Matthew Stafford listed the Rams atop his destination list, but Mike Klis of 9News notes the longtime Lions quarterback approved the Broncos as a landing spot. And the teams reached the offer stage in their talks.
While the Lions ended up accepting the Rams’ offer centered around two first-round picks, they had interest in both picks and players from the Broncos. The Lions were interested in sending Stafford to Denver because of the Broncos’ No. 9 overall pick, per Klis, who adds Detroit’s new regime was also interested in some of Denver’s young offensive talents.
It is not known which of the Broncos’ rookie-contract wide receivers appealed to the Lions, but Klis adds Drew Lock surfaced in these talks. Lock is coming off a wildly inconsistent season but is attached to a second-round deal that runs through 2022. The Lions instead took back Jared Goff, which allowed them to collect more in trade compensation from the Rams due to the former No. 1 overall pick’s onerous contract, but only will add a third-round pick to their 2021 draft arsenal.
Multiple proposals emerged in the Denver-Detroit talks, but Klis tweets none of the Broncos’ pitches were on the level of the Rams’ offer. Both the Broncos and Lions have new GMs, in George Paton and Brad Holmes, and the teams would have matched up at wide receiver — where the Broncos have three first- or second-round wideouts and the Lions have Kenny Golladay and Marvin Jones on the cusp of free agency. It is unclear if Jerry Jeudy, Courtland Sutton or K.J. Hamler surfaced in these trade talks, but Paton ultimately refused to part with the batch of young talents he is inheriting.
Stafford represented an obvious QB upgrade for the Broncos, who have experienced constant issues at the game’s premier spot since Peyton Manning‘s retirement. With Deshaun Watson not being connected to Denver yet, the prospect of the Broncos fielding a Lock-led QB room again is certainly in play. Prior to John Elway‘s exit, the Broncos were believed to be targeting a veteran to compete with Lock. Paton not being tied to Lock may also point to the Broncos giving stronger consideration to using the No. 9 overall pick on a quarterback.
Go for broke
Go get Watson or Rodgers
Going to need a QB to challenge Mahomes and Herbert
Lock, Jeudy, 2 1st round draft picks ( or 3 1sts no Jeudy), 2 3rds, 2 4th, and a couple 6ths and 7ths somewhere in there.
Go get Watson.
No 5th’s?
Derek carr is also no slouch had a second consecutive season with a passer rating around 100. Broncos aren’t close to competing even with stafford line sucks and so does the defense
Lock is arguably way worse than goff although cheaper but lions saw 2 1sts as better talent than jeudy, Sutton, hamler. I still think the Rams deal actually was a huge win for them, sure it cost 2 firsts but both will likely be late 1sts early seconds. Rams under Snead have been one of the best at drafting late in drafts.
None the less I’ll definitely be watching to see how Rams translate on field.
It is nice to see that the new GM isn’t wedded to Elway’s latest bad QB pick, i.e., Drew Lock. Unfortunately the Broncos aren’t simply a quarterback away from being competitive again, thus obtaining Stafford and giving away a bunch of high round picks to do it is not something the new GM should be contemplating either.
I don’t know, the offense really looks pretty good other than the quarterback. Running back is a question mark but not exactly awful. The line is really much better and the receivers and tight ends look great.
The defense played very well last year, even with the injury issues and being on the field constantly due to the poor offense. Depending on how this draft goes, they could add a few needed pieces as well. Casey, Miller, Callahan, and Bouye should be available this next year, which will at least grant Fangio some starting experience to add in to the mix. I don’t see a reason that Denver couldn’t compete with a decent quarterback. I don’t think that they needed Stafford, but they’re solid enough (or have potential to be) to afford to pick a quarterback this year is the right person is available.
Smart not to grossly overpay. Stafford is good but not at for two first round picks and a third plus a player.
At least one of those firsts was tied to taking on Goff’s contract, not based on Staffords market value!
Basically Denver is ok finishing 5-11 or 6-10 with a crappy coach and no offensive firepower. Going to be an long couple years in Denver.