DENVER — Why are the Broncos test-driving a used Marcedes when they should be looking for Cadillacs?

At 6-2, Denver is actively shopping before the Nov. 4 NFL trade deadline, which is the tantalizing, alluring stuff of dreams. The Broncos have, so far, been openly shopping for a third tight end — which is the NFL equivalent of buying socks.

To that (tight) end, veteran Marcedes Lewis reportedly got a tryout at Dove Valley on Tuesday.

Lewis ticks boxes, although not very fancy ones. He’s big (6-foot-6, 267 pounds). He’s durable. He can block. He can move. He can pick up Payton’s offense in a hurry.

He’ll also turn 42 in May.

You going for this thing, or not?

And, yeah, we know how NFL currency works. Nothing is more sacred or valuable than draft picks. You can flip them to move up in the draft. You can flip them to land a sexy veteran.

In a salary-capped sport, cost-controlled talent is the spine of a dynasty. Smart general managers, George Paton included, hoard them the way evil leprechauns hoard their gold.

But you know what else is rare, precious and fleeting? Star quarterbacks who hit — really hit — while they’re playing on a rookie contract.

Bo Nix is eating up just $4.2 million cap space this season, making him one of the biggest bargains in the NFL. He’ll take up $5.1 million in 2026 and $5.9 million in 2027, according to Spotrac.

Team-friendly QB contracts don’t accumulate interest as time goes by. They accumulate zeroes.

OverTheCap.com says the Broncos’ cap cushion jumps from $5.3 million this fall to $49.6 million in 2026.

If you’re going to buy Bo some toys for this window, why not shoot for something sexier than a Slinky?

Reports have Denver sniffing around on a wideout trade, with the Saints dangling Rashid Shaheed, a 6-foot burner who does Marvin Mims things for a 1-7 team.

It’s New Orleans, so the interest goes without saying. Shaheed worked with current Broncos assistant Pete Carmichael for two seasons in the Big Easy.

I’d sooner try to shake down the Saints for former Ohio State star Chris Olave, personally. But given Olave’s age (25), production (13 touchdowns and 12.6 yards per catch over 47 games) and alleged willingness to consider a Saints extension, the asking price is probably too high.

The Broncos have eight picks available in the 2027 draft, including two seventh-rounders. If one of those — packaged with a high Day-3 pick — could somehow land Shaheed, who’s in a contract year, you’d be nuts not to bite.

While Broncos Country is frustrated over the unexplored routes over the middle of the field, it’s Nix’s misfires on those deep shots in Weeks 1-6, especially ones in Los Angeles, that burned coach Sean Payton’s britches.

Shaheed, on paper, would give Payton one of the things he craves most — a WR2 who stretches the field.

Among Saints wideouts with at least 10 catches, Shaheed leads New Orleans in “air yards” per reception (16.3 per completion) and yards per catch (11.1). Against the Giants in Week 5, the former Weber State standout reached 21.72 miles per hour on an 87-yard touchdown rainbow from Spencer Rattler, according to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats. That was the fastest recorded speed on any offensive score from Weeks 1-5.

It’s not hard to close your eyes and picture Shaheed making the type of impact for the Broncos in 2025 that Kadarius Toney did for the Chiefs in 2022. Kansas City traded two picks during the season to the Giants for Toney, who eventually ran a punt back 65 yards in the Super Bowl and caught a short TD pass against the Eagles.

Payton’s tight end room is the one that needs more urgent help, however. Lucas Krull is out eight more weeks. Nate Adkins injured his knee in the fourth quarter of the Dallas rout.

Meanwhile, thanks to the emergence of Harold Fannin Jr., Cleveland is reportedly shopping David Njoku, who’s 29 and in the final season of a four-year deal. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because Njoku caught two touchdowns from Jameis Winston at Empower Field during that wild 41-32 Monday night victory last fall.

Winning a cold-weather playoff game in the AFC requires better tight ends than Lewis at age 41. Buffalo goes two-deep at that spot with Dalton Kincaid and Dawson Knox. The Ravens can rock “12” personnel with Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely.

The Broncos reportedly put in waiver claims Monday on two tight ends — Brendan Bates and Ben Sims. That’s nibbling when you should be punching. Settling when you should be swinging.

Payton’s tight end room is currently led by 31-year-old Evan Engram, who’s picked up steam but was hobbled for weeks. After that? Adam Trautman, king of Payton’s “trust” tree. Then Patrick Murtagh, an Aussie on the practice squad, and rookie seventh-round pick Caleb Lohner, the former basketball player. The pickings are awfully slim. On that front, Lewis would most definitely help. He’d be fine, cromulent to the core.

But the trouble with old socks is that their usage is, to put it kindly, limited. The thread frays. Old seams break.

Before long, in the heat of the postseason, you’ve suddenly got more holes to fill. And nobody wants to find themselves walking around Buffalo barefoot in January again.

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