Broncos Roundtable: What should Sean Payton & the Denver Broncos do in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft?

The 2024 NFL Draft is almost here.

On Thursday night, all of the rumors and speculation about what Sean Payton will do will go out the window as the Denver Broncos will make their first first-round pick since 2021.

The Broncos have the 12th pick in the first round. Should they select a player at that spot or trade up or down? Who should Denver take in the first round?

The DNVR Broncos Crew gives their final take before Thursday night.

What should the Broncos do in the first round of the draft?

Zac: Trade up for a quarterback — Get Sean Payton his quarterback.

The Broncos took a record $85 million dead cap hit to move on from Russell Wilson because he didn’t fit what Payton wants in a quarterback. That move makes it very clear how important it is for Payton to have his guy under center.

Because quarterback, especially Payton’s QB, is that important, the Broncos shouldn’t wait until their pick rolls around to take one. They need to do whatever it takes to go and get Payton’s guy.

If the quarterback that Payton loves — my guess is either Jayden Daniels or J.J. McCarthy — falls out of the top three picks, the Broncos need to trade multiple first-round picks to the Arizona Cardinals for the No. 4 pick in the draft and take their next franchise signal caller.

It won’t be cheap, but it’s necessary to get Payton his guy at the most important position in sports.

Henry: Michael Penix Jr. — I’ve said it over and over and over again, and with four days to go before the draft, I’m sticking to my guns.

Penix is a ready-made NFL quarterback. He has great accuracy, a solid arm and has succeeded wherever he’s played. I think he can play right away and there’s no reason he can’t be one of the league’s top pocket passers.

I’d take Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels over Penix, but Williams would be impossible to snag, and Daniels would cost too much. The Broncos should save their assets and take Penix at 12.

If Penix is off the board—likely because the Vikings took him at 11 or the Raiders jumped the Broncos—then take whoever has slipped down the board. Ideally that’s one of the top three receivers, but that’s unlikely. If Brock Bowers is still around, he would be a great option. Cornerback Quinyon Mitchell would be worthy of that pick, too.

RK: Trade back and acquire capital for next year — One of the biggest reasons the Broncos have been in quarterback purgatory for so long is the have never truly bottomed out. The highest pick they have had in the post-Peyton Maning era is No. 5 and if they had used it on Josh Allen, a quarterback that perfect fit John Elway’s dream prototype, we wouldn’t be here right now.

I hate to say it, but the roster has never been in a better position to bottom out than it is now. Denver’s offense is completely devoid of stars, the defense is without it’s longtime leader in Justin Simmons and, outside of Pat Surtain II, also seriously lacks star power. If Denver were to roll into next season with Jarrett Stidham as their quarterback, I’d be willing to guarantee they get a top-three pick next season, and that almost feels generous.

As tempting as it would be to go after a QB this year, those same reasons I just listed give me strong concerns about the quality of the situation that player would be coming into and the impact that could ever on their development. It’s not binary when it comes to etting the right quarterback, every single layer plays a role in it.

If Denver could get a surefire talent like Caleb Williams, they’d have to do it, but that option isn’t on the table this year. Denver should see if there is a QB-greedy team that wants to move up from behind the let them take a risk on the fourth of fifth quarterback taken while loading up on capital for next season. If they play their cards right, they just may be able to pull off a heist like the Texans did last season, giving them an immediate vault into the playoffs.