Even the most successful and best general managers across all sports have made their share of mistakes. George Paton has made some that need to be talked about. Paton was extremely picky during his search for his first GM spot.
He interviewed with nearly one-third of the league across a plethora of seasons trying to land a GM spot. One of the first things he said about Denver when he arrived was that he thought the team was a "sleeping giant." Well, he's now three years into his tenure and does appear to have made strides to awaken the giant.
Even though Sean Payton has final say on the roster, he and Paton have likely heavily collaborated on the most recent additions to the team. Paton himself has made a ton of excellent moves but also does have a bit of a lengthy record of mistakes made. Let's dive into the 10 biggest mistakes of the George Paton era.
Denver Broncos: 10 biggest mistakes in the George Paton era
10. Drafting Drew Sanders
I'm sorry, but I did not understand the Drew Sanders selection in the 2023 NFL Draft. I get that Payton has final roster say, but George Paton surely had to sign off on this pick, right? Drew Sanders is an inside linebacker and might have some ability as an outside pass rusher, but unless the Broncos have the same plan for Sanders as they did with Baron Browning, this pick doesn't make a ton of sense.
Inside linebackers are not nearly as valuable as they once were in the NFL. Sure, the best ones still get paid, but it's not a position that is necessarily needed to sustain success in the NFL. There are still plenty of very talented ILBs left on the free agency market, and if Denver wanted to add to this position this offseason, they could have used this third-round pick on something else and could have signed a FA inside linebacker.
That would have been a more efficient scenario than what they did. I guess by drafting Sanders, they might be hoping that he can eventually step in for Josey Jewell, who is a free agent at the end of the 2023 NFL season.
9. Drafting Javonte Williams
There was no reason for the Denver Broncos to use a high second-round pick on Javonte Williams back in the 2021 NFL Draft. The running back position is another position that is not valuable as it once was. Even more so than ILBs, having an elite RB does not mean that a team will succeed.
Just look at the past Super Bowl champions and their top rushers. It's not a position that is crucial to the success of the offense or the team. I get that George Paton has always invested a ton of resources into the position going back to his days with the Minnesota Vikings, but this was the wrong draft pick.
Players who went after Williams that would have been better picks for the Denver Broncos include Jevon Holland, Landon Dickerson, Christian Barmore, and Teven Jenkins, to name a few. Even if Williams rebounds and rushes for over 1,000 yards this year, that doesn't really bring value close to what other positions would have.
Having someone like Dickerson or Jenkins on the offensive interior would have been absolutely stellar. Christian Barmore is a very talented defensive tackle for the New England Patriots, and Jevon Holland is the best young safety in the NFL. This was the wrong selection, especially if Denver has to pay up to retain Williams' services next offseason or the one after.
There is no need to draft an RB high and pay them. That's just not good management. The Patriots took Rhamondre Stevenson in the fourth round of this draft, and he turned out to be better than Williams. Taking a RB in the fourth round or later would have been the better move.
8. Trading for Teddy Bridgewater
This was a season to forget for the Denver Broncos, but it was their best since the 2015 Super Bowl year. Vic Fangio was still the head coach of the Denver Broncos and seemed to not trust Drew Lock after what was a very poor 2020 performance.
The rumor is that Fangio went to George Paton and asked for Teddy Bridgewater and cornerback help. Well, Paton did bring in some CB help when he added Kyle Fuller, Ronald Darby, and Patrick Surtain II, and also did make a trade for Bridgewater.
Statistically, Bridgewater was by far the best quarterback the Denver Broncos had started since Peyton Manning retired. He threw 18 touchdowns against just seven interceptions for a passer rating of 94.9. Bridgewater was efficient in the box score, but the offense lacked juice and Bridgewater continued his ways of taking low-risk throws.
The saying for Teddy Bridgewater went like this "If you need five yards, he'll give you five. If you need 10 yards, he'll give you five." Bridgewater also came under fire when he seemed to back off tackling Darius Slay on a turnover return from the Broncos. As you can probably guess, it was from a Melvin Gordon fumble.
