According to Nate Davis of USA Today on Wednesday, the Denver Broncos have named George Paton as their new general manager. Paton takes over from John Elway, who would be considered as the face of the Broncos franchise of all-time.
Elway won two Super Bowls as the Broncos quarterback in 1997 and 1998, and had been the team’s general manager since 2011. The most significant signing Elway had with the Broncos was interestingly, another quarterback, in Peyton Manning. While with Denver, Manning was the National Football League’s most valuable player in 2013, and then won a Super Bowl with Elway in 2015.
In addition to acquiring Manning, who had previously been released by the Colts, Elway acquired defensive end DeMarcus Ware from the Dallas Cowboys, cornerback Aqib Talib from the New England Patriots, and safety T.J. Brown from the Cleveland Browns. The signing of this trio, along with Von Miller, who Elway selected in the 2011 NFL Draft, were instrumental in the Broncos winning Super Bowl 50, and only giving up 10 points to the Carolina Panthers in a two-touchdown, 24-10 win.
Paton, a Los Angeles, California native, is in his first position as a NFL general manager. He has been an assistant general manager with the Minnesota Vikings since 2012. Before that, Paton was with the Vikings as their director of player personnel. He has also worked four seasons with the Chicago Bears as a scouting intern, professional scout, and assistant director of professional personnel from 1997 to 2000. After there, he was off to Miami, where he was the director of professional personnel with the Dolphins for six seasons from 2001 to 2006.
This past season the Vikings finished third in the NFC North with a record of seven wins and nine losses. The Broncos meanwhile were last in the AFC West with a record of five wins and 11 losses.
It should be noted that Elway will remain in the Broncos organization as the president of football operations, and that Paton will have the final say when it comes to roster decisions according to Jon Heath of USA Today. One of the first decisions Paton will have to make is what to do at the quarterback position and determine if Drew Lock is the long-term option.
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