Broncos' 2024 Draft Class Ranks Top 3 in Crucial Metric

It turns out, the Denver Broncos knew what they were doing over NFL draft weekend.

Oregon wide receiver Troy Franklin celebrates a touchdown as the No. 6 Oregon Ducks host the USC / Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA

One advantage to draft picks in today's NFL is that they're on cost-controlled contracts. The rookie pay scale, first implemented in the league's 2011 Collective Bargaining Agreement with the NFLPA, addressed concerns about draft picks getting massive contracts before they even took a snap in the NFL.

Because of this, draft picks who turn into quality players will return a lot in value, relative to the amount of money they earn. This is particularly important when it comes to managing the salary cap.

Over The Cap's Jason Fitzgerald evaluated every team's 2024 draft haul based on the amount of cap space the picks will account for and how much value each team got in return for its draft haul.

The Denver Broncos' seven draft picks are expected to account for an average salary per year of about $11.6 million and account for about $8.9 million in cap space.

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Keep in mind that the cap space the players account for isn't necessarily a big deal at this point. Since the top 51 cutoff rule is in effect, once a draft pick signs his deal, a player with a smaller cap hit will not count toward the cap.

That will change once 53-man rosters and practice squads are set prior to the regular season. However, by that point, the Broncos may have moved on from some players with a higher cap hit, whether through a cut or trade.

Fitzgerald also examined the value teams could expect to get in return for their draft picks relative to what veterans at each position often get. The Broncos are projected to get about $51.5M in value from the seven draft picks. That's a good return on an expected APY salary of $11.6M.

The Broncos also added a lot of value to the team because of the positions they drafted. Denver got 68.6% in added value, which ranks third among all NFL teams.

Of course, the drafting of Bo Nix boosts that value. Quarterbacks on the rookie pay scale are much cheaper than even average veteran starters.

So Fitzgerald looked at the added value when removing the quarterback from the equation. The Broncos still ranked high, fourth among NFL teams with 17.5% added value.

Along with Nix, the Broncos drafted a wide receiver (Troy Franklin) and cornerback (Kris Abrams-Draine). Both are premium positions and the Broncos got both on Day 3 of the draft.

What Fitzgerald's analysis shows is how important draft picks are in rounding out the roster, thanks to the cost-controlled contracts. That's important as teams have to figure out how the final roster will look like and, in some cases, may make a difficult decision to part ways with a veteran.

We'll look more at the veterans who could be at risk of being traded or cut at some point before the regular season starts in another installment.

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