April 18, 2024 • 18 mins
On this episode of "Broncos Now," Sydney Jones recaps Head Coach Sean Payton and General Manager George Paton’s pre-draft press conference. Plus, Aric DiLalla joins the show to discuss his takeaways from the day, where the team stands ahead of the draft and more. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn, Stitcher or wherever you find your podcasts. Make sure to leave a rating and review.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
What's a Broncos Country. Welcome back to the Broncos podcast
network and YouTube for the latest episode of Broncos Now.
As always, I'm your host is Sidney Jones, and coming
up on today's episode, we'll hear from head coach Sean
Payton and general manager George Payton as they met the
media for their pre draft press conference. All that more
coming up on today's episode. With the NFL Draft just
(00:23):
one week away, head coach Sean Payton and a general
manager George Payton met with the media today for their
annual pre draft press conference. George Payton opened it up
today by giving an update on where the team stands
on their draft prep.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
We've been busy in meetings, just broke three weeks of
draft meetings. Have been really impressed how the draft meetings
have gone, and really the entire draft process, just to communication,
to collaboration with coaches, scouts, really the entire organization. We've
had a lot going on, a lot of players coming
and going, so it's been all hands on deck and
it's been really impressive. Just in regards to the draft.
(00:59):
We feel good with where we have eight picks. We
have the twelve pick in the draft, one thing, we
know we're going to get a really good player at twelve.
We've had we've had teams call to move up, we've
had teams call to move back. We have flexibility, but
we do know at twelve, if we stay on pat
we're going to get a really good player.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Both Sean pay and George Payton discussed the potential of
moving up in the draft and what their philosophy is
on trading the future first round picks.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
The hypothetical relative to what the compensation is is it's
it's a lot of times driven by who else is interested.
So is George, and he's he's talked to all these
teams in front of us, and obviously depending on how
much further you go up. And then it's also if
(01:46):
there's someone else doing the same thing, and so that
I think George said it best at the very beginning,
that certainly is a possibility and and uh, and then
it's how much you can pell it.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Yeah, I would just say, if it's a player you
think can change the landscape of your organization moving forward,
like a quarterback, then you do whatever you take to
get them. And there's a consensus in the building and
love in the building, and you're aggressive and you try
to get them. Doesn't mean you're going to get them,
but you try. And so we're open to everything.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
We're wide open Shaun and George. We're also asked about
their communication throughout the draft process and how they stay
focused on their vision.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
You know, we have a difference of opinion whether Shawn, myself,
myself and another coach we just watch. We just get
more information, gather more information. Typically that involves watching more
tape together. We have group studies going on throughout our
building right now. For these clusters that I talked about
to try to break a tie, we have a you know,
so I would say it never, It rarely gets to
(02:45):
draft day. These discussions. We've had so many discussions. We
spend so many hours in our draft room that we've
had most of these discussions. Our board will have been set,
so that rarely comes up. In my twenty something years, we.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
Have fun debate like we're we're playing around. I mean today,
there's called it three segments in each round, and there's
a group of players within the framework and we're discussing. Oh,
the middle of the fourth let's say these six players,
do we see and and it's not like without disagreement. Sometimes.
(03:18):
I mean, you know, he and I on on on
one position group have a haircut wager on who goes first.
But but they're right there and and so it's it's man,
this is this is you know, this is the time.
(03:38):
This process. It's interesting because I think I really like,
you know, we go through the two weeks of readings
with the scouts and the coaches, and then there's another
week and a half where we're doing exactly what George said,
we're taking a segment later today. You know, we'll be later,
let's say later in this draft. And a lot of
times when the draft engine your signing free agents, they
(04:02):
may be players that were in might be on your
sixth round stack or your seventh round stack, and then
really trying to order those relative to the funds you
have after the draft to pay them in prioritize, you know.
And so yeah, I I in my time, I would
(04:27):
agree with George. I can't ever recall like one of
those on draft day. I mean it would be during
the process where then you'd get more film out and
you're like, there's no way or you know so.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
And in other news, the Broncos off season program began
on a Monday, and Sean Paygon talked about what his
message was to the players.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
Man, the turnout was great, well, probably I'd say ninety
eight percent. In the two or three individuals that weren't here.
I've just talked with all of them, and I think
the one thing, and this is a credit to Bo
and a lot of people really, the people all involved
in the weight room and the athletic training room, the
(05:05):
people that are treating our players. You know, we had
a big goal of like how do we reduce the injuries.
