George Paton entered the final year of his contract in Denver on arguably the hottest seat of any general manager in football. As the league as a whole grows more and more impatient with head coaches and executives, the Broncos put a good deal of patience forward with Paton.
The decision proved to be a wise one, as the Broncos are back in the playoffs, thanks in large part to the work of Paton in the draft and with his undrafted free agents. Paton has turned into a strong pairing with Sean Payton, who silenced the media members who doubted what Paton and Payton could do this year
George Paton's "sleeping giant" has woken up for the Denver Broncos
To start, the Broncos' defense is littered with George Paton decisions. In the secondary, the Broncos' three starting corners were all drafted or signed as an UDFA by Paton. Beyond that, 4th stringer Kris Abrams-Draine is a 5th-round selection of Paton. Brandon Jones was his most touted signing last spring, and PJ Locke was a Paton find.
On the front seven, the reality is not too different. The dominant pass rush trio up front for Devner, being Zach Allen, Nik Bonitto, and Jonathan Cooper, were all brought in by Paton, with Cooper being a 7th-round selection and Bonitto being a 2nd.
Important defensive linemen such as Malcolm Roach and DJ Jones were important adds to the Denver defensive front, again added by Paton. On the offense, his work to build the Broncos offensive line, including extending Garett Bolles, drafting Quinn Meinerz, letting Lloyd Cushenberry walk for a massive deal in free agency, and finding strong value in center Luke Wattenberg.
The Broncos' offensive weapons leave room to be desired, but Paton did his best in extending Courtland Sutton and Tim Patrick to well below market value deals, despite Patrick blowing out his knee after signing his new deal. His selection of Marvin Mims Jr. is finally showing true value, as Mims has hit his stride and transformed into a legitimate threat for Denver this year.
While we do not need to pretend that the Russell Wilson trade and extension did not happen, Paton has done a strong job in navigating the fallout of cutting Wilson. His name will likely forever be tied to moving for and extending Wilson, as well as the hiring of Nate Hackett. Despite that, Paton deserves a ton of credit for knowing when to cut the cord with both and doing so in a quick manner.
Around sports, you do not often see executives who make major money moves, and move on from them once they sour. Wilson ended up having success in Denver his final year, but it was wise of Paton to cut bait when he did, which also allowed the Broncos to select Bo Nix with the 12th overall selection.
George Paton is far from the perfect general manager, but his work this year has been strong and the seeds of his draft classes are finally showing. He feels like a sure thing to return as Denver's general manager in 2025 and continue to lead their football operations department.