The Denver Broncos are happy with what they’ve got. That may not be true for coach Sean Payton, who went on a firing spree after Denver’s disappointing loss to the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship game, but the Broncos are reportedly interested in extending GM George Paton, who has worked closely with Sean Payton to rebuild the Broncos after the disastrous trade for quarterback Russell Wilson.
The report came from Sam Robinson of ProFootballRumors.com, who added that Paton signed a six-year contract when he took over for John Elway in 2021. That means Paton is technically a lame duck this year, which means an extension is automatically on the table given the Broncos’ recent success.
“We’d love to have both of them here long term,’’ Broncos CEO Greg Penner said, via 9News' Mike Klis. “I think the partnership they’ve created and how they work together, it’s very complementary.”
The success of Payton & Paton is indisputable, but it’s hard to know exactly what George Paton’s role is at this point. He somehow managed to survive after executing the ill-fated Wilson deal, and the perception around the league is that Paton mostly handles the administrative issues and details that go with contracts and transactions, with Sean Payton pulling the trigger on most of the important moves.
Regardless of how they occurred, those moves were significant, even during the season. The Broncos handed out multiple extensions during the bye week, and according to Robinson, they’ve extended the likes of cornerback Patrick Surtain, guard Quinn Meinerz, offensive tackle Garrett Bolles, receiver Courtland Sutton, defensive tackle Zach Allen and linebacker Nik Bonittoin the 2024-25 window. Paton’s 2021 draft class did perform extremely well, producing Surtain, Meinerz and linebacker Jonathan Cooper, who’s also been extended.
Paton was with the Minnesota Vikings under Rick Spielman, and the 55-year old GM was in Minnesota long enough to be partially responsible for the final seasons of quarterback Brett Favre through the second contract of quarterback Kirk Cousins. The Vikings currently have an opening at GM after suddenly firing Kwesi Adofo-Mensah late last week, and Dianna Russini and Alec Lewis of The Athletic recently floated his name as a possibility for the Vikings’ new opening.
Sean Payton seems happy with Paton’s performance at this point, and that’s clearly what matters most to the Broncos right now. The Broncos’ season didn’t end the way the head coach and GM wanted it to, but Denver did overachieve by beating out the Kansas City Chiefs for the division title and making it to the AFC Championship game.