I mean, shoot, the first training camp I had with
you guys, we had someone get hurt and it was like, man,
here it goes again. And I was like, you know,
I don't know that it's ever happened before. But we
went from thirty second in the league to games missed
(05:26):
by by players on your roster, to first in the
league by fewests. So we went from one hundred and
some to thirty some in one year. And I think
the simple message on Monday was that's what we're doing
right now. You know, it's not football right now. We're
getting our bodies and look, we're in the business is
(05:48):
selling you know, it's optional to be here. I think
the player today wants to be somewhere where they feel like, man,
they are getting a real good workout, they're getting the
food and all the things that go into it, the recovery,
if it's if it's a player who's coming off an injury,
they want to feel like they're getting that and compared
(06:10):
to maybe where they do where they do it in
the off season, if they feel like where they're coming
from is accomplishing more than when they get here, then
that's not good. And so the purpose for that message
with me was, hey, we're heading the right direction here, Like, look,
our job is to maximize your earning potential win games,
(06:32):
and the first step in doing that is keeping you healthy.
And so that dramatic of a turnaround in one year.
There's a ton of people that get credit for that.
And yeah, and so it began. And but I don't
want them when they pull into the parking lot feeling
like they're coming to practice, you know, it's it's April.
(06:52):
I want them to feel like they're coming to get
in shape and to take care of their bodies. And
that part of it's been good year.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Inside the Broncos Podcast studio is Broncos lead writer Eric Sala. Eric,
thanks for joining me. Finally we got some new stuff
to talk about here.
Speaker 4 (07:07):
That's right said the always eventful pre draft press conferences
in the books, and we're just a week away from
the draft.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
I know, it's crazy.
Speaker 5 (07:16):
Obviously, no specifics.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
Were shared during the pre draft press conference, but it
was still nice to hear from head coach Sean Pain
and general manager George Payann. Eric, what were some of
your biggest takeaways?
Speaker 4 (07:25):
Yeah, well, they talked a little bit about the quarterback position.
Obviously there were quite a few questions about that position.
Speaker 5 (07:33):
It's probably the.
Speaker 4 (07:34):
Biggest storyline around this team right now is what is
this team going to do in the draft at the
quarterback position? Are they gonna get somebody at twelve? Are
they going to trade up to get somebody? Are they
gonna wait till later in the draft and use the
twelfth pick or whatever pick for somebody, you know, at
another spot to kind of beef up this roster. That's
the big conversation around this team, and I think what
(07:56):
we heard from them on Thursday was similar to what
we heard at the NFL Annual Meeting, which is that
first of all move up the board is on the table.
They talked a little bit more in depth about that option,
just in terms of George Peyton saying, well, he was asked,
you know, is it tough to palate or to to
stomach giving up more first round picks after you haven't
(08:19):
had him the last two years, and he said, listen,
if that player is a franchise changing player and it's
going to change the landscape of your franchise, you do
whatever it takes to go get that guy. And so
you know, you don't know what the cost is going
to be yet. Sean Payton talked about it's all hypothetical
at this point. You look at some recent deals to
see what it might cost to go up the board,
(08:41):
and you figure out what's palatable for you to do.
But it was interesting to hear George Peyton say, you know,
if it's that guy and there's a consensus and people
love him in the building, then you go get that guy.
And so that was definitely a main takeaway for sure.
I think the other takeaway from a quarterback position is
that there's seven to eight guys that they like that
they've talked to. He didn't reveal exactly where he has
(09:04):
those guys' rings obviously, but the option seems possible for
the wrong goo is also to take a quarterback later
in the draft if they don't love one in round one,
if they don't feel like they want to go up
and get somebody they don't feel like whoever's available at
twelve still is kind of the right player for that pick.
So that was interesting from a quarterback perspective. And then
they're also kind of from a broader standpoint happy to
(09:26):
just stay put at twelve and they're going to get
a really good player there if they end up staying
at twelve, in part sid because there's going to be
a run, it feels like on quarterbacks early in the draft,
on offensive skill position players, a lot of receivers that
are being mentioned, and so you know you've heard the
Chargers talk about the fifth pick kind of being like
the first pick in the draft. It's possible a defensive
(09:48):
player doesn't come off the board until seventh or eighth.
