If Broncos plan is to draft Drew Lock then they better swing for the fences in free agency

Now that the NFL Combine has concluded and we all have confirmation that the defensive side of the ball is loaded in this draft class, we should be wary of John Elway the Denver Broncos head into free agency.

They were pretty high on Missouri quarterback Drew Lock prior to trading for Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco. While that might have cooled the Lock focus in Dove Valley heading into the Combine and it is doubtful anything has changed in Elway’s long-term plan for this franchise at that position. At some point, they will have to pull the trigger on another first round quarterback.

The Combine showed us all that this is a special draft class on the defensive side of the ball and could even rival the 2011 NFL Draft that featured Von Miller with the second-overall pick and Chris Harris Jr. as an undrafted nobody.

That said, I am not opposed to Elway taking another shot at the quarterback position with Drew Lock. That quarterback position is just too important not to have a franchise guy.

There is one caveat. You don’t skip out on the best defensive draft class in the first round in nearly a decade without a Plan B. In this case, the Plan B needs to be an aggressive and ‘swing for the fences’ mentality in free agency on the defensive side of the ball.

With reports surfacing this week of Ravens inside linebacker C.J. Mosley heading to free agency without a franchise tag designation and New York Giants safety Landon Collins also, the Broncos need to go big or go home here. If they could land both players and then round things out with a guy like slot cornerback Bryce Callahan from the Chicago Bears, then I would feel pretty damn good about Elway drafting Drew Lock for the future. Chris Harris Jr. would love to move outside and bringing Callahan would afford him that opportunity.

It would be an incredible free agency to land players of that caliber all in one free agent class, but it is the kind of aggressive front office play that this team would need to return to contention while using a first round pick on a player that likely won’t be ready to start until 2020.

The other question would be salary cap. Currently, the Broncos stand at $17.6 million in cap space. That number could jump to $35 million with the release of Brandon Marshall, Case Keenum, and Darian Stewart.

Sadly, after reading Mike Klis offer up his “shopping list” for the Broncos, it seems as though the focus is to target second-tier players again in 2019. I am not opposed to that either, but if that is indeed the plan then drafting a quarterback with the 10th overall pick would be beyond idiotic. If the plan is to not pay for talent, then the NFL Draft is the only place to find talent to play for as little money as possible.

I don’t write too many opinion posts anymore, but I’ll be damned if I won’t be annoyed to all hell if the Broncos go cheap in free agency and then draft Lock with the 10th overall pick.