AFC Notes: Broncos, Patriots, Raiders

Broncos’ starting LG Dalton Risner tells Mike Klis that while several of his teammates won’t attend voluntary OTAs next week, he plans to be there. 

“I’ve stayed quiet through this process but yeah I’m showing up Monday,” Risner said “I’ve been at the facility all offseason and that’s important to me. I like to train with Loren Landow. That’s where I’ve trained most of my whole offseason and I want to continue training there.”

Broncos’ starting RG Graham Glasgow also said he plans on attending OTAs along with Risner and QB Drew Lock.

“I think they’re very important to young players,” Glasgow said, via Klis. “And by workouts, I’m not talking about the early workouts that you can get at a lot of places. But OTAs are very important. Do I think you need 10 OTAs? Probably not.”

The Broncos have several players with workout bonuses including LB Von Miller ($500,000), Glasgow ($100,000), Risner ($75,000) and Lock ($75,000).

Risner doesn’t seem to care too much about the bonus, saying he would be showing up regardless of the money, telling Klis: “If there wasn’t an offseason bonus it wouldn’t matter. I have a lot of work to do.” 

• ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler says a couple of executives mentioned the Broncos as a team that might be willing to move up to the Falcons’ pick at No. 4 if a quarterback they love is available. 

Patriots

Patriots’ HC Bill Belichick spoke in-depth about the draft this year and what New England has the ability to do with the No. 15 pick.

“Each draft is a little bit different, so each year’s a little different,” Belichick said, via TouchdownWire.com “But all that being said, I think at 15 we can eliminate a few players that won’t be at 15. And then you could look at couple scenarios and say, ‘Well, if these three players are there, which one would we take? If these other three different players are there, which one would you take?’ You go through that exercise and talk about that but I’d say normally something, there are fewer options at 15 than there are at 28, 30, 31, some other spots we’ve drafted from, but I’d say normally something would happen and there could very well be a player there that either you don’t expect to be there or maybe he is a couple spots, maybe at 12, 13, he’s still on the board and you really thought that he’d be gone in the top six, seven picks.”

Belichick also admitted that the team is toying with the idea of making a trade, including looking at what players the Patriots would ideally move up to draft.

“Then the question comes, do you move up and try to get that player that’s fallen a little bit? Those are kind of the scenarios you got through. Which players would you move up for to get? Which players would you not move up for that you would wait and decide whether you want to pick them at the spot you’re at and what players if certain players weren’t there and you felt the value of that pick might be the same whether you’re at 15 or a lower position… again, it’s the same thing in every round but you’re talking about the first round. I think the best thing we can do is do our homework, know the players, know the board and when we walk into the room for the final exam and see the questions on the test when it comes to our turn to pick or maybe spots in front of our pick, then we have to potentially start making some decisions. Sometimes people will come to you with opportunities that you may not have anticipated and you have to make those decisions then, as to whether or not you would want to move your selection pick up or down, depending on what the offer is and so forth. So, a lot of its fluid but there are certainly those scenarios that are worth going through as exercises to think about and to kind of prepare, I’d say, more often than not, the ones that you go through don’t happen. It’s usually something a little bit different. But, you never know. Again, it’s a good exercise.”

Raiders

• Jerry McDonald of Mercury News admits that it’s unlikely that the Raiders come away with Florida TE Kyle Pitts in the draft, considering that he could end up being a top-six pick and Las Vegas has TE Darren Waller.
• While the team still has TE Foster Moreau, McDonald doesn’t rule out the team picking up a tight end such as Pat Freiermuth or Tommy Tremble, as both could provide extra blocking for the Raiders in 2021.