This isn't necessarily what George Peyton talks about, but just
kind of general knowledge of what's going on. But there's
a chance with the twelfth pick you could get a
really good football player with the top you know, a
top tackle. There's some good options there if you stay
at twelve. But what George Payton did recognize is we've
(10:09):
got a hit on this pick, no matter who it is,
no matter what position. He mentioned, quarterback at a tackle,
and wide receiver. I think those are probably just the
first three positions as you go down a list on
offense rather than specifics, but always worth noting this time
of year when people do list specifics, what they say,
so he mentioned those three spots. But yeah, it's important
(10:32):
to get an impact player because you take a quarterback,
it's got to be.
Speaker 5 (10:36):
The right guy.
Speaker 4 (10:36):
You don't want to set yourself back make the wrong choice.
As George Payton said, if you don't take a quarterback,
you've got to make sure that whoever that player is
is a cornerstone of your football team so that you
keep getting better.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
Yeah, I thought it was interesting. I think it was
Sean who said this that George has talked to every
single team ahead of the Broncos in the draft. And
George even said that he's had teams call him to
move up and different teams have called him to move
back to So those things are already in the works.
Speaker 4 (11:01):
Yeah, definitely, certainly you'd expect them to do their homework right,
and I'm sure that that's what this is. Just seeing, Hey,
right now, what is it going to cost to move up?
Was what would we get if we move back a
little bit? You know, we've talked a lot about John
Payton's had a history of trading up. George Peyton is
largely at a history of trading back. So just figuring
out those two options, what does that look like for
(11:22):
this team especially? I would say, if you like a
quarterback that you think is going to be available a
little bit later, you know, does that mean you're more
open to trading down. We'll have to see kind of
how that all plays out, but they're definitely getting that intel.
You hear around the league typically that some of those conversations,
you know, they happen a little bit and then they
start to heat up around this time a week before
(11:43):
the draft, and so i'd imagine those conversations with certain teams.
We'll see if the Broncos are involved in any of those,
but they get more and more serious here over the
course of the next week, and we'll just have to
to keep our eyes peeled. Maybe you find out the Broncos, uh,
you know, trade up really high and the gleaning up
to the draft. Maybe that happens draft Day, maybe they
trade back draft Day, maybe they just stay put. Obviously
(12:06):
there's a lot of options here, and I think part
of what makes Denver exciting for this is some teams
you know they're going offense, or they're going defense, or
you know, Chicago pretty much know what they're gonna do
at number one. Right the Broncos, there's so many different
directions they can go. It makes things exciting, It makes
things interesting, and it means next week's gonna be fun.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
Yeah, it definitely is. I know there's a lot of
variables that go into it, Eric, and I know George
and Sean talked about the potential of trading future first
round picks. But realistically for this draft, what do you
think it would take to really move up? Depending on
you know, how much they move up?
Speaker 4 (12:40):
Yeah, I mean, I think in not trying to head here,
but it just it depends, you know, who's who's left.
Who are they trying to get Are they trying to
go up to two, are they trying to go up
to three, four, eight? You know, like if a quarterback
is there at seven or eight, obviously less expensive than
going up.
Speaker 5 (12:58):
To three or four would be.
Speaker 4 (12:59):
But there's there's probably a world where, you know, if
maybe getting up to four, if there's a quarterback there
that you alone want and another team isn't interested in
trading up as well, maybe it costs less than if
there's two teams or three teams all trying to get
up there. And so if you're, you know, the third
pick with New England, you're the fourth pick with Arizona,
(13:19):
those teams aren't a good spot because they can try
to have teams play off each other in terms of
what it would cost to get up there. And I
think that's when you see the really big deals is
when there's multiple teams interested. As Sean Payton said on Thursday,
that's still hypothetical right now in terms of what that costs.
Those things sometimes again they happen beforehand, and maybe it
(13:43):
does kind of feel.
Speaker 5 (13:44):
Like pre draft trades.
Speaker 4 (13:45):
Maybe those are and this is kind of anecdotal just
from what I've observed, Like you see a little bit,
maybe you see bigger deals then because someone's going all
the way up to one or two. You know, I
wonder you know, on Draft Day you're making these quick moves,
and I think it just it kind of depends who
goes two to Washington, who goes.
Speaker 5 (14:05):
Three to New England.
Speaker 4 (14:06):
That will maybe set up like what happens at four,
or you know, does somebody does a surprise player go
at two? That changes who could go at three and
how much that could cost. So still very much a
moving target. And that's why knowing what these deals have
costs in the past can help you be ready when
you're on the clock and you got to figure.
