The Denver Broncos made a huge move on Friday to extend general manager George Paton on a five-year deal that runs through the 2030 NFL Season. Many fans were waiting for this move, and it was honestly something that felt like it was taking too long to happen.
With Paton's old team, the Minnesota Vikings, potentially being in the market for a new GM, some had wondered if Paton would have interest in heading back to the club before getting hired by the Broncos.
Fortunately, that did not happen. Paton belongs to the Broncos for the long-term, and his bests moves as the GM further prove that the extension was the right move.
Denver Broncos' George Paton extension makes a ton of sense when you consider his best moves
5. Helping acquire Sean Payton from the New Orleans Saints as the Broncos head coach
This was such a unique situation, and likely not one that Paton expected to be in, as the team really had no choice but to fire former head coach Nathaniel Hackett before his first year as head coach was up. Trading for a head coach had happened prior to the deal for Sean Payton, but it's a rare occurence overall.
And it's honestly not super clear if the trade itself was 100 percent Paton's doing, or if the ownership perhaps pushed him in that direction. Either way, Paton had to have been at the center of this deal, and it's continue to pay off as Payton enters his fourth year as the team's head coach.
4. Drafting Nik Bonitto in 2022
At the bottom of Round 2 in the 2022 NFL Draft, the Broncos snagged Nik Bonitto, an undersized pass-rusher from Oklahoma. It took a few years, but Bonitto has since emerged as an All-Pro and one of the best rushers in the NFL. He now has 27.5 sacks and 52 quarterback hits over the past two seasons.
Bonitto was a developmental prospect, but the potential was always there, and Paton clearly saw it.
3. Signing Zach Allen in free agency in 2023
Maybe one of the best free agency finds by any team in the NFL in recent years, the Broncos snagging Zach Allen from the Arizona Cardinals was a great move. Allen had actually followed defensive coordinator Vance Joseph, as Joseph was previously the Cardinals defensive coordinator in the 2019-2022 seasons.
Allen has spent his entire NFL career in Joseph's defense, and he's since amassed 87, eighty-seven, quarterback hits the past two seasons, joining future Hall of Famer JJ Watt as the only two players in NFL history with two-straight seasons of at least 40 quarterback hits.
It's not a stretch to say that Allen is the best pass-rusher in the NFL right now. Paton making that deal happen has been a masterstroke.
2. Drafting Patrick Surtain II and Quinn Meinerz in 2021
Landing two All-Pro players in one NFL Draft class is flat-out insane. In Paton's first draft, he landed Patrick Surtain II and Quinn Meinerz, two players who are the best at their respective positions. Both are long-term fixtures and still on the younger side, too.
Paton's first draft pick was Surtain, and he came under fire a bit for passing on guys like Justin Fields and Mac Jones. Turns out, Paton made the right move in doing that. Both Surtain and Meinerz are right in the middle of their primes and could have several more years of high-end play left.
1. Drafting Bo Nix in 2024
There isn't a single position that has a greater impact on a team than the quarterback position. Paton and the Broncos stood pat in the 2024 NFL Draft and took Bo Nix with the 12th overall pick. All they have done since then is win 24 regular season games in two years and come on the doorstep of a Super Bowl.
Nix was the right pick for the Broncos and will continue to be the right pick. Sure, Payton may have had a huge say in this, but the Broncos operation is clearly a collaborative process, so Paton's work in bringing in players cannot be discounted.
Add us as a preferred source on Google