Sean Payton: It looks like we need to draft a QB, but has to be right fit
The Broncos are set to pick 12th in the first round of next week's draft and much of the discussion about their plans has centered on the quarterback position.
A run on quarterbacks is expected at the very top of the round, which could leave the Broncos with a need to trade up for one or draft a player earlier than they might appear on many boards in order to ensure that they add one to the roster. The first question at a press conference with head coach Sean Payton and General Manager George Paton on Thursday focused on whether they feel it is necessary to emerge from the draft with a quarterback.
Payton agreed that the makeup of the roster leaves the position as a clear need, but both men stressed the need to answer the question correctly rather than just providing an answer.
"You’d say it sure looks like we have to draft a quarterback and yet it’s got to be the right fit, the right one," Payton said. "If we had tip sheets as to what everybody else is picking it would be easier to answer that question. And so, that’s the puzzle here.”
“What you don’t want to do is force it," Paton said. "Otherwise we’ll be in this position next year and the years after. You wanna to get the right player at 12. Our first pick, we've got to hit on. Whether it's a quarterback, whether it’s a tackle or receiver, you name it. We need to get an impact player.”
Payton said in March that he thinks it is "realistic" for the Broncos to trade up for a quarterback and it would likely be costly for the team to move high in the order, but Paton said "you do what you have to" in order to get a player you think can change the landscape.