Speaker 1 (14:23):
Something out going off of that too. I know Sean
and George both talked about their communication throughout the draft
process in two and throughout those different scenarios. I mean,
they've talked about everything heading into the draft, so when
it comes down to Draft day, Draft night, they already
know what they're going to do.
Speaker 5 (14:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (14:39):
The one thing you figure out is, as George said,
Sean might say occasionally, hey, I really want this guy,
so you figure out a way to go get that player.
Speaker 5 (14:48):
And I would imagine that those.
Speaker 4 (14:50):
Conversations probably take place more in the later rounds, just
because if you're going to the first round and you know, hey,
I really want this player, that's something you can figure
out a little bit more ahead of time. It's when
you're in you know, say it's round three, right, and
you're like, oh, we really want Riley Moss.
Speaker 5 (15:04):
Let's go get him.
Speaker 4 (15:05):
That's kind of a conversation you have on the fly,
but you're not sitting there debating, Okay, do we take
this guy or this guy because you've got him graded out.
George Payton explained, they have them all in clusters, tears
within the clusters positional value in terms of you know,
you know, an edge rusher is worth a little bit
more than maybe an inside linebacker. And then you look at, hey,
(15:27):
who have we already taken in the draft. If you
have a round three quarterback, but you've already taken a
quarterback in round one, maybe you're more likely to take then,
let's say tackle in round three. So those things all
play into it. Those are all decisions that are made
ahead of time. It's really a lot of the times
just as simple as do we want to stay put
in pick or do we want to pick up more
assets in trade. That would probably be another thing to
(15:49):
watch out for us. If the Proncs do trade up
in the first round, does that make them more likely
to trade back later in the draft to get some
more picks.
Speaker 5 (15:58):
But a lot of that is just it's figured out
ahead of time.
Speaker 4 (16:00):
George Payton said, they'll spend four hours talking about a
group of players in round five, and then you get
to round five in the draft and half those players
are gone already, and so.
Speaker 5 (16:12):
It just speaks to all the preparation and this is a.
Speaker 4 (16:15):
Long process obviously, and a lot of the attention, as
they said, is on round one, but it's going to
be important for this team to hit on the later
round picks as well. And I think that's where what
you're talking about said with just being on the same
page making sure all that homework is done that comes
into play on day two and day three, I would.
Speaker 5 (16:30):
Think, yeah, definitely.
Speaker 1 (16:31):
And you know, it's like you said, there are long meetings,
months of meetings leading up to it. But I know
Sean said, you know, it's enjoyable for him. They even
joke they have a little haircut wager. I think it's
a certain player going before another guy in the draft,
So that'll be interesting. What do you think the haircut is.
Speaker 5 (16:48):
I don't know. I hope it's I hope it's not
too bad. I know, I hope not.
Speaker 4 (16:51):
Too but no, it's I think these guys you can
tell how much they love football and grinding the tape
and evaluating players. And one thing that stood out to
me was Sean was talking about evaluating quarterbacks and you
go and they say, drop your favorite play on this
board and then tell me how you would call this
in a game. And Sean was like, I just love
hearing how they call it.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
And that is interesting.
Speaker 4 (17:13):
It's like a football savant types thing where you're just
like so dialed into the nuance of how can one
person call this play versus another. You tell how much
they love it, and it makes the work a little
bit easier.
Speaker 5 (17:25):
It does well.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
I know leaving that pre draft press conference that I'm
the most excited I've been in recent years for the draft. Obviously,
of course we have a first round pick, but you know,
it goes back to what Sean said. This year's draft
is I think just more fun from a fan standpoint too,
just with you know how many quarterbacks are in this
draft and just the talent this year.
Speaker 4 (17:41):
I think, yeah, it's going to be You're right, there's
gonna be excitement. I think all the way to through
you know, ent or eleven. If the Broncos, you know,
if they end up picking at twelve, it'll be exciting
to see who they pick. But I think, you know,
after the way they phrase things both at annual meeting
and here in this pre draft press conference, I feel
like we just got to be ready for anything that
(18:02):
they could trade up at any moment, go get any player,
and it'll be exciting to see what happens.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
Well, well, looking forward to it. We're only one week out, Eric,
crazy to think about, but appreciate you joining the show.
Speaker 5 (18:14):
You got it said.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
Well, that's going to do it for this week's episode
of Broncos Now Broncos Country. Thanks so much for tuning in.
