George Paton knows he’s accountable for failed Russell Wilson era

Denver Broncos general manager George Paton is taking responsibility for his role in the failed Russell Wilson trade.

Speaking at the NFL’s Annual Meeting on Monday, Paton was asked about the Wilson era going poorly. After giving up a slew of players and draft picks in the spring of 2022, Wilson went to just 11-19 as Denver’s quarterback and was cut after two seasons. The Broncos are taking on the largest dead cap in NFL history, just to get Wilson off the roster.

They’ll pay him almost $38 million to play for the Pittsburgh Steelers next season. The deal with the Seahawks is largely looked at as one the worst trades in NFL history, as well as the contract Paton give Wilson before he played a snap in orange in blue. That nearly $250 million deal never even ended up kicking in, but the ramifications of guaranteed money and dead cap did.

The Broncos will spread out the $85 million over the next two years, taking on $53 million in 2024 and $32 million in 2025. All of this is what Paton essentially addressed on Monday for the first time.

George Paton, on the Russell Wilson acquisition and aftermath: “… At the end of the day, we didn’t play good enough offense. We didn’t win enough games. I’m accountable for that.” pic.twitter.com/1ARHIWRG0K

— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) March 25, 2024

“We took a shot on a quarterback who had a lot of success in this league,” Paton said via our senior Broncos write Andrew Mason. “It wasn’t just Russ. There was a lot of contributing factors to why we didn’t win. At the end of the day, we didn’t play good enough offense. We didn’t win enough games. I’m accountable for that.”

It’s nice to see Paton take accountability, but at the same time, he mentioned “contributing factors.” The largest would be the incompetent Nathaniel Hackett, who he hired to be the head coach in 2022. That ended with Hackett getting fired after just 15 games and being regarded as one of the worst head coaches in NFL history.

“No one tried harder than Russ to make this work. I appreciate the effort, the professionalism he showed. Man, total pro. Wish him the best in Pittsburgh, he’s going to a good team,” Paton said.

Good on Paton for taking responsibility, but there’s also only so many times you can say “my bad” and keep your job. For now, despite bungling the Hackett hire, Wilson trade and Wilson contract, George Paton is still employed.

Clearly Broncos owner / CEO Greg Penner is a patient and forgiving man.