with getting Stowers is that he’s currently projected to start drawing interest near the end of the first round. He set a record at the combine with a 45-inch vertical, and the targets the Broncos would need to leap ahead of are the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (No. 46) and the Carolina Panthers (No. 51), with both teams needing tight ends.
The Philadelphia Eagles would be the facilitators if Stowers is still available tomorrow and the Broncos want to make a run at him, and there are ties between the two organizations to make that possible. The Broncos’ current director of pro personnel, Jordon Dizon, was a national scout for the Eagles before he took that position, so that’s the connection the Broncos would have to use.
The deal has the Broncos giving up their fourth-round pick to get a sixth-rounder from the Eagles and the chance to select Stowers, with Denver moving on from Engram once the deal is done and they can minimize the cap hit in cutting him. This trade is a bit of a long shot with a lot of moving parts and pieces, but it does make sense if those pieces fall into place and Payton wants to make a big splashy move.