Broncos GM Paton now needs to hook a top-end QB
Nov 22, 2021, 5:58 PM
The bait is on the hook. All that’s left for Denver Broncos general manager George Paton to do is reel in a big-time quarterback.
In the span of just a few days, the first-year GM wrapped up two key pieces of Denver’s talented, young core to long-term deals. On Friday, he signed wide receiver Tim Patrick up for three more seasons before inking his counterpart, Courtland Sutton, to four more years on Monday.
“Once players get out in the open market you just never know, and these are two players we really wanted to lock up,” Paton said Monday afternoon.
And no doubt both Sutton and Patrick have earned their big paydays, as both have shown the ability to be special in the Denver passing game. Both rest among the upper echelon of NFL wideouts, ranking 16th (Sutton) and 40th (Patrick) among all receivers, according to Pro Football Focus.
“They’re two of our core players and are important parts of what we’re building as a team,” Paton said. “It’s a priority for us to reward and secure these types of players for the long term.”
And with “building” being the operative word there, it’s expected that Paton and company will continue to improve Denver’s roster with the many resources available to them this offseason.
“Moving forward we’re going to have a lot of cap room and we’re going to have cash. We have 11 draft picks, so we have a lot of flexibility, and I always talk about flexibility, but we do,” Paton said. “We do have a lot of flexibility moving forward, and we locked up two of our primary free agents.”
Flexibility to, perhaps, hook a highly sought-after gunslinger like Russell Wilson or Aaron Rodgers? That remains to be seen.
But without a quarterback to get Sutton and Patrick (and Jerry Jeudy and KJ Hamler) the football, Paton’s moves will be all for naught.
Could the maneuvers over the past few days be just the tip of the iceberg on the road to redemption for the Broncos? Perhaps.
But at the very least, Paton has laid down the foundation to return the once great Denver franchise back to prominence.
