The Broncos deserve a grade “A’’ for creativity, shrewdness, guile and horse-trading, including the drafting of a converted quarterback, a converted rugby player, a converted basketball player, but not converted pickleball or piccolo players.

And they got their No. 1 player, who concentrated on cornerback.

George Paton and Sean Payton pulled off innovative deals involving 20 — count ‘em — 20 different draft choices.

The bartering Broncos set the franchise record for draft-day deals. The general manager has established himself with the likes of old Colorado traders Kit Carson and Jim Bridger, Marco Polo, Monty Hall, Peter Minuit and Warren Buffett.

In the second round of the draft Friday, Paton parlayed Nos. 51, 85, 122 and 208 to the Panthers for 51, 74, 111 and 230, then sent the Lions 57 and 230 (which had come from Carolina) to the Lions for Nos. 60 and 130. Next, the Broncos dealt 111 (from the Panthers), 130 (from the Lions) and 191 to the Eagles for 101 and 134.

Keeping up?

And, finally Saturday afternoon, Paton pulled off this swap: No. 170 to the Texans in exchange for 216 and 241.

The Broncos began Thursday with seven picks, once in each of the first four rounds and three in the sixth round. At one juncture in the fourth round, the Broncos had just one draft spot left.

After the Paton-Payton elevator operation, the Broncos ended Saturday with the exact same number, but not in the same slots.

The Broncos landed with a cornerback, a running back, a wide receiver, an edge rusher-defensive tackle, a linebacker-special teams player, an Aussie, Aussie, Aussie Florida punter-rugby player and a basketball-football player.

Believe it or not, Leroy Ripley, for months it was assumed the Broncos would draft a tight end. Even with the signing of veteran free agent Evan Engram, who will start at tight end, those Broncos “expert insiders’’ who live in Nebraska basements claimed the team would choose another high.

Paton and Payton eventually got around to grabbing a tight end 25th in the last round. Caleb Lohner, who is 6-foot-7 and weighs 250 pounds, didn’t play football at Utah until last season and caught four passes, all for touchdowns. He will be an experiment and an experience. Maybe the Broncos will install a pick-and-roll play for Lohner, who had played on the BYU basketball team before switching schools (twice) and sport.

He was not quite the tight end expected.

Also, the selection of a punter in the sixth round (216) was, uh, interesting. Jeremy Cranshaw is a rugby-style punter because he played that sport in South Wales, Australia, before being a top-flight punter at the University of Florida.

Also, the general consensus was the Broncos would take a running back in the first round. However, they didn’t go for a rusher, a receiver or a returner immediately. Payton and Paton, and Greg Penner to some extent, cooperated to confuse, confound, and complicate the plot and the process.

The Broncos did not go up or down from the 20th choice in the first round. Jahdae Lyzel Barron, a cornerback who was evaluated second to Colorado’s own Travis Hunter, has become the seventh at that vital position to be drafted in the first round by the Broncos in their history. Barron will be becoming if he’s another Louis Wright, the Broncos’ first first-round cornerback in 1975, or Patrick Surtain, the last first-round cornerback in 2021.

The Payton-Paton pair continue to emphasize developing one of the league’s premier defenses. They are two years and light-years away from the 70-20 debacle against the Dolphins.

In two words, Barron is a “gamer’’ and was a “surprise.’’ Nobody, including the Broncos brass, believed the Jim Thorpe Award winner would fall to 20th. They were preparing to pick running back Omarion Hampton (chosen two slots later).

Yet, the Broncos were saving another shocking surprise selection for the second round with University of Central Florida runner Robert “RJ’’ Harvey Jr., who as a senior in high school rushed for 1,315 yards and 22 touchdowns, but was a quarterback who passed for 1,815 yards and 42 touchdowns. Recruited to Virginia with a 4.3 scholastic average, he would transfer to UCF and transfer to being a full-time running back.

It was a draft to remember for those bold, bartering Broncos.