Speaker 5 (18:19):
Meet you right back here on the
Speaker 1 (18:20):
Broncos Podcast, networking and YouTube, and next week following the draft,
I'll see you all then,
What's a Broncos Country. Welcome back to the Broncos podcast
network and YouTube for the latest episode of Broncos Now.
As always, I'm your host is Sidney Jones, and coming
up on today's episode, we'll hear from head coach Sean
Payton and general manager George Payton as they met the
media for their pre draft press conference. All that more
coming up on today's episode. With the NFL Draft just
(00:23):
one week away, head coach Sean Payton and a general
manager George Payton met with the media today for their
annual pre draft press conference. George Payton opened it up
today by giving an update on where the team stands
on their draft prep.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
We've been busy in meetings, just broke three weeks of
draft meetings. Have been really impressed how the draft meetings
have gone, and really the entire draft process, just to communication,
to collaboration with coaches, scouts, really the entire organization. We've
had a lot going on, a lot of players coming
and going, so it's been all hands on deck and
it's been really impressive. Just in regards to the draft.
(00:59):
We feel good with where we have eight picks. We
have the twelve pick in the draft, one thing, we
know we're going to get a really good player at twelve.
We've had we've had teams call to move up, we've
had teams call to move back. We have flexibility, but
we do know at twelve, if we stay on pat
we're going to get a really good player.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Both Sean pay and George Payton discussed the potential of
moving up in the draft and what their philosophy is
on trading the future first round picks.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
The hypothetical relative to what the compensation is is it's
it's a lot of times driven by who else is interested.
So is George, and he's he's talked to all these
teams in front of us, and obviously depending on how
much further you go up. And then it's also if
(01:46):
there's someone else doing the same thing, and so that
I think George said it best at the very beginning,
that certainly is a possibility and and uh, and then
it's how much you can pell it.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Yeah, I would just say, if it's a player you
think can change the landscape of your organization moving forward,
like a quarterback, then you do whatever you take to
get them. And there's a consensus in the building and
love in the building, and you're aggressive and you try
to get them. Doesn't mean you're going to get them,
but you try. And so we're open to everything.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
We're wide open Shaun and George. We're also asked about
their communication throughout the draft process and how they stay
focused on their vision.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
You know, we have a difference of opinion whether Shawn, myself,
myself and another coach we just watch. We just get
more information, gather more information. Typically that involves watching more
tape together. We have group studies going on throughout our
building right now. For these clusters that I talked about
to try to break a tie, we have a you know,
so I would say it never, It rarely gets to
(02:45):
draft day. These discussions. We've had so many discussions. We
spend so many hours in our draft room that we've
had most of these discussions. Our board will have been set,
so that rarely comes up. In my twenty something years, we.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
Have fun debate like we're we're playing around. I mean today,
there's called it three segments in each round, and there's
a group of players within the framework and we're discussing. Oh,
the middle of the fourth let's say these six players,
do we see and and it's not like without disagreement. Sometimes.
(03:18):
I mean, you know, he and I on on on
one position group have a haircut wager on who goes first.
But but they're right there and and so it's it's man,
this is this is you know, this is the time.
(03:38):
This process. It's interesting because I think I really like,
you know, we go through the two weeks of readings
with the scouts and the coaches, and then there's another
week and a half where we're doing exactly what George said,
we're taking a segment later today. You know, we'll be later,
let's say later in this draft. And a lot of
times when the draft engine your signing free agents, they
(04:02):
may be players that were in might be on your
sixth round stack or your seventh round stack, and then
really trying to order those relative to the funds you
have after the draft to pay them in prioritize, you know.
And so yeah, I I in my time, I would
(04:27):
agree with George. I can't ever recall like one of
those on draft day. I mean it would be during
the process where then you'd get more film out and
you're like, there's no way or you know so.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
And in other news, the Broncos off season program began
on a Monday, and Sean Paygon talked about what his
message was to the players.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
Man, the turnout was great, well, probably I'd say ninety
eight percent. In the two or three individuals that weren't here.
I've just talked with all of them, and I think
the one thing, and this is a credit to Bo
and a lot of people really, the people all involved
in the weight room and the athletic training room, the
(05:05):
people that are treating our players. You know, we had
a big goal of like how do we reduce the injuries.
