Denver Broncos: 10 biggest mistakes in the George Paton era

4. Re-signing Melvin Gordon

Re-signing Melvin Gordon was a horrid mistake and one of the worst that George Paton has made thus far as General Manager of the Denver Broncos. Gordon left an ugly legacy during his time with the team. He signed with the team on a two-year deal back before the 2020 season and played quite well for the team.

In 2020, he rushed for 986 yards, nine touchdowns, and added 158 receiving yards and one score as well. His 4.6 yards per carry was the second-highest mark of his career. In 2021, splitting carries with then-rookie Javonte Williams, Gordon rushed for 918 yards, eight touchdowns, and added 213 receiving yards and two scores.

He was brought back in 2022 and was a total disaster. He rushed for just 318 yards in 10 games on a measly 3.5 yards per carry. He also struggled a ton with fumbles, and he seemed to fumble at the worst possible times that shifted the momentum of the game. Some of Gordon's fumbles were massive reasons why Denver lost.

He fumbled a whopping five times in 10 games. He had 90 carries in 2022 and fumbled on more than 5% of them. It was truly awful to experience. Denver should have let Melvin Gordon hit the free agency market and let Javonte Williams take over the RB1 duties in their entirety.

Melvin Gordon actually found employment this offseason, signing a one-year deal with the Baltimore Ravens. We'll see if Gordon has some of the same fumbling issues with the Ravens as he did with the Broncos.