George Paton-broncos-fired-hot seat-nathaniel Hackett

November 29, 2022 By: Jason Alsher

Here’s why the Denver Broncos should fire general manager George Paton

Nathaniel Hackett has rightfully taken a lot of heat in his first season as head coach of the Denver Broncos. At his current trajectory, he’s likely going to be a one (season) and done head coach in the Mile High City.

Russell Wilson is right there with Hackett on the firing line with fans, analysts, and scribes calling the 34-year-old quarterback washed up.

One man that should be getting much more of the blame than he is for the Broncos’ pathetically awful 2022 season is General Manager George Paton.

Are the Denver Broncos going to fire Paton, who was hired in January of 2021?

Probably not.

But, when you look at the big picture of the situation, the Walton-Penner ownership group should absolutely give it some serious thought.

Here are the reason why Paton should be on the chopping block this offseason:

Hiring Nathaniel Hackett

From countless game/clock management blunders to horrific play calling to his stubbornness in giving up play calling duties to questionable personnel decisions, it’s become abundantly clear that Hackett simply isn’t cut out to be a head coach in the National Football League at this point in time. With all that we’ve seen, there will never be anyone who can convince me that hiring Hackett was anything more than a play to get Aaron Rodgers on board with coming to play for the Denver Broncos.

Not only did Hackett take on the massive responsibilities of being a NFL head coach when he got to Denver, he also added the duties of calling offensive plays — something he had not been doing in Green Bay, despite his title of offensive coordinator.

It’s hard not to wonder what this team would look like with Kevin O’Connell or Dan Quinn at the helm.

The Russell Wilson contract

I don’t blame Paton for making a bold move at all.

In fact I applaud it.

Given what everyone outside of the Seattle Seahawks team facility knew at the time the trade seemed like a no-brainer. If the Broncos were getting a franchise quarterback, the price they paid would be well worth it. But in reality, NFL teams don’t trade elite, franchise quarterbacks in their prime.

That said, I have no issues with Paton making the trade.

Paton also made the claim that Wilson was Plan A for the Broncos this past offseason, but I’m not buying it. It’s easy to say this in hindsight, but who in their right mind would ever want Russell Wilson over two-time reigning NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers?

Give me a break.

Again, I don’t have an issue with Paton backing his new QB, even if it was obviously nothing more than lip service.

What makes the Russell Wilson debacle a fireable offense is the fact that Paton crippled the franchise by signing the nine-time Pro Bowler to a five-year $242 million contract extension without ever seeing him play a down of football in a Broncos uniform.

Don’t be fooled: Paton absolutely did not have to extend Wilson before the season. There’s a chance Wilson waived his no-trade clause because Paton said he’d extend him. But at the end of the day, it’s not like Wilson would have held out and missed any games if Denver took their time and waited until a month or two into the season before getting a deal done.

Denver is now stuck with Wilson and his tone deaf press conferences until at least 2026.

The verdict…

Paton has done some good things in Denver. His 2021 draft class (Patrick Surtain II, Javonte Williams, Baron Browning, Quinn Meinerz, Caden Sterns) is shaping up to be excellent. Randy Gregory has been outstanding when healthy.

On the flip side, he likely overpaid for Courtland Sutton (four years, $60.8 million), he swung and missed big on his first big trade and head coach hire, and he set the franchise back at least three years with the contract he gave Wilson.

Is that enough for the new Broncos’ ownership group to move in a different direction?

Probably not.

But it should be.