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Going into the 2025 NFL, Denver Broncos general manager George Paton had made three draft-day trades involving picks in each of the 2024, 2023 and 2022 drafts. That trend continued -- and increased -- last week as Paton ended up making four trades during the 2025 draft.
The Broncos moved down twice in the second round and ended up selecting running back RJ Harvey. In a post-Day 2 press conference, Paton teasingly congratulated coach Sean Payton for agreeing to trade down.
“I’d like to open by congratulating Sean for his first trade back since 2006," Paton said, drawing laughs. "We had two trade backs, and we almost had three, but that was a good day. Happy to take your questions."
Paton admitted it was a risk to move back twice with hopes of Harvey still being on the board when they went back on the clock.
“It’s always a risk when you trade back," the GM said. "We felt good about the teams behind us — maybe they already took a back or it wasn’t a big need; it wasn’t their top need. So we took the risk. We didn’t want to lose him, obviously. But we felt like moving back would set the tone for the day, would give us flexibility to do what we want to do for the day, and it did.
"Harvey — [he] was kind of our pet cat throughout the process. His running style, he’s dynamic, really good vision, really good instincts, really good contact balance, highly explosive. We thought maybe he had the best vision in the draft. You see the plus-10s, I think he leads everyone with plus-10 runs. Home run ability… We feel like he can improve in the pass game. He wasn’t featured there, but we really liked this back.”
In exchange for lower picks in the second and seventh rounds, the Broncos received higher picks in the third and fourth rounds from the Carolina Panthers. After that, Denver moved down again, giving a higher second-round pick (via Carolina) to the Detroit Lions in exchange for a lower second-round pick and an extra third-round pick.
Denver used that second-round choice from the Lions to select Harvey.
"You sit there and each of those teams in between were rock solid at running back," Payton said. "The risk you run isn’t necessarily with the in-between teams, it’s the potential team that may come in between. It certainly paid off.”
After acquiring extra draft capital, the Broncos traded back into the third round to select defensive lineman Sai'vion Jones. Denver sent two fourth-round picks and a sixth-round pick to the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for a third-round selection (Jones) and a lower fourth-round pick.
The Broncos later traded again in the sixth round, sending a sixth-round selection to the Houston Texans in exchange for sixth- and seventh-round picks.
"t was important for us to move up in both the rounds [on Day 2]. We moved back a little bit [in the second round] and moved up in the third and [gained more] in the fourth because we’re looking ahead. We want to get back.
"There were three players we wanted today, so it was really important, and we talked about it all week. There were four players we wanted in the first two days. We didn’t get all the players, but pretty close. They happen on the clock, but the framework happens before in a lot of these trades, especially with Carolina.”
Payton was asked about his reaction to Paton wheeling and dealing picks during the draft.
“Well, we had a moment here, I thought it was planned," Payton said. "We felt there was a good middle part of this draft that was consistent, meaning the second round or the third round, you’re going to find good players even into the fourth. So when we made the first trade back, [and] then George makes an announcement to the draft room that that was my first official trade back, and I thought he planned it, but it was actually pretty spontaneous. So that was funny. I was glad we were able to do it. I think finding the sweet spot of the draft, we talked about it last night, and trying to maximize being in that field, if you will.
"Sometimes it’s easier to do and then sometimes it’s more difficult to do. Clearly, Day 1 was everyone wanting to move back. There weren’t a lot of teams wanting to move up. Today there were a lot of trades, and you study the playoff teams that have 10 picks, they aren’t probably going to pick 10 players, so there’s a lot that goes into it. He was fantastic. We just kept looking at the targeted [players], you have to have more than just four targeted players obviously, but there’s a vision and a makeup mindset. You guys will have a chance to, if you haven’t already, talk with them and that permeates this first two days.”
The Broncos did not trade any 2026 picks during this year's draft, and the team currently holds six selections for next year's draft. As we've seen, though, that number is subject to change with trades.
Related: These 25 celebrities are Broncos fans.
