George Paton maintains Broncos didn’t do Russell Wilson wrong

Denver Broncos general manager George Paton was asked at the NFL Combine about QB Russell Wilson multiple times on Tuesday.

It’s no surprise, as when / if Wilson will be released by Denver remains the biggest sports story locally and high on the list nationally.

And while head coach Sean Payton tipped his hand about the Broncos “next QB,” almost assuredly making it sound like Denver is moving on, Paton was a little more measured.

First, he said the team wants to make an “informed decision” about how to proceed forward.

Broncos GM George Paton on wanting to make an “informed decision” on Russell Wilson pic.twitter.com/kPnIAxCbXk

— Jori Epstein (@JoriEpstein) February 27, 2024

Next, Paton said there’s been no interest in a Wilson trade from other NFL teams. That’s not surprising given his massive contract extension that Paton handed out and hasn’t even kicked in yet, but it’s noteworthy.

However, perhaps the most interesting question is what Wilson keeps talking about. And that’s insisting the Broncos threatened to bench him if he didn’t remove the injury-guarantee clause from his contract.

Wilson went on former NFL wide receiver Brandon Marshall’s podcast over the weekend and spoke about it at length. He even claimed what the Broncos threatened to do was “illegal.” A source told Denver Sports’ Andrew Mason that simply isn’t the case.

Regardless, Paton was asked about this on Tuesday in Indianapolis, and maintains the Broncos didn’t do Wilson wrong.

“We’ve addressed that. We’ve moved forward. Everything we did was above board. I appreciate Russ, but we’ve moved forward. We have a lot of work to do. We’re here at the combine, we have free agency around the corner. We’re focused on bettering our team and winning football games,” Paton said.

Paton did address it as his end of the season press conference last month, and had a similar message.

“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 in early January.

So while Wilson keeps telling his side of the story, it sounds like Paton isn’t going to take the bait. And frankly, he’ll probably be glad once the Broncos do inevitably release Wilson, and he can stop answering these kind of questions.