At this point, it's all just talk. As we inch closer to the 2016 NFL Draft, reports and rumors will continue to pop up suggesting Team A is talking to Team B about a trade, keeping its eye on Team C and working out a just-in-case deal with Team D, all while putting the finishing touches on evaluations for the prospects the team is likeliest to choose from should it do something so mundane, so unbelievably boring as to stay put at its original draft slot.
So, when you hear that the Denver Broncos, who somehow lost both Peyton Manning and Brock Osweiler in the months following their muscle-flexing Super Bowl 50 victory over the Carolina Panthers, are considering a trade up from the end of the first round into the mid-20s in order to select the draft's third-best quarterback, Memphis' Paxton Lynch, you should probably take it with a spoon - maybe even a cup - full of salt.
And yet, as we sit here, less than 72 hours from the start of the 2016 NFL Draft's initial stanza, that's exactly what a report is suggesting.
Per the report, general manager John Elway and company are in negotiations with the Green Bay Packers, who sit four spots ahead of the Broncs at No. 27 (remember, there are only 31 first-round selections this year because the Pats cheated or didn't cheat or who really cares anyway they've won so much we were all just glad to see them get it for once) on a potential trade up come draft day should Lynch fall.
Now, the dots here are very easy connect - almost too easy, in fact - so if that doesn't have alarm bells going off in your head, it should.
Of course Elway wants a Quarterback of the Future (future, future, future). And of course he doesn't want to go into the 2016 NFL season with Mark Sanchez and, maybe, Brian Hoyer alone atop his signal-caller depth chart, at least not without a potential Quarterback of the Future (future, future, future) also in place that he can point fans to and say, "just give it a year."
But this close to the draft, not only is there plenty of misinformation out there, just about every team, whether Team A or Team Z, is exploring its options. Some of those options will be more feasible than others. Some will be purely fantasy, meant to gauge the cost of a strange and unexpected draft outcome.
Do the Broncos like Lynch? Probably. They expended a second-round pick on a big, raw signal-caller with immense talent who needed a year (or four) to develop before taking the reins as a starter before.
They'd surely do it again, especially since Sanchez isn't, well, anyone's cup of quarterback tea.
And would the Packers and GM Ted Thompson be willing to move back, should the price prove right? Again, probably yes. More picks for Thompson means more chances at filling the holes he (again) chose not to fill in free agency. Really, though it draws its fair share of criticism, it's an intelligent team-building approach and one that has proven extremely successful for Green Bay in recent years (it does help having Aaron Rodgers as your cure-all quarterback).
It would hurt to pass on a potential impact player at 27, but if the Packers have targeted someone like Alabama's Reggie Ragland for instance, he'd probably still be there at 31, at which point they'd have their "guy," plus some extra draft ammo.
From here, the deal (or the report of negotiations) seems to pass the smell test. Is there any truth to it? Maybe (probably) not.
But hey - it's fun to talk about, at least.
