Broncos trade more draft capital, this time for Sean Payton

The Denver Broncos made major headlines earlier this week when they swung a deal to acquire Sean Payton to make him their next head coach.  The team traded five draft picks for Russell Wilson last year.

This year, they traded another two for Sean Payton.  In both deals, they got a pick back, but that’s three first round picks and three second round picks as the main components of the deals.  Now, the team has a potentially lethal head coach/quarterback combination.

It’s funny because both trades have happened under General Manager George Paton, who is someone who has said on multiple occasions how much he loves draft picks.  So, what does this mean for Denver’s draft plans?

Well, they don’t have first or second round picks in the upcoming draft, which is where the main talent falls.  The obvious answer here is being active in free agency.  Trading for Wilson and Payton sends a massive signal to the rest of the NFL that the Broncos are ready to compete.

So, perhaps in a similar fashion to the Los Angeles Rams, the team has traded away significant draft capital in hopes of becoming a legitimate contender.  Because of this, we saw the Rams dabble heavy in the free agency periods.

We’ll also likely see the Broncos do the same thing.  They have needs along the offensive line, and the OL free agent class appears solid.

They could also use another body or two along the defensive front seven and perhaps someone else in the secondary.  Overall, they don’t have a ton of needs, but given their current situation with a lack of draft capital, I think we’ll see GM George Paton go heavy in the free agency period.

We saw many teams last year make major moves in free agency, and I think we’ll continue to see this trend.