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Former NFL General Manager and current writer at The Athletic Michael Lombardi appeared on the Pat McAfee show and gave us some more information about the Broncos, their quarterback search and Drew Lock.
"They've been rumored to be talking to a lot of teams about QB's. I thought they were going to make a trade last week for a QB & one of the teams backed out.
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) February 16, 2021
I think the whole conversation about Drew Lock being the guy is over"@mlombardiNFL on the #Broncos #PatMcAfeeShowLIVE pic.twitter.com/fz1q6ipCkn
The conversation started with Lombardi talking about the Raiders and the issues facing them this season. He continued on and mentioned the Broncos being a “quarterback away from being a really good team” and continued on from there.
His first nugget was that the Broncos have been rumored to be talking to a lot of teams about quarterbacks. This makes sense because they were expected to be in the quarterback market. How aggressive and how high they’re aiming at quarterback is the question, but it sure sounds like General Manager George Paton is working the phones.
The next nugget Lombardi drops is a bit of a big one. He says he thought the Broncos were going to make a trade for a quarterback last week but the other team pulled out of the talks for an unknown reason. He continues on to say he believes the Broncos will continue to be aggressive in their search for a quarterback.
Now, that’s some interesting news. The hot name on the trade market right now is Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz. However, there are reports out there saying the Broncos have no interest in Wentz, so who could they have been targeting?
No. They were not in on Wentz at all, as I've already reported...the plan remains Lock and veteran competition.
— Benjamin Allbright (@AllbrightNFL) February 16, 2021
If Deshaun Watson came available (and he is not currently) they (and about 20 other teams) would call and go from there.
Bears quarterback Nick Foles and Jaguars quarterback Gardner Minshew make sense as potential trade candidates even if they’re bit underwhelming. The Raiders Marcus Mariota is another quarterback on the market but I do not see the Raiders trading a hated division rival a potential starting quarterback. Deshaun Watson is obviously the big name everyone wants, but the Texans keep insisting they do not plan on trading him(for now) so seems unlikely that they would publicly say this while engaging in serious trade talks. So if true, this is a rather interesting rumor dropped by Lombardi.
Likely the most controversial piece of information dropped by Lombardi is him stating that “I think the whole conversation about Drew Lock being the guy is over”.
People have already picked their side on this argument or are just tired of talking about it already, but more and more keeps coming out that points to this. Pro Football Network’s Tony Pauline said he heard at the Senior Bowl that the Broncos are “not sold” and “down” on Drew Lock while also mentioning the playbook refining that needed to be done. You have the Matthew Stafford trade talks and now this. Just another piece of information out there about the Broncos looking for a quarterback and not being thrilled with Lock.
Lombardi finished off his point by stating that the Broncos(and 49ers) are both “secretly active” looking for quarterbacks.
So it will be interesting to see if anything materializes before the start of free agency and if these rumored talks that Lombardi heard start up again.
Let's say these talks were true, what quarterback would you like to see the Broncos realistically trade for?