We now know where the Broncos will select in the NFL Draft

The Chicago Bears are on the clock.

With Sunday’s slate finished, the regular season is over and for most teams, it’s now the offseason. The order atop the NFL Draft was set with the final results of Week 18, including where the Denver Broncos will select. Of help to where the Broncos are picking was their 27-14 loss to Las Vegas, because the Raiders will now pick behind their AFC West foes.

At 8-9 and because of tiebreakers, Denver will select No. 12 in this spring’s rookie pool. It’ll be the Broncos first first-round selection since taking Pat Surtain II in 2021. Denver traded their own picks in 2022 and 2023 to Seattle for quarterback Russell Wilson and then dealt a 2023 first-rounder acquired in the Bradley Chubb trade for Sean Payton. Now No. 12 may be used on a new QB1 as it’s widely expected Denver will move on from Wilson, whom they’ve already benched.

The Bears have an interesting choice of keeping mildly successful starter Justin Fields and trading their first overall pick for the second straight year or keeping it and going with Caleb Williams or Drake Maye. Unless Denver pulls a blockbuster, they’re not going to get one of this year’s top gunslingers. But Heisman winner Jayden Daniels from LSU or National Championship Game player Michael Penix Jr. from Washington might be attainable. Pro Football Focus has Oregon’s QB Bo Nix on the board at 12 l, with Denver taking Oregon wideout Troy Franklin.

With so many needs and little cap space, the Broncos choice in this year’s draft could be a major turning point for a team that now has the second-longest playoff drought in the NFL. And we’re not even sure who will be making that pick with many rumors about Payton’s role and if general manager George Paton will stick around.

Denver has selected No. 12 in the NFL Draft three times, taking tackles Marv Montgomery and Ryan Clady and running back Knowshon Moreno. It’ll be just the third time Denver is picking within the top 12 since 2012, where they’ve taken PS2 and Chubb.

Aside from No. 12, the Broncos are slated to pick in the third and fourth rounds, twice in the fifth round and again in the seventh. Denver dealt 2024’s second in the Payton trade as well, while the third-rounder may not be Denver’s own due to separate deals with Seattle and New Orleans. Later in the draft, other Broncos picks have moved around so the official order is yet to be known or announced.