Denver Broncos GM search: The latest on each candidate

Denver Broncos GM search: The latest on each candidate.

So, it’s Monday — do the Denver Broncos have a new general manager to replace John Elway yet?

Not yet, but that decision should be coming soon enough.

Over the weekend, the Broncos completed interviews with all five of their general manager candidates: George Paton (Vikings), Champ Kelly (Bears), David Ziegler (Patriots), Terry Fontenot (Saints), and Brian Stark (Broncos).

With the first round of interviews complete, the Broncos will now likely choose at least one of the candidates they interviewed for a second, in-person interview.

News of those potential interviews should come along as soon as Monday.

So what’s the latest with each candidate? Let’s see what we learned over the weekend.

Latest on Broncos GM search: George Paton the leader?

According to Broncos insider Mike Klis, Vikings executive George Paton is the “candidate to beat” for the Broncos’ general manager vacancy.

Paton is the most experienced of any of the Broncos’ five candidates and that could certainly be giving him an edge.

The other thing that makes him a fascinating (and frankly, even more desirable) candidate? Paton has recently turned down a number of good job opportunities and interviews to stay with the Vikings.

It cannot be overstated that Paton finds the Broncos’ job desirable enough to stick with the process, considering how many people seem to think that the Broncos’ GM job is not desirable at all with the team’s ownership situation and uncertainty at quarterback.

Contrary to popular belief, the Denver Broncos are a very respected organization and quite honestly, the job opening in Denver is a great one when you look at the collection of young talent on the roster.

In the last decade, Paton has turned down the Rams, Jets, Bears, Chiefs, Browns, and he’s been turning down other teams in the 2021 circuit.

But not the Denver Broncos.

That should say a lot about the organization and the attractiveness of the job overall.

2. Broncos GM search: The latest on Champ Kelly

Because of his time working with the Denver Broncos previously (2007-14) as well as his time working with Broncos current head coach Vic Fangio (2015-18 in Chicago) it seemed like Champ Kelly was the most obvious fit for the Broncos’ GM vacancy.

Kelly is younger than most of the candidates, yet he still has a ton of experience in a variety of different front office roles and even some background in analytics and data.

Kelly is well-respected around the league and is an obvious candidate for promotion, whether it’s to general manager or a no. 2 role in an NFL front office.

Could the Broncos possibly pull something off similar to when they hired Vic Fangio as head coach and another head coach candidate — Mike Munchak — as a top assistant on their staff?

Kelly could certainly still be named general manager, especially with Paton also drawing interest from the Detroit Lions (and he actually has interest in that job, as well).

But how amazing would it be from the Broncos’ perspective if they were able to land two of their top five general manager candidates?

As has been stated previously — the Broncos need to fill not only John Elway’s role as GM of the team, but they also need to fill Matt Russell’s role as the top assistant in the front office.

Denver Broncos GM search: The rest of the candidates

The latest with Terry Fontenot (Saints)

If George Paton is the “leader in the clubhouse” for the job and Champ Kelly is the most obvious fit, then Terry Fontenot is the dark horse to watch in this race.

Fontenot has a lot of experience working with the New Orleans Saints, who have developed one of the best all-around rosters in the NFL over the majority of the past two decades.

The Broncos came away from their interview with Vic Fangio in the 2019 offseason “impressed” as well and we all saw how that worked out after it seemed Mike Munchak was the favorite for the job.

We’ll see just how much Fontenot impressed the Broncos in his interview with them considering both Paton and Kelly will be available immediately for in-person interviews.

If the Broncos linger and wait for Fontenot to become available for an in-person interview or bring him on Zoom for a second interview, it might give us a hint that he impressed enough to take the top spot.

David Ziegler is out

The Broncos got the opportunity to interview Patriots executive David Ziegler, but he has bowed out of the race just as quickly as he entered it.

Once Nick Caserio accepted the job with the Houston Texans, it became clear that Ziegler would be a candidate for promotion in New England. He’s officially accepted that role, whatever it looks like, cutting the Broncos’ list to four.

What about Brian Stark?

Brian Stark has been the Denver Broncos’ director of college scouting and it’s great that he got an interview for this job with the work he’s done in recent years.

With that being said, John Elway has talked about bringing in a different perspective at general manager, which would seem to indicate that the team is focused on candidates outside of Denver.

Denver Broncos: 4 most critical decisions facing new GM

The Denver Broncos will have a new general manager in 2021. That new GM is going to have to make some critical decisions right away.

Although Stark was deserving of a shot to interview, it seems as though this is a three-man race for the GM position in Denver and it would not be shocking to see any of Paton, Kelly, or Fontenot ultimately get the position in the coming days.