Why are the Denver Broncos waiting to extend George Paton?
It makes absolutely no sense.
They need to get it done immediately.
Why are the Denver Broncos waiting to extend George Paton?
The Broncos no re-signing George Paton by now makes no sense.
Paton has drafted well, pulled of multiple blockbuster trades—with one blunder—has signed multiple big-name free agents, and is teaming up well with head coach Sean Payton.
But Paton’s contract runs out at the end of the 2026 season.
And Payton wants his buddy Paton to stay in the office he currently occupies.
“I have already,” Payton said. “It’s overdue. I say that respectfully to the process, but he and I have a great working relationship. So my job wouldn’t be as fun or as exciting if he wasn’t a part of it. That should be something that gets handled quickly.”
That was one month ago, in February. Now, we’re at the end of March and still nothing has been done.
George Paton himself downplayed it when he was asked about an extension at the same NFL Scouting Combine press conference.
“Oh yeah, we’re just so busy this time of year,” Paton said. “The season went longer, which is cool, but the offseason gets condensed. We’ve been rolling. That is really cool, but it will happen when it happens. I’m not too worried about it. We have a lot going on this offseason. We have a busy offseason.”
Busy or not, the Broncos leadership in Greg Penner and Co. need to step up and get their GM re-signed ASAP.
What Paton has accomplished has been huge
Paton has worked with three different head coaches, starting with Vic Fangio, moving on with Nathaniel Hackett, and now into the Sean Payton Era which has been very successful so far.
But that success is in part due to Paton’s brilliant player management.
Outside of the Russell Wilson trade.
Hey, not many general managers ever even build up the courage to trade multiple first-round picks for a superstar quarterback. He did, and it failed. Miserably. But even through all of that, he continued to build the roster.
The list of talent he’s drafted in Denver is staggering.
Patrick Surtain, just off the top. The 2024 Defensive Player of the Year was George Paton’s first-ever draft pick.
That same 2021 draft included future All-Pro Quinn Meinerz, and discovering Jonathon Cooper in the 7th round.
In 2022 he knocked the ball out of the park once again by finding Nik Bonitto in the 2nd round. He also drafted Luke Wattenburg in the 5th; he’s started at center the last two years.
The 2023 draft included Marvin Mims, another All-Pro, along with starting cornerback Riley Moss in the 3rd round. In 2024 Paton and Payton took Bo Nix in the first round, and took his teammate Troy Franklin before selecting Jahdae Barron, RJ Harvey, and Pat Bryant last year. All three of them look to be impactful players going forward.
This year’s NFL Draft is coming up soon; who will Paton find this time around?
In terms of free agency, he’s been more muted there than in the draft. 2025 was probably his biggest in that regard, signing four starters in Talanoa Hufanga, J.K. Dobbins, Evan Engram, and Dre Greenlaw. The first two were great for the team last season, while the latter two either were quiet or released (Greenlaw).
Then, after strictly re-signing Broncos players, Paton made a second blockbuster trade of his tenure, trading for Jaylen Waddle.
Waddle can possibly transform the entire offense and help the Broncos get to another level in competitiveness.
But keep in mind that Denver made the playoffs the last two years all while eating Wilson’s $85 million in dead cap. That takes some really intelligent roster-building to do.
Paton is underrated as a GM
He’s not necessarily regarded as one of the best general managers, but that’s because he’s criminally underrated.
Before last season, the Broncos front office was ranked 13th in an anonymous vote. That’s not great, but the poll is also not the end all, be all.
Without him working alongside Sean Payton, there’s no way the Broncos make it to the AFC Championship Game last year.
And now they’re set up to make another run at a Super Bowl this year after keeping together basically their entire team and adding the superstar receiver in Waddle.
The Denver Broncos need to stop messing around and extend George Paton. Like, yesterday.
He came up in the Minnesota Vikings organization and they needed a new GM this offseason. If for some reason Minnesota finds themselves dissatisfied again this time next year, Paton would all but certainly slot right into that position.
The irony is he’s entering the last year of his contract, just like when a massively important player does.
With Paton as the GM, Denver’s re-signed their big names when they need to in order to hold onto them before they even get to free agency. Meinerz is one, so is Surtain, and Bonitto, Zach Allen, and Courtland Sutton.
There’s never really any worry that he’ll get the job done.
Now, will Penner and the ownership group do the same with their GM?
Or will they allow him to test the market and leave?