The Broncos must approach the NFL draft as if the jobs of two of these three men depend on it: general manager George Paton, quarterback Russell Wilson and coach Sean Payton.

With only five picks in the draft, and none until the third round, maybe you think it’s a big ask for the Broncos to improve from 5-12 to the playoffs in a single year.

“It is very hard to get an impact player in the third round,” cautions Paton, acting as if the Broncos would be lucky to acquire Tweedledum and Tweedledee with back-to-back selections at Nos. 67 and 68 overall in this draft.

Well, then may I humbly suggest Paton must do everything in his power to ensure the Broncos trade up to acquire a player capable of not only starting as an NFL rookie but being a difference-maker.

In this draft class, the position to target is a position of definite need for the Broncos: edge-rusher. From Alabama’s Will Anderson, the most sure-fire All-Pro talent on the entire board, to Isaiah Foskey, who sacked the quarterback 11 times during each of his last two seasons at Notre Dame, there could easily be 10 quality pass rushers drafted among the opening 60 picks.

It’s a no-brainer. The Broncos should go get an edge rusher with the ability to make Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes miserable.

Is it impossible for Denver, with only five picks, to trade up in this draft? Not according to Payton.

“It’s easy to obtain draft capital, generally speaking,” he said. “If you want to move back, you can. Or forward? You can. If you choose to move forward, it’s because there is someone you really like.”

Then just do it. We’re all sick of waiting until next year in Broncos Country.

It says here that if Denver doesn’t qualify for the Super Bowl tournament this season, Paton and Wilson should be looking for work elsewhere in the NFL in 2024.

For a pro football franchise where losing has been accepted as commonplace with far too little accountability for far too long, it now appears crystal clear Paton and Wilson now must fall in line and answer to the mission statements issued by the new coach.

Payton didn’t leave a cushy television job for the stress of roaming the sideline to lose football games.

The crazy-rich Waltons didn’t pay $4.65 billion for the Broncos to finish last in the AFC West.

If Wilson doesn’t rebound from the worst season of his NFL career and fails to demonstrate strong signs he can make good on his vow to win multiple Super Bowls in Denver, it’s time for the team to find a place to bury all that dead money in the veteran quarterback’s contract.

While Paton deserves applause for selecting cornerback Pat Surtain II in the opening round of the 2021 draft, his decision to hire Nathaniel Hackett a year ago in order to lure quarterback Aaron Rodgers from Green Bay was absurd thinking, and if that wasn’t the major reason to hire Hackett, then the GM’s reasoning was even more ridiculous.

Why? Hackett is undoubtedly the least qualified and worst Broncos head coach I’ve encountered during my 40 seasons chronicling the team.

The addition of Payton alone should be worth at least three victories over the unmitigated disaster that was 2022. He possesses such supreme self-confidence in his ability that if anybody regards him as arrogant, Payton doesn’t really give a hoot. In that regard, the new coach of the Broncos reminds me of the best coach in team history, Mike Shanahan.

With a sharp-as-a-stiletto tongue and a make-my-day feistiness, Payton isn’t afraid to challenge anybody and everybody at Broncos headquarters about the way they’re approaching the business of winning football games.

For example: At the conclusion of the news conference previewing the draft, Payton casually dropped the mic with a jab at Wilson’s recent accident at a Denver-area golf course, when a cart he was riding rolled backward and flipped into a sand trap.

“Hopefully,” Payton quipped, “we can keep the golf carts upright.”

Let’s hope Paton and Wilson have caught the message. The general manager needs to make an impact in this draft and they need this quarterback to win now.

This team has been a hot mess for too long.

There’s a new sheriff in town, and Payton was hired to upset the applecart.