It’s been nearly two weeks since the 2024 NFL Draft began, and now that the dust has finally settled, we’re beginning to get some of the inside scoop on what was going on behind the scenes over the course of those three days in Detroit, Michigan.
Two of the teams whose respective draft picks have been discussed and dissected at length are the Chicago Bears and Denver Broncos. The Bears had two bites at the apple in the 1st Round, thanks to the brilliant trade Ryan Poles made with the Carolina Panthers back in March 2023. With the No. 1 pick coming from Carolina, the Bears selected Caleb Williams, which is what almost everyone on the planet expected them to do. With the 9th pick, there remained some mystery, in part because nobody was sure what the Bears intended to do. Would they trade down? Would they stand pat? Would they entertain the idea of potentially trying to move up? Plus, up until the Bears were on the clock, they were receiving calls from teams who were eager to move up in the draft.
One of those teams who were making calls were the Denver Broncos, who came into the NFL Draft with the 12th pick and a strong desire to come away with their franchise quarterback of the future. As the Bears took the clock at No. 9, now Sean Payton and the Broncos were suddenly facing the very real possibility that their guy might not be on the board when they picked at No. 12. As a result, they started working the phones.
“The Bears heard from Denver and one other team while on the clock at No. 9,” writes ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler. “It wasn’t clear at the time which player Denver was targeting in any potential trade up, or if it even had a target. But the Broncos have made clear they were all-in on Bo Nix — ‘our guy the whole way,’ as one source put it.”
How Bo Nix became a Denver Bronco
For the Chicago Bears, their decision to use the No. 9 pick on Washington Huskies wide receiver Rome Odunze came down to him being on the board and nothing else. The Bears entered the draft with the pipe dream that they’d be able to come away with both Caleb Williams AND Rome Odunze, but as Bears GM Ryan Poles put it, they believed it was a 50/50 shot that Odunze would still be there when it came time to make their second pick of the night.
Had Odunze been selected by the Los Angeles Chargers, Tennessee Titans, or the Atlanta Falcons — or anyone who traded up to secure that No. 8 pick from the Falcons — it’s very possible that Ryan Poles and the Chicago Bears would’ve not just been more receptive to taking calls for the 9th pick, but eager to move off of it to recoup draft assets that they parted ways with to bring in impactful veterans like Montez Sweat and Keenan Allen. And that may have caused a chain reaction that could’ve forced Denver to believe that they had to move up to No. 9 in order to take Bo Nix.
Instead, the Chargers and Titans both picked offensive linemen, the Giants — sandwiched between LA and Tennessee — took LSU wide receiver Malik Nabers, and Atlanta stunned everyone by taking Michael Penix Jr. with the 8th overall pick.
From there, the Vikings and Jets swapped picks at No. 10 and No. 11, allowing the Vikings to grab their desired quarterback, JJ McCarthy. The Jets were never going to select a quarterback, and they also opted not to trade back a second time.
And that, folks, is how Bo Nix became a Denver Bronco.
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