Brandon Lloyd to St. Louis Rams: Why Broncos Were Dumb to Deal Stud WR

Let me get this straight: you're a team trying to break in a young quarterback who will clearly need all the help he can get, so the first move you make after naming that young quarter the starter is to trade away his top receiver. Does that make sense to anyone else?

Well, that's exactly what the Denver Broncos did today, as they will reportedly send Brandon Lloyd to the St. Louis Rams. Newly-minted starting quarterback Tim Tebow's job just got immeasurably more difficult. 

The Broncos just took away what would have been Tebow's top target. While Lloyd has never been a model citizen, he did catch 77 passes for 1,448 yards and 11 touchdowns last season. This year, he has 19 catches for 283 yards, despite only playing in four games. 

What are the Broncos doing?

Yes, Eric Decker has emerged as a nice piece in the passing game this year, and Eddie Royal can also be a solid complementary receiver. But neither of those guys is a No. 1 wideout who will scare defenses on his own. And while it's way too early to toss the "bust" label around, Demaryius Thomas has not cashed in on his enormous potential or shown that he will even approach doing so.

So, what is the plan here? 

Broncos management turned the reins of the franchise over to Tebow, then essentially made his job 10 times harder. Do they want him to fail?

Yes, Lloyd will be a free agent at the end of the year, but the remainder of this season will be crucial for Tebow's development, and he will need help to prove that he is Denver's quarterback for the future. Lloyd would have provided that.

I really just don't see the wisdom in this move at this point of Tebow's development. The Florida product has shown that he is not an accurate passer, which means he'll need incredibly athletic receivers who can go up, down and sideways to get to his passes. Lloyd has proven he can do that much better than the rest of Denver's receiving corps. 

I just find this move at this time being incredibly counter-productive for the Broncos.