The Denver Broncos have given general manager George Paton a 5-year contract extension, proving that nothing is impossible for a general manager to overcome in the NFL.
Paton came to Denver after over a decade of rejecting general manager opportunities around the NFL, sticking with the Minnesota Vikings until he felt the timing was right. Taking over for John Elway in 2021, Paton immediately made his mark on the Broncos with a phenomenal 2021 NFL Draft class that included Pat Surtain II, Quinn Meinerz, and Jonathon Cooper. But things would go from the honeymoon phase to a nightmare in a hurry.
The Broncos hired Nathaniel Hackett as their head coach in the 2022 offseason, traded a king's ransom for Russell Wilson, and paid Wilson the biggest contract in franchise history. What should have been the beginning of a great era of Denver Broncos football turned into one of the most embarrassing seasons in the team's rich history.
But to say that Paton rebounded from that would be a massive understatement.
George Paton and Denver Broncos have overcome Nathaniel Hackett, Russell Wilson gaffes
Breaking: Per source, the Broncos and GM George Paton have agreed on a new 5-year contract that runs through 2030. Paton was going into final year of his initial contract with the team.
— MikeKlis9NEWS (@mikeklis9news) May 8, 2026
This contract extension was never supposed to happen, depending on who you might have asked a couple of years ago.
As soon as Sean Payton was hired as the team's head coach, many felt like the fact that Payton had final say over the roster meant that Paton would soon be phased out, but that wasn't the case.
Paton and Payton have formed a fantastic working relationship, so good, in fact, that they recently joked about missing their NFL Draft "dungeon" where they watched film and discussed prospects for the 2026 NFL Draft class.
While the initial thinking was that the Wilson trade and hiring of Nathaniel Hackett would be the moves to sink Paton's ship, the last handful of years have proven what Paton believed when he was initially hired by the team: The Broncos were always a sleeping giant.
Although it's taken longer for the vision to come to fruition, the Broncos have put on a true masterclass in how to turn around a broken operation, starting with getting the right leadership in place in the head coach position. Together with Sean Payton, George Paton has now assembled what might be the best overall roster in the NFL with a top quarterback, and a franchise ready to compete for Super Bowl championships.
The idea of Paton being let go by the Broncos never really had much merit. The context around the Nathaniel Hackett hire was that the Broncos were supposed to be the team that traded for Aaron Rodgers, but the Jets did it one year later. The Russell Wilson move was a pivot off of Rodgers, and was supposed to take the Broncos into contender status.
Even though those moves didn't work out, it's impossible to fault Paton for taking the big swings.
Now, he's locked in through the 2030 season, proving that even some of the biggest swings and misses can be overcome if franchises are willing to give you a couple more at bats.
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