I mean, shoot, the first training camp I had with
you guys, we had someone get hurt and it was like, man,
here it goes again. And I was like, you know,
I don't know that it's ever happened before. But we
went from thirty second in the league to games missed
(05:26):
by by players on your roster, to first in the
league by fewests. So we went from one hundred and
some to thirty some in one year. And I think
the simple message on Monday was that's what we're doing
right now. You know, it's not football right now. We're
getting our bodies and look, we're in the business is
(05:48):
selling you know, it's optional to be here. I think
the player today wants to be somewhere where they feel like, man,
they are getting a real good workout, they're getting the
food and all the things that go into it, the recovery,
if it's if it's a player who's coming off an injury,
they want to feel like they're getting that and compared
(06:10):
to maybe where they do where they do it in
the off season, if they feel like where they're coming
from is accomplishing more than when they get here, then
that's not good. And so the purpose for that message
with me was, hey, we're heading the right direction here, Like, look,
our job is to maximize your earning potential win games,
(06:32):
and the first step in doing that is keeping you healthy.
And so that dramatic of a turnaround in one year.
There's a ton of people that get credit for that.
And yeah, and so it began. And but I don't
want them when they pull into the parking lot feeling
like they're coming to practice, you know, it's it's April.
(06:52):
I want them to feel like they're coming to get
in shape and to take care of their bodies. And
that part of it's been good year.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Inside the Broncos Podcast studio is Broncos lead writer Eric Sala. Eric,
thanks for joining me. Finally we got some new stuff
to talk about here.
Speaker 4 (07:07):
That's right said the always eventful pre draft press conferences
in the books, and we're just a week away from
the draft.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
I know, it's crazy.
Speaker 5 (07:16):
Obviously, no specifics.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
Were shared during the pre draft press conference, but it
was still nice to hear from head coach Sean Pain
and general manager George Payann. Eric, what were some of
your biggest takeaways?
Speaker 4 (07:25):
Yeah, well, they talked a little bit about the quarterback position.
Obviously there were quite a few questions about that position.
Speaker 5 (07:33):
It's probably the.
Speaker 4 (07:34):
Biggest storyline around this team right now is what is
this team going to do in the draft at the
quarterback position? Are they gonna get somebody at twelve? Are
they going to trade up to get somebody? Are they
gonna wait till later in the draft and use the
twelfth pick or whatever pick for somebody, you know, at
another spot to kind of beef up this roster. That's
the big conversation around this team, and I think what
(07:56):
we heard from them on Thursday was similar to what
we heard at the NFL Annual Meeting, which is that
first of all move up the board is on the table.
They talked a little bit more in depth about that option,
just in terms of George Peyton saying, well, he was asked,
you know, is it tough to palate or to to
stomach giving up more first round picks after you haven't
(08:19):
had him the last two years, and he said, listen,
if that player is a franchise changing player and it's
going to change the landscape of your franchise, you do
whatever it takes to go get that guy. And so
you know, you don't know what the cost is going
to be yet. Sean Payton talked about it's all hypothetical
at this point. You look at some recent deals to
see what it might cost to go up the board,
(08:41):
and you figure out what's palatable for you to do.
But it was interesting to hear George Peyton say, you know,
if it's that guy and there's a consensus and people
love him in the building, then you go get that guy.
And so that was definitely a main takeaway for sure.
I think the other takeaway from a quarterback position is
that there's seven to eight guys that they like that
they've talked to. He didn't reveal exactly where he has
(09:04):
those guys' rings obviously, but the option seems possible for
the wrong goo is also to take a quarterback later
in the draft if they don't love one in round one,
if they don't feel like they want to go up
and get somebody they don't feel like whoever's available at
twelve still is kind of the right player for that pick.
So that was interesting from a quarterback perspective. And then
they're also kind of from a broader standpoint happy to
(09:26):
just stay put at twelve and they're going to get
a really good player there if they end up staying
at twelve, in part sid because there's going to be
a run, it feels like on quarterbacks early in the draft,
on offensive skill position players, a lot of receivers that
are being mentioned, and so you know you've heard the
Chargers talk about the fifth pick kind of being like
the first pick in the draft. It's possible a defensive
(09:48):
player doesn't come off the board until seventh or eighth.
