On April 28, 2022, as they passed time during the first round of the NFL Draft without a pick at their disposal, front-office executives, scouts and coaches inside the Broncos’ war room fired up some of Russell Wilson’s finest career highlights.

Denver did not have its pick at No. 9 because six weeks earlier it had been sent — along with four other selections and three veteran players — to the Seahawks in exchange for the veteran quarterback who had won a Super Bowl and made nine Pro Bowl teams during his 10 seasons in Seattle. So during a time when he otherwise would have been calling a top-10 prospect to welcome him to the franchise, general manager George Paton turned his gaze to the big screen at the front of the room as Wilson connected on deep passes, scrambled away from pass rushers and generally ignited adoring crowds with his big-play ability.

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The team sent out a video that included some of those highlights and essentially pretended that Wilson was Denver’s fictional first-round pick that night, delivering a clear message to its fan base. Yes, sitting out the meat of the draft, relegated to the sideline during one of the most-watched nights in the sport, was a bummer. But plays like these from Wilson when fall arrived were going to make the wait worth it.

With the ninth pick in the 2022 #NFLDraft, the Denver Broncos select …@DangeRussWilson 😎

— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) April 29, 2022

Fast forward to Thursday night, and it’s impossible to say exactly how Paton, new coach Sean Payton and the rest of Denver’s staff were occupying their time during the first round of the 2023 draft. Payton made it clear last week there would be no video cameras in the draft room. No insight provided into how the internal process was playing out.

“I wouldn’t use the term ‘festive,'” Payton said when asked to describe the draft-room environment. “It’s business. It’s work.”

One safe assumption: When it was time for the second first-round pick the Broncos sent to Seattle for Wilson to be made Thursday — it was No. 5 overall by virtue of Denver’s disastrous 5-12 campaign in 2022 — there weren’t any Wilson highlights playing at the front of the room. No moving pictures from anything that happened last season, in fact. The buzz and excitement of last spring has been replaced by a far more workmanlike approach for the Broncos under Payton, who has not hid his distaste for what Wilson and the rest of Denver’s offense put on tape in 2022.

“A little bit of blood on everyone’s hands,” Payton has said repeatedly since being hired by the Broncos in February.

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The first round Thursday night was another reminder of the price the Broncos paid to acquire Wilson — and Payton, for that matter — and why Denver’s best path back to the postseason is a fruitful pairing of the two. The Broncos began down the path that ended in the trade for Wilson in 2021, when Paton opted against drafting a future franchise quarterback (Justin Fields and Mac Jones were available) and instead took cornerback Pat Surtain II, who has quickly become one of the NFL’s very best at his position. With an underwhelming quarterback draft class to follow in 2022, featuring only one first-rounder in Pittsburgh’s Kenny Pickett, Paton turned onto the veteran-trade road in an attempt to fix the organization’s long-standing issue at the game’s most important position.

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One veteran, in particular, appeared to be the target at the time. The Broncos had hired Nathaniel Hackett as head coach in January 2022, and for anyone who still doubts that move was made, at least in part, as a means to entice Aaron Rodgers to request a trade out of Green Bay that would land him in Denver, there was this from Rodgers’ news conference as the new quarterback of the Jets on Wednesday: “A big reason I’m here, I have to mention, is Nathaniel Hackett.” The current Jets and former Packers offensive coordinator reunites with Rodgers after a miserable one-year detour in Denver that ended in his firing after 15 games.

In order to hire Payton as Hackett’s replacement, and thus put the quarterback the Broncos awarded with a massive contract extension last September in a better position to succeed, Denver had to give up its third first-round pick in two drafts. The No. 29 selection the Broncos acquired by trading top pass rusher Bradley Chubb to Miami in November was sent to New Orleans for the right to negotiate a contract with Payton.

The Seahawks, meanwhile, used Denver’s No. 9 pick in 2022 on Charles Cross, who has quickly established himself as a reliable starting offensive tackle. With the second-round pick received from Denver, they selected edge rusher Boye Mafe, who had three sacks as a rookie and should figure more prominently into Seattle’s defensive plans this season. On Thursday, Seattle used the No. 5 pick to take Illinois cornerback Devon Witherspoon. The Saints used their pick in the Payton trade to draft Clemson defensive lineman Bryan Bresee. The Broncos could have targeted different players with those selections, but there’s no doubt Denver’s roster would have benefited greatly from the injection of talent those players represent.

To imagine the Broncos actually making those selections, though, perhaps even targeting one of the three signal callers who came off the board in the first round Thursday, means to envision a different quarterback choice than the one Denver made — and that’s a fruitless exercise. What matters now is that Denver gets it right with Wilson. “No rearview mirror,” as Payton puts it. It begins with the work ahead for the Broncos on Friday and Saturday, when they are scheduled to make five picks: two in the third round and one each in the fourth, fifth and sixth rounds. The Broncos cannot fix all of their roster issues in one draft, particularly with the limited capital they have. But this has to be the productive start of Payton’s larger vision of how to build Denver into a championship contender.

Following the blueprint of his first draft would be a good start. When the Saints won the Super Bowl in 2009, contributions from Payton’s debut draft class in 2006 played a major role, from running back Reggie Bush (first round) and safety Roman Harper (second) to offensive guard Jahri Evans (fourth) and wide receiver Marques Colston (seventh). Giving up so much for a quarterback and coach means the Broncos have an urgency to make good with what they have left.

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Next year, Denver will have its own first-round pick for the first time since drafting Surtain in 2021. If things go the way the Broncos want them to this season, it would mean Denver won’t be using that 2024 first-rounder to pursue an answer at quarterback. It would mean Wilson rebounded under Payton, turning his career-worst 2022 season into something of an outlier. It would mean the Broncos wouldn’t be figuring out whether they should move into position to draft Caleb Williams, Drake Maye or some other top QB prospect who emerges over the next 12 months.

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The best-case scenario for the Broncos would have them sitting out the quarterback derby in 2024. That doesn’t mean Payton won’t be looking to add more talent at the position, perhaps even on Day 2 or 3 of this draft. But for the benefit of Denver’s long-term roster build and their contending chances over the next few seasons, having Wilson look like the quarterback in the highlights is the most advantageous path forward.

(Top photo: Justin Edmonds / Getty Images)