Teddy Bridgewater is a fabulous backup. I would have loved to see him reunite with Sean Payton in Denver as the QB2, but his 2021 adventure with the Broncos was a mistake. They should have stuck it out with Drew Lock, because the 2020 season was a wash for him, or at least it should have been.
7. Letting Nathaniel Hackett not retain Mike Munchak
The Nathaniel Hackett era might genuinely be one of the worst head coaching administrations in the history of the NFL. It was a total clown show, and it was clear from the beginning that Hackett was in over his head. Somehow, he landed on his feet this offseason and is the offensive coordinator of the New York Jets.
In 2022, the Broncos hired Hackett, and it's not like that was some unprecedented move. He had just served as the OC for the Green Bay Packers and Aaron Rodgers, who had won the MVP award in 2020 and 2021. It wasn't a bad hire at the time, especially when many thought that hiring Hackett meant that Aaron Rodgers would soon find his way in Denver.
Well, I'm not sure Aaron Rodgers would have played well in the dumpster fire that was the Denver Broncos offense. The biggest issue with the offense in 2022 may have been the offensive line, which struggle with injuries and bad coaching. For some reason, Hackett decided to not retain the services of Mike Munchak, the best OL coach in the NFL and decided to hire an OL coach from the San Francisco 49ers in Butch Barry.
Barry may have been the worst coach on the staff. There were reports that Barry would leave sticky notes in the OL players' lockers that had notes on what they did wrong in a certain game. He'd apparently write that stuff down on notes and not actually show them.
Butch Barry was fired when Jerry Rosburg took over as the HC after Hackett got the boot. I'm sure it was a huge sigh of relief for the OL personnel when Barry got the boot. Somehow, Butch Barry got an OL job this offseason with the Miami Dolphins.
Keeping Munchak around may not have turned the offense into a competent unit, but it would have made life easier for the unit.
6. Neglecting the pass rush in 2023
I have not been too thrilled with the Denver Broncos' plan with the pass rush this offseason. They really haven't done much at all. In fact, you could argue they've subtracted from the unit. The team cut Jacob Martin earlier in the offseason, who figured to be some quality depth.
They also saw Baron Browning undergo a knee procedure, and no one really knows when he'll be healthy. The team did sign Frank Clark in free agency, but that was in response to Browning's injury. Right now, Denver's pass rush doesn't look too promising on paper.
With Browning probably missing regular-season games, who steps up in his absence? Do we even begin to flirt with the idea of trusting Randy Gregory? Do Jonathon Cooper and Nik Bonitto take a step forward? Does Frank Clark have anything left in the tank?
What about Zach Allen? Can he build on his 20 QB hits from last season? Denver's pass rush was one of the worst in the NFL last year, and this year's pass rush features many of the same faces. I think it's time to add to this unit, especially with Mike Purcell not ready for camp and the recent suspension of Eyioma Uwazurike.
This is the part of the defense that cannot afford to have another down year. Denver will struggle mightily on defense if they can't get to the QB. They simply need to add bodies to this unit with a ton of urgency.
5. Signing Randy Gregory
Signing Randy Gregory has proven to be a monumental mistake from George Paton. Gregory got a five-year, $70 million deal from the Broncos last offseason, but fortunately, the deal is practically just a two-year deal, so if Gregory again struggles in 2023, the Broncos can easily cut ties with Gregory, saving $14 million starting in 2024.
Randy Gregory played in just six games for the Denver Broncos in 2022, starting three of them. He put up two sacks, 12 total tackles, two tackles for loss, and seven QB hits. If we averaged these out for a full 17-game season, this is what the Broncos would have gotten from Gregory in 2022:
Six sacks, 34 total tackles, six tackles for loss, 20 QB hits. Eh.
I mean, it's not awful production, right? I'm not sure he'd be making enough of a difference to live up to his contract, but I guess it's fine production. Randy Gregory is entering the most important year of his career in the NFL. If he does play well in 2023, the Broncos could keep him beyond this year.
They might already be planning for his exit, but I do think Gregory has the potential to be one of the better pass rushers in the NFL. I think playing a full season could see Gregory hit the double-digit sack mark and perhaps even surpass 20 QB hits. His career highs are six sacks, seven tackles for loss, and 17 QB hits.
