Former Sean Payton Rival GM Forecasts Broncos' Draft Strategy
As fans sift through the rumor mill for any hint on how the Denver Broncos might approach next week's NFL draft, picking the brain of a former NFL general manager might help predict what is to come.
Mark Dominik was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers GM from 2009 to 2013, so he knows that relinquishing premium assets to acquire key personnel is part of building a complete NFL roster. Despite the constant buzz that Broncos GM George Paton might trade one of the team's top wide receivers, Dominik believes it would be a mistake.
“I think they need to keep them,” Dominik told Troy Renck of Denver7. “I would keep them. They need to know what Russell Wilson is. I don’t need the extra pick, and I don’t think people are going to be lined up to give you high value for what you would really want in return.”
Dominik also believes that the key power brokers within the Broncos organization will be evaluating the inherent risk and reward of trusting that their players can indeed remain healthy throughout next season, especially the wide receivers, who have struggled to stay available and healthy together for the team.
“I think they are hoping, ‘Can we just get everyone healthy? Can we get KJ Hamler (torn pectoral this offseason) healthy, Tim Patrick (missed last season with a torn ACL) healthy?’ Can we get all these dudes healthy for once and go see what we actually have in this wide receiver room instead of trading some of it away and hoping to flip it out for something different? I just don’t think they will find a taker for that,” Dominik told Renck.
Subtracting from what looks like a strong positional group, on paper, is fraught with danger, and Paton is only considering it because the Broncos are so perilously low on draft collateral, in all likelihood.
The Broncos likely used the five draft picks they currently have to bolster the defensive side of the ball, according to Dominik.
“I think in the draft everything is going to be on that side of the ball,” Dominik told Renck. “You are talking their early picks (67 and 68), that’s where you are going to see it. Losing Dre’Mont Jones, whether they wanted to keep him in the end or not I can’t answer that, but I do think that was a piece of the puzzle that was very painful to let walk out the door. Just because of how powerful he is and consistently solid he is. I think you are going to look in that area of the football field and say can we find another defensive end, a nose tackle, somebody that drops in the draft.”
Dominik definitely understands a team's tricky balancing act from both sides of the equation but strongly feels that given the Broncos' drive to better protect quarterback Russell Wilson this offseason, it's about adding to the roster, rather than subtracting, at this delicate stage.
“When you look at their overall football team, they really tried to address the offensive line in free agency to get comfortable,” Dominik told Renck. “It looks like they are trying to surround him with all the talent they can.”
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