Elway learning the ropes of NFL draft

A rookie wage scale could put the Broncos on the hook for maybe $20 million or so over four years. Elway said he hasn't heard from any teams yet about a possible trade. This year, teams wouldn't be able to include players in any deal but only draft picks, and there's a possibility there wouldn't be a 2012 draft, so that's another risk factor.

And Elway knows the lack of certainty on a rookie wage scale might make teams reticent to move up.

"If the positions were reversed, I think there's no question that we would be thinking about what that pick would cost," Elway said. "Then again we may be getting a heck of a player at a heck of a price with whatever the wage scale would come back at if there is one."

Teams may not know until long after the draft if they'll be working with a rookie pay scale.

Elway said at the Super Bowl that if the system didn't change, the cost of the second pick would be a factor in the team's approach to the draft. He said he would sit down with team owner Pat Bowlen and formulate a plan in the coming days once the front office team settles on a wish list.

"It's obviously very beneficial for us with a wage scale," Elway said. "And not only the Broncos but the (teams with the) top-10 picks if the wage scale's in place."