Broncos Owner Addresses Rumors Surrounding Paton/Payton Partnership
Among the platitudes and cliches that spilled from the podium at Denver Broncos headquarters on Tuesday, the team made an effort to present a united front at the top of the leadership pyramid, led by CEO Greg Penner. With rumors and questions about GM George Paton's job security swirling and head coach Sean Payton facing blowback for his handling of the Russell Wilson benching, Penner presented a rosy picture of the pair's relationship.
"It's been a year now, and I thought it worked really well, especially the partnership between Sean and George," Panner said on Tuesday. "That relationship between head coach and GM is critical. I was impressed with the way that they handled going from free agency to the draft. It was great to see a number of young players that George and his staff had drafted previously step up and play key roles. I thought there was improvement this year, and I think George can help us build a winning roster here."
Penner, Paton, and Payton each fell on their sword, accepting their share of the responsibility for producing a seventh straight losing season. How the Broncos triumvirate maneuvers to make significant progress apparently starts with stressing longer-term objectives.
Cynics within Broncos Country might suggest that the trio's flimsy attempt at extending an olive branch of sorts to its dethroned quarterback fell flat. The chances of the Broncos conjuring up a modicum of trade value for Wilson are slim, especially when you factor in the veteran quarterback's prohibitive contract and recent standard of play.
Furthermore, Paton and Payton leaving an "open door' to their fractured relationship with Wilson might be a PR ploy, considering how his demotion was handled, the QB's indignant feelings at being benched for the first time as a pro, and the veteran's allegations that the Broncos threatened him.
Despite the team's best efforts to keep Payton clean of controversy, adamantly claiming the head coach had no involvement in Paton's overtures to the Wilson camp about removing the injury guarantees in his contract, Denver's approach to the nine-time Pro Bowler during the season was cumbersome at best.
Potential free agents will be watching closely, so lessons must be learned if the Broncos are going to create the perception that Denver is still a good landing spot. Recovering from an extremely poor exercise in public relations will take time, so it's probably just as well that Paton is focusing on the NFL draft to build the depth of talent the Broncos need, especially with such "extreme" salary-cap restrictions looming on account the dead-money on Wilson's contract if he's released.
The Broncos qualified for the No. 12 overall pick in this year's draft.
"It's important to hit on most of your picks, especially when you're picking that high," Paton said. "We haven't had a first-round pick since 2021, and that one worked out pretty well. We're excited, but we don't want to have to pick up here again. We're excited to be picking there."
Solving the riddle at quarterback is obviously going to consume the Broncos' shot-callers all the way up until they're on the clock on the opening night of the draft. In the meantime, turning the page on the sorry Wilson saga is the first order of business for the team, but again, lessons have to be learned for Penner and company.
"Anytime you have a situation like this, and you try to have these conversations, it's not always going to be easy," Penner said. "You always look back and there's different ways you can handle things. I'm sure in this case, we could have done some things in a different way. Again, our goal was to try and see if there was a nice, constructive path forward that was amenable to both parties."
Wilson and Payton's cursory 30-minute meeting to wrap up the season on Monday shouldn't get in the way of resetting and pursuing a franchise quarterback. On that particular front, Penner emphasized that the Broncos' QB search will be a collaborative mission, as will all aspects of improving the roster, insisting that everyone involved at team headquarters understands the role they have to play in the scheme of things.
"As CEO, I want to be briefed and know what's going on," Penner said. "That being said, I entrust people to do their jobs, and I don't coach the football team. I don't call the agents or have negotiations on player contracts. Again, I believe the approach to Russell's agent was done in a constructive way. It just didn't lead to an agreement."
And with that, let the healing begin.
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