Paton dodges question a few times on if threat was made to Wilson

Denver Broncos GM George Paton said on Tuesday that the door is open for QB Russell Wilson to return in 2024.

Whether or not anyone believes him remains to be seen, but it’d certainly be curious.

Especially after Wilson claims the Broncos threatened to bench him after the win against the Chiefs if he didn’t redo the injury guarantee in his massive $245 million contract.

The news came to light in late December, and quickly became both local and national headlines. Several media personalities blasted the Broncos for how they handed the situation.

Paton took the microphone at Denver’s end of the season press conferences on Tuesday, and told his side of the story.

“During the bye week I did reach out to Russ’s agent in a good faith and creative attempt to adjust his contract. We couldn’t get a deal done, we moved on with our season. It didn’t come up again,” Paton said.

“Fast forward Week 17, Sean (Payton) makes a change at the quarterback position. This was a football decision made by Sean, what he thought was in the best interest of the team. This was completely independent of any conversations I had with the agent,” Paton continued.

That’s also what the head coach told the media, saying backup QB Jarrett Stidham could provide the team with a “spark” entering the final two games of the season. It didn’t really work out, as the Broncos averaged just 15 points per game in Stidham’s two starts.

Paton somewhat elaborated on the talks with Wilson’s agent, but didn’t want to get into details.

“In regards to the negotiations, I’ll just keep the specifics private out of respect for really everyone involved. Negotiations are hard. You have difficult conversations, tough conversations,” Paton said. “We always try to handle ourselves professionally and in the best interest of the Broncos. And this was no different.”

Paton was insistent he handled these talks, not Payton. The head coach echoed a similar sentiment before Week 17, something many balked at at the time. The GM and head coach were on the same page on that one.

But pressed specifically on if Paton threatened Wilson and his agent with a potential benching should the contract not get redone, he dodged the question multiple times. Three different reporters followed up on it.

“We made a good faith attempt to adjust his contract. And we handled ourselves professionally. You know, I’ll just leave it at that,” Paton said.

When asked where Wilson got the impression the Broncos would bench him if the deal didn’t get reworked, Paton complimented the reporter’s question.

“That’s a good question. You know, again, we tried to make an adjustment to the contract. We did so with what we feel was professionally and in the best interest of the Broncos,” Paton said.

It’s clear Paton was never going to tell the media if Denver did indeed threaten to bench Wilson. That’s what the QB and his camp claim, and that’s something the GM wasn’t willing to answer on Tuesday.