On Day 2 of draft, Broncos ‘tempted’ to move up, but George Paton didn’t bite

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — George Paton is only in his second draft as a general manager, but he knows himself well. And he knew that when the first two days of the draft arrived and dozens upon dozens of picks passed before it was the Broncos’ first turn at pick 64, he would feel the gnawing, agonizing itch.

The itch to trade up and get into the draft scrum. The itch to make sure that he got his guy, Oklahoma edge rusher Nik Bonitto, a player that Paton did not think would fall all the way to the final pick of the second round.

And later, even the itch to trade up for UCLA tight end Greg Dulcich.

“We really did think about trading up for Nik, as well as Greg,” Paton said Friday night after the third round concluded.

“We were tempted, and we had a lot of conversations. And it just worked out where we didn’t have to trade up.”

Paton said that as pick No. 64 neared, there were “three or four players” that he liked for the Broncos. This, of course, is why you want to go into the draft with a solid all-around roster — so you can have positional flexibility and not have to force a pick on a player at a specific position.

“[Broncos coach Nathaniel Hackett] got to kind of see what what happens when you wait it out — we were waiting out both,” Paton said, also referring to the wait for tight end Greg Dulcich at pick No. 80 after the Broncos moved down five spots in a trade with the Houston Texans, picking up a fifth-round choice (No. 162) as part of the deal. “So it got a little tense in there.”

All was well that ended well.

And the Broncos even added a third-round pick for 2023 in their late-evening trade with the Indianapolis Colts, trading out of the No. 96 SLOT to get a choice that is nearly guaranteed to be higher.

Denver now has five draft picks for next year, and with no compensatory picks expected, there is more work to do Saturday for Paton to increase his 2023 stock.

“It was critical, and we may do that [Saturday] — try to add for next year,” Paton said.

PATON DID NOT EMERGE from Day 2 with any offensive linemen, even though Paton has spoken often of the need to develop a long-term answer at right tackle and stop the revolving door that began spinning when the team moved Orlando Franklin from right tackle to left guard after the 2013 season. But since the Broncos brought back Billy Turner after a successful three-year stint with the Packers, they didn’t need to force an offensive tackle.

And while Paton would like to get at least a cornerback and a tackle out of Saturday’s final four rounds, he will be patient.

“Corner’s obviously a premium [position]; we like the five we have, and we just signed a couple of more,” Paton said. “Definitely, we’d like to come away with a corner. Tackle, if it’s the right one. We’re not going to reach. We’re never going to reach on players. We’re always going to try to take the best player, but certainly, corners are a premium, and we’re definitely going to look.”