Two years ago, the Denver Business Journal reported that the Denver Broncos planned to bid to host an upcoming NFL draft.
This spring, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston traveled to Michigan to discuss the logistics of bidding for a draft with Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan.
Earlier this month, The Athletic‘s Joe Person reported that Pittsburgh and Denver were “in the running” to host the 2026 and 2027 drafts (Pittsburgh has since been awarded the 2026 draft).
Less than a week after Person’s update, Eric Fisher of Front Office Sports reported that the Broncos “have submitted a bid” to host in 2027. Charlotte is also interested, but the Panthers did not submit a bid, according to Fisher.
All of the above reporting suggests that Denver and the Broncos are very interested in hosting a future draft, but contrary to Fisher’s report, team president Damani Leech recently told The Denver Post‘s Parker Gabriel that the club has not submitted a bid to host.
“There’s been no official submission on our behalf for hosting the draft,” Leech said. “Now, obviously it’s a major NFL tentpole event and it’s really, really exciting, but it’s not something that we’re currently working on.”
It’s an interesting comment from Leech because it suggests that either previous reports were wildly inaccurate or the Broncos were once actively interested in hosting but are no longer actively pursuing it.
It’s still possible that Denver could host an NFL draft someday in the future, but Leech says there are no immediate plans to host the event.
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