Sean Payton: 'Realistic' for Broncos to Trade Up in 2024 NFL Draft amid QB Rumors

The Denver Broncos have been a draft pick desert over the last three years amid trades for former quarterback Russell Wilson and coach Sean Payton, but Payton is not ruling out mortgaging more future picks to find Wilson's replacement.

Payton told Ian Rapoport of NFL Network it's "realistic" that the Broncos trade up in the 2024 draft to select their quarterback of the future. Denver has the No. 12 overall pick in the first round but sent its second-round selection to the New Orleans Saints last year as part of a deal for Payton.

The cost of trading up will depend on how high the Broncos want to go. New England Patriots coach Jerod Mayo admitted the No. 3 pick could still be had if the right offer comes along.

"It's the priority right now," Mayo said of using the pick. "But with that being said, you have to really be in love with the guy to take him at No. 3. So really all the options are still open for us."

Moving up to No. 3 would almost certainly cost Denver its first-round picks in 2025 and 2026, along with at least one more mid-round pick. The San Francisco 49ers traded a third-round pick along with their 2022 and 2023 first-round selections to move up from No. 12 to No. 3 in 2021. That move proved to be a bust, with Trey Lance flaming out in San Francisco after four starts.

USC's Caleb Williams, North Carolina's Drake Maye and LSU's Jayden Daniels are widely considered the three best quarterbacks in the 2024 draft class. Michigan's J.J. McCarthy is a distant fourth on most boards but is now considered a first-round lock and may find himself taken in the top 10 due to position scarcity.

The B/R Scouting Department ranks McCarthy as the 55th best player in this draft class; that's hardly a ringing endorsement as a high first-round pick.

The Broncos would arguably be better served by trading back rather than up in this draft to re-acquire some of the picks lost in recent years. Denver projects as a non-playoff team next season regardless of who is under center, and a rookie quarterback isn't going to paper over its roster flaws.