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Perhaps, the Broncos will go receiver in the first round

The team needs a pass catcher after saying goodbye to its top two backup receivers this offseason.
Credit: Mark Konezny
Sep 24, 2017; Orchard Park, NY, USA; Denver Broncos wide receiver Cody Latimer (14) returns a kickoff during the fourth quarter against the Buffalo Bills at New Era Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports

KUSA – Maybe, the Broncos will trade back from their No. 5 overall draft pick and take a receiver later in the first round.

The team needs a pass catcher after saying goodbye to its top two backup receivers this offseason.

The Broncos did not extend a $1.8 million, low-level tender a contract to restricted free-agent receiver Bennie Fowler III, who had been the No. 3 receiver for most of the past two seasons.

And Cody Latimer announced Monday he has signed with the New York Giants, where he will be reunited with former Broncos receivers coach Tyke Tolbert. One NFL source said Latimer got a one-year, $2.5 million deal, plus incentives.

A second-round draft choice of the Broncos in 2014, Latimer had always been a special teams standout, but he finally came on as a receiver in 2017.

Latimer had three catches for 60 yards and a touchdown in a December 14th win against the Colts but didn’t play the rest of the season because of a deep thigh contusion. He also battled through knee soreness last season.

Not only are Fowler and Latimer gone and another backup receiver, Jordan Taylor, is expected to miss the bulk of the offseason after undergoing hip surgery.

Carlos Henderson, a third-round draft pick who spent his rookie season on injured reserve, could be facing league discipline after he was arrested in mid-January on a marijuana possession charge.

No wonder Broncos general manager John Elway decided to keep his two starting receivers, Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders.

The Broncos have expressed interest in several free-agent receivers, but one NFL source said the team is fishing in the small-contract waters.

The team also has four picks in the first three “starter” rounds of the draft – No. 5 in the first round; No. 40 in the second round; No’s. 71 and 99 in the third – in which they could get a receiver.

The consensus top receiver in the draft is Alabama’s Calvin Ridley. SMU’s Courtland Sutton, Colorado State’s Michael Gallup, Maryland’s D.J. Moore, Oklahoma State’s James Washington and Texas A&M’s Christian Kirk are also among the top receiver prospects.

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