Woody Paige: Broncos' Post-Interview Front-Runners for GM are George Paton & Champ Kelly
The race for the Denver Broncos general manager job opening is coalescing. With the first round of interviews in the books, one candidate has gracefully withdrawn from the running while two others have reshuffled the favorites to win the job.
At least, that's according to one of the most tenured Broncos insiders in the market. Woody Paige of the Colorado Springs Gazette — a multi-decade Denver insider with deep ties within the organization, is reporting new information in the wake of the initial wave of interviews.
My NFL sources outside the organization believe the GM will be George Paton or Champ Kelly, both from NFC North teams — the Vikings and the Bears. Intriguingly, the Broncos would be battling the long-suffering Lions for Paton and the equally inept Panthers for Kelly. The three outfits finished 5-11.
Paige's report is a departure from the last on-record info he dropped on the issue last week where he singled out Kelly and New Orleans' VP Terry Fontenot as the leaders in the clubhouse. However, that was before the interviews.
Fontenot has since shouldered his way into the GM opening with the Atlanta Falcons and is being reported as one of the final "two or three" candidates for the job. It's also worth mentioning that Fontenot's availability to take over GM duties is still at least a week out as the Saints defeated the Bears in the Super Wild Card round of the playoffs on Sunday.
Getting back to Paige's reporting, the common theme is Kelly. And with the Bears being jettisoned from the playoffs, he's suddenly available to take the GM if the Broncos were to offer it.
However, don't sleep on Paton. The Vikings' personnel maven rebuffed an interview with Carolina for the Panthers' GM job in order to telegraph to the Broncos his drive to land the Mile High gig.
With Dave Ziegler bowing out to stay with New England, either of the final three outside candidates would be an exciting hire and come with more pros than cons. Kelly feels like the obvious choice, especially considering his past ties to working in Denver, including a stretch under ex-GM John Elway.
But don't be surprised if Paton lands the job. He would be the darkhorse few predicted.
Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen and @MileHighHuddle.