This isn't necessarily what George Peyton talks about, but just
kind of general knowledge of what's going on. But there's
a chance with the twelfth pick you could get a
really good football player with the top you know, a
top tackle. There's some good options there if you stay
at twelve. But what George Payton did recognize is we've
(10:09):
got a hit on this pick, no matter who it is,
no matter what position. He mentioned, quarterback at a tackle,
and wide receiver. I think those are probably just the
first three positions as you go down a list on
offense rather than specifics, but always worth noting this time
of year when people do list specifics, what they say,
so he mentioned those three spots. But yeah, it's important
(10:32):
to get an impact player because you take a quarterback,
it's got to be.
Speaker 5 (10:36):
The right guy.
Speaker 4 (10:36):
You don't want to set yourself back make the wrong choice.
As George Payton said, if you don't take a quarterback,
you've got to make sure that whoever that player is
is a cornerstone of your football team so that you
keep getting better.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
Yeah, I thought it was interesting. I think it was
Sean who said this that George has talked to every
single team ahead of the Broncos in the draft. And
George even said that he's had teams call him to
move up and different teams have called him to move
back to So those things are already in the works.
Speaker 4 (11:01):
Yeah, definitely, certainly you'd expect them to do their homework right,
and I'm sure that that's what this is. Just seeing, Hey,
right now, what is it going to cost to move up?
Was what would we get if we move back a
little bit? You know, we've talked a lot about John
Payton's had a history of trading up. George Peyton is
largely at a history of trading back. So just figuring
out those two options, what does that look like for
(11:22):
this team especially? I would say, if you like a
quarterback that you think is going to be available a
little bit later, you know, does that mean you're more
open to trading down. We'll have to see kind of
how that all plays out, but they're definitely getting that intel.
You hear around the league typically that some of those conversations,
you know, they happen a little bit and then they
start to heat up around this time a week before
(11:43):
the draft, and so i'd imagine those conversations with certain teams.
We'll see if the Broncos are involved in any of those,
but they get more and more serious here over the
course of the next week, and we'll just have to
to keep our eyes peeled. Maybe you find out the Broncos, uh,
you know, trade up really high and the gleaning up
to the draft. Maybe that happens draft Day, maybe they
trade back draft Day, maybe they just stay put. Obviously
(12:06):
there's a lot of options here, and I think part
of what makes Denver exciting for this is some teams
you know they're going offense, or they're going defense, or
you know, Chicago pretty much know what they're gonna do
at number one. Right the Broncos, there's so many different
directions they can go. It makes things exciting, It makes
things interesting, and it means next week's gonna be fun.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
Yeah, it definitely is. I know there's a lot of
variables that go into it, Eric, and I know George
and Sean talked about the potential of trading future first
round picks. But realistically for this draft, what do you
think it would take to really move up? Depending on
you know, how much they move up?
Speaker 4 (12:40):
Yeah, I mean, I think in not trying to head here,
but it just it depends, you know, who's who's left.
Who are they trying to get Are they trying to
go up to two, are they trying to go up
to three, four, eight? You know, like if a quarterback
is there at seven or eight, obviously less expensive than
going up.
Speaker 5 (12:58):
To three or four would be.
Speaker 4 (12:59):
But there's there's probably a world where, you know, if
maybe getting up to four, if there's a quarterback there
that you alone want and another team isn't interested in
trading up as well, maybe it costs less than if
there's two teams or three teams all trying to get
up there. And so if you're, you know, the third
pick with New England, you're the fourth pick with Arizona,
(13:19):
those teams aren't a good spot because they can try
to have teams play off each other in terms of
what it would cost to get up there. And I
think that's when you see the really big deals is
when there's multiple teams interested. As Sean Payton said on Thursday,
that's still hypothetical right now in terms of what that costs.
Those things sometimes again they happen beforehand, and maybe it
(13:43):
does kind of feel.
Speaker 5 (13:44):
Like pre draft trades.
Speaker 4 (13:45):
Maybe those are and this is kind of anecdotal just
from what I've observed, Like you see a little bit,
maybe you see bigger deals then because someone's going all
the way up to one or two. You know, I
wonder you know, on Draft Day you're making these quick moves,
and I think it just it kind of depends who
goes two to Washington, who goes.
Speaker 5 (14:05):
Three to New England.
Speaker 4 (14:06):
That will maybe set up like what happens at four,
or you know, does somebody does a surprise player go
at two? That changes who could go at three and
how much that could cost. So still very much a
moving target. And that's why knowing what these deals have
costs in the past can help you be ready when
you're on the clock and you got to figure.
Speaker 1 (14:23):
Something out going off of that too. I know Sean
and George both talked about their communication throughout the draft
process in two and throughout those different scenarios. I mean,
they've talked about everything heading into the draft, so when
it comes down to Draft day, Draft night, they already
know what they're going to do.