The pressure is very much on for Randy Gregory in 2023.
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.
3. Trading Von Miller
I get why George Paton traded Von Miller, but he did suck talent from the team's pass rush when he did this, and Denver's ability to get to the quarterback has noticeably declined since Miller was shipped to the Los Angeles Rams back in 2021.
Miller did help propel the Rams to a Super Bowl victory back in 2021, and Miller was still very productive. In 2021 between the Broncos and Rams, Miller had 9.5 sacks, 19 tackles for loss, and 17 QB hits.
In 2022, he signed with the Buffalo Bills, and it honestly made a ton of sense for the Broncos to sign Miller because they clearly needed a pass rush boost. They went for Randy Gregory instead, which has not gone that well. Miller played in 11 games for the Bills in 2022 before tearing his ACL. In those 11 games, he had a whopping eight sacks, 19 tackles for loss, and 12 QB hits.
Von Miller would have surely finished with yet another double-digit sack season had he not gotten injured, and I don't doubt that he bounces right back to his old self when he returns from his injury. Anytime Von Miller has talked about the Broncos since leaving, he still addresses the team as "we."
What is extra sucky is that Miller probably would have loved to return to Denver for the 2022 season. He would have been a better addition than Gregory at least. While I don't fault Paton for making the move, I do think it was a huge mistake in the grand scheme.
2. Hiring Nathaniel Hackett
Safe to say that this was a huge mistake by George Paton. Nathaniel Hackett seemed to with the Broncos over with whatever he was presenting during the interview process. As I stated earlier in the article, it's not like Denver made some sort of unprecedented move when they made this hire.
Hackett was the OC for a back-to-back MVP winner in Aaron Rodgers. Hackett was also a young, offensive coach that fit the mold of what many NFL teams are now doing. And after Denver went through two straight defensive coaches in Vance Joseph and Vic Fangio, Hackett was a breath of fresh air.
Well, it seems that Hackett is a better person than he is a football coach, and that is a huge issue. It's clear that he was in way over his head. He built a poor staff, primarily of very inexperienced coaches, let quality, veteran coaches walk out the door, and was not able to establish a clear offensive identity.
Virtually nothing went right for Hackett besides hiring Ejiro Evero as the defensive coordinator. Evero is likely going to be a head coach in the NFL as soon as next year, and it's clear that he is very good at what he does. Hackett was one of only a few head coaches in NFL history to get fired before the end of his first season.
The nail in the coffin was the embarrassing Christmas Day performance from Denver. That was also when Dalton Risner, who is still a free agent, shoved Brett Rypien on the sidelines. Nathaniel Hackett did not have a grip on his team and was a bad hire.
He may get another shot as being a HC in the NFL someday, as many tend to do better their second time around, but man, what a crapshoot the 2022 Denver Broncos were.
1. Trading for Russell Wilson
Well, until something changes, this will be the biggest mistake that George Paton could ever make as a GM in the NFL. In fact, this could go down as one of the worst trades in the history of professional sports. Denver gave up multiple first and second-round picks along with a slew of players to get Wilson, who turns 35 in 2023.
To make matters worse, the Seattle Seahawks shockingly saw more success in 2022 than the Denver Broncos. They went 9-8 and made the postseason. Geno Smith was a breakout player last year and played significantly better than Wilson did. I don't think anyone truly saw this coming.
Russell Wilson had career lows across the board. It was the worst year of his NFL career, but I guess the bright side is that there really isn't anywhere for him to go but up, right? Right??? I do like Wilson's chances of bouncing back with Sean Payton, so I'm not entirely ready to call this a mistake, but right now, at this moment in time, it is a huge one.
Russell Wilson was constantly criticized last year, and people seemed to take it further than his play on the field, which was ridiculous to see. Denver hasn't had a first-round pick since drafting Patrick Surtain II back in 2021 because of the Russell Wilson trade.
I'm not sure if Paton would do this trade again if he had another chance, but I would not be surprised if he would stay far away.