After the Denver Broncos benched quarterback Russell Wilson on Wednesday, fans and pundits are now questioning if general manager George Paton has a future with the team beyond the 2023 season.
Paton agreed to trade three players plus two first-round picks and two second-round picks to the Seattle Seahawks in exchange for Wilson last year. In addition to giving up those picks and players, Paton immediately gave Wilson a five-year, $245 million contract.
That will likely go down as one of the worst trades in NFL history, and the contract extension makes it even worse. Can Paton survive such a blunder?
Broncos ownership, likely with plenty of input from head coach Sean Payton, will have to make a decision on Paton’s future after the 2023 season. Denver will host the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 17 before closing out the season on the road against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 18.
Wilson went 11-19 as a starter and there’s a growing sentiment in Broncos Country that Paton might be shown the door in 2024.
On the heels of the Russ news I’m now fully expecting Sean Payton to also move on from GM George Paton. I’ve talked about this for a long time…u can’t separate George from the trade & deal. They are inextricably tied together IMO. Fair? Those are the big boy breaks of the game.
— Zach Bye (@byesline) December 27, 2023
George Paton gave Russ a quarter of a billion dollar contract that hasn’t even kicked in yet.
Hard to imagine he doesn’t go down with Russ.
— Tyler Polumbus (@Tyler_Polumbus) December 27, 2023
George Paton will go down as the biggest idiot in the world giving Seattle 2 firsts 2 seconds Lock , Fant , Harris for Russell Wilson
Then handing him 235 million before he ever PUT ON THE UNIFORM .— Zack🦈 (@RussToJeudy10) December 27, 2023
Can we bench George Paton too?
— Kevin (@SleepyKev5) December 27, 2023
George Paton’s biggest whiff was that insane contract before Russ even took a snap https://t.co/u9mK8u3jqL
— Chris (@cjkrier) December 27, 2023
Russell Wilson, who George Paton gave a quarter of a billion contract extension to, just got benched. That new deal hasn’t even kicked in yet.
A stunning day in #BroncosCountry https://t.co/98L3AKbkr1
— Will Petersen (@PetersenWill) December 27, 2023
George Paton right now pic.twitter.com/BcOZXAuhxG
— Chandler Hyler P.O (@chandler_hyler) December 27, 2023
George Paton. That seat is getting hot !!
— Thomas Stopani (@TLStopani_) December 27, 2023
Russ was the first domino to fall.
George Paton has to be the next.
Remove any and all remnants of the Wilson trade.
— Zack Kelberman (@KelbermanNFL) December 27, 2023
It's time to fire George Paton.
— Joe Rowles (@JoRo_NFL) December 27, 2023
Now we wait and see if the man who pulled the trigger on the Russell Wilson trade, GM George Paton sticks around.
Will Sean Payton clean house?
— MileHighReport (@MileHighReport) December 27, 2023
Let's see what happens with Russ, as there is a possibility of restructuring him.
But yeah, this is not great news for Russ or George Paton. #Broncos @DenverSportsCom https://t.co/yODpGnXWEZ
— Cecil Lammey (@CecilLammey) December 27, 2023
I’m guessing this means the end of Russell Wilson and George Paton in Denver
— 🄱🄾🄶🄶🄸🄽🅂 (@Mr_Boggins) December 27, 2023
George Paton next … https://t.co/pzfvNy4yPd
— Ian St. Clair (@IanStClair) December 27, 2023
The only draft pick George Paton got back in the Russell Wilson trade was used on Eyioma Uwazurike. He's suspended for gambling on NFL games and the Broncos. #BroncosCountry
— Will Petersen (@PetersenWill) December 27, 2023
George Paton will probably never get another GM job
— Unbiased Sports Fan (@ImDavidSisneros) December 27, 2023
Don't forget that George Paton got bullied by Russell Wilson's agent into giving him a monster deal without even playing a down in a #Broncos uniform! This was after Wilson had a horrific training camp. Paton has hurt this franchise as much as Joe Ellis did behind the scenes.
— Kevin Kissner (@KissnerRadio) December 27, 2023
If you want to fire George Paton you should also fire yourself because you all threw a metaphorical parade when he traded for Russell Wilson
— Mark Springer: Radio Machine (@MarkAMark) December 27, 2023
Paton was hired by the Broncos in 2021 after John Elway stepped down from his GM role. Denver has gone 19-31 with Paton in charge.