This article originally appeared on Broncos Wire: NFL draft: Broncos GM George Paton explains team's 4 trades
Continue reading...
The Broncos moved down twice in the second round and ended up selecting running back RJ Harvey. In a post-Day 2 press conference, Paton teasingly congratulated coach Sean Payton for agreeing to trade down.
“I’d like to open by congratulating Sean for his first trade back since 2006," Paton said, drawing laughs. "We had two trade backs, and we almost had three, but that was a good day. Happy to take your questions."
Paton admitted it was a risk to move back twice with hopes of Harvey still being on the board when they went back on the clock.
“It’s always a risk when you trade back," the GM said. "We felt good about the teams behind us — maybe they already took a back or it wasn’t a big need; it wasn’t their top need. So we took the risk. We didn’t want to lose him, obviously. But we felt like moving back would set the tone for the day, would give us flexibility to do what we want to do for the day, and it did.
"Harvey — [he] was kind of our pet cat throughout the process. His running style, he’s dynamic, really good vision, really good instincts, really good contact balance, highly explosive. We thought maybe he had the best vision in the draft. You see the plus-10s, I think he leads everyone with plus-10 runs. Home run ability… We feel like he can improve in the pass game. He wasn’t featured there, but we really liked this back.”
In exchange for lower picks in the second and seventh rounds, the Broncos received higher picks in the third and fourth rounds from the Carolina Panthers. After that, Denver moved down again, giving a higher second-round pick (via Carolina) to the Detroit Lions in exchange for a lower second-round pick and an extra third-round pick.
Denver used that second-round choice from the Lions to select Harvey.
"You sit there and each of those teams in between were rock solid at running back," Payton said. "The risk you run isn’t necessarily with the in-between teams, it’s the potential team that may come in between. It certainly paid off.”
After acquiring extra draft capital, the Broncos traded back into the third round to select defensive lineman Sai'vion Jones. Denver sent two fourth-round picks and a sixth-round pick to the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for a third-round selection (Jones) and a lower fourth-round pick.
The Broncos later traded again in the sixth round, sending a sixth-round selection to the Houston Texans in exchange for sixth- and seventh-round picks.
"t was important for us to move up in both the rounds [on Day 2]. We moved back a little bit [in the second round] and moved up in the third and [gained more] in the fourth because we’re looking ahead. We want to get back.
"There were three players we wanted today, so it was really important, and we talked about it all week. There were four players we wanted in the first two days. We didn’t get all the players, but pretty close. They happen on the clock, but the framework happens before in a lot of these trades, especially with Carolina.”
Payton was asked about his reaction to Paton wheeling and dealing picks during the draft.
“Well, we had a moment here, I thought it was planned," Payton said. "We felt there was a good middle part of this draft that was consistent, meaning the second round or the third round, you’re going to find good players even into the fourth. So when we made the first trade back, [and] then George makes an announcement to the draft room that that was my first official trade back, and I thought he planned it, but it was actually pretty spontaneous. So that was funny. I was glad we were able to do it. I think finding the sweet spot of the draft, we talked about it last night, and trying to maximize being in that field, if you will.
"Sometimes it’s easier to do and then sometimes it’s more difficult to do. Clearly, Day 1 was everyone wanting to move back. There weren’t a lot of teams wanting to move up. Today there were a lot of trades, and you study the playoff teams that have 10 picks, they aren’t probably going to pick 10 players, so there’s a lot that goes into it. He was fantastic. We just kept looking at the targeted [players], you have to have more than just four targeted players obviously, but there’s a vision and a makeup mindset. You guys will have a chance to, if you haven’t already, talk with them and that permeates this first two days.”
The Broncos did not trade any 2026 picks during this year's draft, and the team currently holds six selections for next year's draft. As we've seen, though, that number is subject to change with trades.
Related: These 25 celebrities are Broncos fans.
This article originally appeared on Broncos Wire: NFL draft: Broncos GM George Paton explains team's 4 trades
Continue reading...
