The future of the Denver Broncos is uncertain after the team earned a sixth consecutive losing season with the first-year pairing of quarterback Russell Wilson and head coach Nathaniel Hackett. With each week comes embarrassingly new lows in statistical and historical categories as the Broncos find new ways to inflict despair and continue to endorse their losing culture.
Naturally, the questions of who should be held accountable for this disastrous outcome are at the forefront of discussions within Broncos Country with just five games remaining this season. Not to mention the Broncos host the Kansas City Chiefs this Sunday, who are on a 13-game winning streak over Denver.
Are Hackett and GM George Paton tied together in terms of staying employed by the Broncos? After all, it was Paton who handpicked Hackett, who was Green Bay’s offensive coordinator and was supposed to lead a turnaround for this franchise.
While some call for Wilson to be benched, as the Broncos’ anemic offense averages 13.8 points per game, others predict Paton to get his walking papers for constructing this failure. During his weekly appearance on 104.3 The FAN‘s radio show Schlereth and Evans, NFL insider Adam Schefter was asked about Paton’s job security.
“I expect that George Paton is going to be safe. I don’t think he’s going anywhere; you can write that down for me,” Schefter said The FAN. “I think that George Paton is somebody who is respected and has done a good job. Obviously, he hasn’t had a great year. The whole organization hasn’t had a great year. But I expect George Paton to be back in 2023.”
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Paton, who has a revered and esteemed reputation within the NFL scouting community, was hired by John Elway and Joe Ellis in 2021. Lured away from the Minnesota Vikings, where he was an assistant GM and VP of player personnel, Paton is in his second year as the shot-caller in Denver.
Paton’s short history as a Broncos executive has spawned immediate successes, like the drafting of cornerback Patrick Surtain II in 2021, and free-agent acquisitions like cornerback K’Waun Williams and defensive tackle DJ Jones this year.
But what about inking Wilson to a $245 million contract extension before he ever took a regular-season snap for the Broncos? Especially after trading away a haul to the Seattle Seahawks to acquire Wilson last offseason.
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The Walton/Penner ownership group, led by Greg Penner, is surely raising its eyebrows at some of Paton’s moves that have led many fans to wonder when the billionaire contingent will intervene.
“I’m sure Greg Penner is just not sitting back and just waiting, ’tis the season and say, ‘Okay, well what are we going to do,'” Schefter told The FAN. “‘Are we going to make a coaching change? Are we not going to make a coaching change?’ I think he’s doing his due diligence. There’s a lot of smart people in the Colorado area you can lean on for advice and counsel. I can think of people who have been a part of that organization, Peyton Manning, Mike Shanahan, right? If I were him, I’d be calling them and asking them what’s going on, their insights and what they think he should do. I think that Greg Penner is a very smart, dedicated, [and] caring guy. I think Broncos fans are going to see how he operates as an owner.”
Schefter didn’t mince words on the Denver radio airwaves on Thursday morning and has been on record saying that he doesn’t foresee the Walton/Penner group sparing any expense to pursue the personnel required to win football games in 2023.
The most unfamiliar aspect for Broncos Country to grasp about the team’s new owners is the fact that none of them have experience in professional football, specifically the intricate nature of the NFL. Robert Walton is one of the richest billionaires on the face of the planet, but that isn’t an indication of how his son-in-law Greg Penner plans to govern this franchise.
When it comes to being in the NFL know, Schefter is second to none. His expectations for change in what can only be considered a seismic shift at the end of the 2022 season should be met with curiosity from Broncos Country.
“I think it’s going to be very strong, very invested, very caring, and very do whatever it takes to get my team that I spent a record sum on, going in the right direction,” Schefter told The FAN.
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