As George Paton and Sean Payton settled into their seats Friday night, a truly chaotic day of swaps behind them, Paton grinned and leaned into the mic.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, I\u2019d just like to open by congratulating Sean,\u201d the Broncos general manager said. \u201cWe had two trade-backs. We almost had three. But that was a good day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Payton\u2019s aggressiveness to leap up at any slot of the NFL draft, throughout a 17-year history, has been well-chronicled. Rarely chronicled, however, has been any documented history of moving back. But a flurry of skill-position options came and went before the Broncos\u2019 pick at No. 51 Friday night, and suddenly, Paton set about organizing chaos in a series of trade-backs to stockpile middle-round picks.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we made the first trade back,\u201d Payton said at the Broncos\u2019 post-Day 2 presser, \u201cthen George makes an announcement to the draft room that that was my first official trade-back.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought he planned it,\u201d Payton continued. \u201cBut it was actually pretty spontaneous. And so, it was \u2014 that was funny.\u201d<\/p>\n
As time ticked away on Day 2 in Green Bay, the Broncos found a partner for pick-swaps with the Carolina Panthers, ultimately moving back to No. 57. In return, they moved up 11 spots in both the third and fourth rounds, a slight bump up in a class that\u2019s been widely bemoaned for its lack of top-tier options but praised for its sheer depth.<\/p>\n
But they weren\u2019t done.<\/p>\n
In subsequent minutes, Payton and Denver dangled that No. 57 to Detroit, as the Lions pounced to move up three spots and push the Broncos down to No. 60.\u00a0And the Broncos ended up landing another prized fourth-rounder for their trouble, sending away a late-rounder in return.<\/p>\n
Deep breath. Let\u2019s recap. Denver started the evening with picks No. 51 (second round), No. 85 (third round), No. 122 (fourth round) and No. 208 (sixth round). After making a deal with Panthers and leveraging with Detroit, they ended up with No. 60 (second round), No. 74 (third round), No. 111 (fourth round), and No. 130 (fourth round).<\/p>\n
Thusly, the Broncos essentially elected to drop nine spots in the second round and jettison a sixth-rounder to move up in the third and fourth and add another fourth-rounder \u2014 a solid value that honed in at the meat of this year\u2019s draft class. They wound up taking UCF running back RJ Harvey at No. 60<\/a>, who was widely slated as more of a mid-round fit. A source confirmed to The Post that the Broncos\u2019 brass felt comfortable moving back from No. 51 knowing Harvey would be available nine picks later.<\/p>\n \u201cNow in the stretch tomorrow and in the next two rounds, there are a lot of football players that would be, as you went around the league, would have similar grades,\u201d Payton said on Thursday.<\/p>\n As the league folded up their draft rooms Friday, too, the Broncos delivered one final stroke \u2014 leveraging that additional fourth-round pick in the Lions deal to jump up to No. 101 in the third round, receiving a fourth-round pick (No. 134) in exchange for the Broncos\u2019 remaining fourth-rounders and a sixth-rounder. They swung on LSU edge Sai\u2019vion Jones, a 6-foot-5 force who gives the Broncos edge depth to a bunch clamoring for contract extensions.<\/p>\n \u201cThis guy\u2019s long, he\u2019s strong, plays with really good leverage, and then he\u2019s improving as a rusher,\u201d Paton said of Jones late Friday night.<\/p>\n In total, the Broncos walk away from Day 2 with three selections and two selections remaining on Day 3 \u2014 a fourth-round slot at No. 134 and a sixth-round pick at No. 191.<\/p>\n