Many in the scouting world think Broncos head coach Sean Payton will make a significant move up for a quarterback in the draft, according to a tweet sent out by Denver Sports Cecil Lammey a few weeks ago.
Draft insider Tony Pauline supported this claim, even mentioning that the organization might, as a last option, consider All-Pro cornerback Pat Surtain in a trade. But it seems that these rumors are untrue, or at least untimely.
While making the rounds at the Super Bowl today, head coach Sean Payton refuted these rumors, saying that they haven’t even started their draft meetings yet.
There’s been a lot of talk about the #broncos moving up for a QB, Per Payton the Broncos haven’t even started looking at QBs in the draft. That starts Monday. This is great stuff. https://t.co/6tpNcf4xpD
— James Palmer (@JamesPalmerTV) February 9, 2024
In between press conferences at the Super Bowl, Payton hurriedly spoke with Mike Klis of 9NEWS Denver this morning. He had the following to say about these rumors. The team hasn’t even started its draft meetings, he informed Klis, adding, “So everything you’ve read and heard, it starts on Monday.” When Payton appeared on the Up and Adams show this morning, he proceeded to refute these rumors.
His displeasure with the speculations and rumors that have surfaced regarding a possible trade-up is summed up in this passage from Mike Klis’s piece concerning Payton’s remarks.
“I would like you to review the first complaint, which originates from a person’s garage. My point is that I couldn’t tell you these players’ jersey numbers if you did the study on it.
When Klis questioned him further about whether the team will search in free agency for a quarterback, Payton said that Monday is when everything gets started and expressed his annoyance at the rumor’s originator.
Everything begins the next week. Thus, the procedure hasn’t even started yet. We have to respond to inquiries regarding a blogger.
James Palmer of NFL Network made an appearance on DNVR a few weeks after these claims and rumors surfaced, essentially saying the same thing as Payton. He made the same statement that Payton has made several times today in different media reports: “It is way too early for any of these things to be legitimate.” Over the previous few weeks, Benjamin Allbright of KOA has also refuted similar rumors on multiple occasions.
Does this imply that the Broncos won’t get a QB via a significant trade-up? Nope. It simply implies that any stories or rumors claiming otherwise are untrue as they haven’t begun their review procedure yet.
