The Denver Broncos just beat up on the Arizona Cardinals, but the bigger Broncos story may have broken before kickoff. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Sunday morning that Denver is among the teams interested in a potential trade for Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor.

After watching both teams play, a Jonathan Taylor trade to the Broncos makes all the sense in the world. Here’s why.

View on Threads

Why the Colts’ loss helps the Broncos

Taylor did his part for Indianapolis. He carried the ball 18 times for 95 yards and a touchdown, then added a couple of receptions to finish with over 100 yards from scrimmage, all done against arguably the best defense in the league.

The problem for the Colts is the same one that cost their general manager his job: they lost the game.

Most of the talk about Indianapolis potentially moving Taylor, Quenton Nelson, Sauce Gardner, or anyone else has revolved around whether the team wins or loses ahead of the trade deadline. The Colts just lost an ugly, ugly game to the Minnesota Vikings. Every additional loss makes it more likely that Indianapolis starts selling good players like Taylor.

Then you look at what the Broncos did on Sunday, and this starts to look like a match made in heaven.

Denver is already a run-first team

Let’s be honest here. The Cardinals are not a very good football team. Denver did what it was supposed to do, and it did it on the ground.

Broncos quarterback Bo Nix was the team’s leading rusher. Most of his 74 yards came on one giant play that went for more than 50 yards, but the point stands. The Broncos have made it clear that their offense is going to run through the ground game.

However, it has been a committee approach. Jonah Coleman was back on Sunday, and he shares the work with RJ Harvey and JK Dobbins. If Denver wants to go all in on the run game, it needs a player who can be a true bell cow in that backfield.

That is exactly who Taylor is. But how much would it cost?

What would a Jonathan Taylor trade cost Denver?

So then the question becomes, what exactly would the Broncos have to give up to get Taylor?

We just so happen to have the A to Z Sports NFL trade simulator at our fingertips, so we ran the numbers. The trade comes out as fair under these terms:

To me, Denver should make this trade without hesitation.

Given their record, the Broncos are looking at being a playoff team again. We know the passing attack has struggled. We know Nix does his best work when he’s running the football himself. So why not go all in on being a run-first team?

Taylor is one of the best pure runners in the NFL and a player who can change the math for an offense. Denver could add him and simply try to bludgeon teams. The Broncos are already doing that, and it’s how they beat the Cardinals on Sunday.

The Broncos should make this move

The price is reasonable for a team with real postseason hopes. A second-round pick and a seventh-round pick for a bell cow back would give Denver one of the deepest backfields in football. Taylor, Dobbins, Harvey, and Coleman would form a stable of backs built to wear defenses down over four quarters and into January.

Giving up those two picks to chase a Super Bowl by running the football as much as possible is a play the Broncos should make. As we opened with, Schefter’s reporting says Denver is interested.

Now it’s up to the Colts to keep losing and the Broncos to make the call.