Speaker 5 (14:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (14:39):
The one thing you figure out is, as George said,
Sean might say occasionally, hey, I really want this guy,
so you figure out a way to go get that player.
Speaker 5 (14:48):
And I would imagine that those.
Speaker 4 (14:50):
Conversations probably take place more in the later rounds, just
because if you're going to the first round and you know, hey,
I really want this player, that's something you can figure
out a little bit more ahead of time. It's when
you're in you know, say it's round three, right, and
you're like, oh, we really want Riley Moss.
Speaker 5 (15:04):
Let's go get him.
Speaker 4 (15:05):
That's kind of a conversation you have on the fly,
but you're not sitting there debating, Okay, do we take
this guy or this guy because you've got him graded out.
George Payton explained, they have them all in clusters, tears
within the clusters positional value in terms of you know,
you know, an edge rusher is worth a little bit
more than maybe an inside linebacker. And then you look at, hey,
(15:27):
who have we already taken in the draft. If you
have a round three quarterback, but you've already taken a
quarterback in round one, maybe you're more likely to take then,
let's say tackle in round three. So those things all
play into it. Those are all decisions that are made
ahead of time. It's really a lot of the times
just as simple as do we want to stay put
in pick or do we want to pick up more
assets in trade. That would probably be another thing to
(15:49):
watch out for us. If the Proncs do trade up
in the first round, does that make them more likely
to trade back later in the draft to get some
more picks.
Speaker 5 (15:58):
But a lot of that is just it's figured out
ahead of time.
Speaker 4 (16:00):
George Payton said, they'll spend four hours talking about a
group of players in round five, and then you get
to round five in the draft and half those players
are gone already, and so.
Speaker 5 (16:12):
It just speaks to all the preparation and this is a.
Speaker 4 (16:15):
Long process obviously, and a lot of the attention, as
they said, is on round one, but it's going to
be important for this team to hit on the later
round picks as well. And I think that's where what
you're talking about said with just being on the same
page making sure all that homework is done that comes
into play on day two and day three, I would.
Speaker 5 (16:30):
Think, yeah, definitely.
Speaker 1 (16:31):
And you know, it's like you said, there are long meetings,
months of meetings leading up to it. But I know
Sean said, you know, it's enjoyable for him. They even
joke they have a little haircut wager. I think it's
a certain player going before another guy in the draft,
So that'll be interesting. What do you think the haircut is.
Speaker 5 (16:48):
I don't know. I hope it's I hope it's not
too bad. I know, I hope not.
Speaker 4 (16:51):
Too but no, it's I think these guys you can
tell how much they love football and grinding the tape
and evaluating players. And one thing that stood out to
me was Sean was talking about evaluating quarterbacks and you
go and they say, drop your favorite play on this
board and then tell me how you would call this
in a game. And Sean was like, I just love
hearing how they call it.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
And that is interesting.
Speaker 4 (17:13):
It's like a football savant types thing where you're just
like so dialed into the nuance of how can one
person call this play versus another. You tell how much
they love it, and it makes the work a little
bit easier.
Speaker 5 (17:25):
It does well.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
I know leaving that pre draft press conference that I'm
the most excited I've been in recent years for the draft. Obviously,
of course we have a first round pick, but you know,
it goes back to what Sean said. This year's draft
is I think just more fun from a fan standpoint too,
just with you know how many quarterbacks are in this
draft and just the talent this year.
Speaker 4 (17:41):
I think, yeah, it's going to be You're right, there's
gonna be excitement. I think all the way to through
you know, ent or eleven. If the Broncos, you know,
if they end up picking at twelve, it'll be exciting
to see who they pick. But I think, you know,
after the way they phrase things both at annual meeting
and here in this pre draft press conference, I feel
like we just got to be ready for anything that
(18:02):
they could trade up at any moment, go get any player,
and it'll be exciting to see what happens.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
Well, well, looking forward to it. We're only one week out, Eric,
crazy to think about, but appreciate you joining the show.
Speaker 5 (18:14):
You got it said.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
Well, that's going to do it for this week's episode
of Broncos Now Broncos Country. Thanks so much for tuning in.
Speaker 5 (18:19):
Meet you right back here on the
Speaker 1 (18:20):
Broncos Podcast, networking and YouTube, and next week following the draft,
I'll see you all then,
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