Paton says he got calls on Broncos WRs, explains why he didn’t trade them

The Broncos made two trades on Tuesday before the NFL deadline.

One was major, and one was minor.

The big one was shipping edge-rusher Bradley Chubb to the Dolphins for a package that included a first-round pick in return. The smaller one was acquiring Jacob Martin from the Jets. He’s a local kid who also rushes the passer and can help on special teams.

What GM George Paton didn’t do, was move a wide receiver. ESPN’s Adam Schefter had reported both Jerry Jeudy and KJ Hamler were drawing interest around the league. However, Paton decided not to take away either weapon from QB Russell Wilson.

At his press conference after the trade deadline on Tuesday afternoon, Paton was asked about the interest in those guys and why he ultimately elected to hold onto them.

“We received a number of calls on our receivers and some other positions (and) wanted to keep our young, talented receivers. We started to get some rhythm in the last game versus Jacksonville and we just feel good with where we’re going. We’re trending in the right direction with Jerry, Hamler and Courtland (Sutton). We didn’t want to break that up. We have a good thing going. We’re in it to win it moving forward and so we kept all of our receivers,” Paton said.

He is right about the Jaguars game. Jeudy was solid in London, hauling in six catches for 63 yards and a touchdown. He’s finally starting to show the potential he played with at Alabama, and the reason the Broncos took him in the first-round of the 2020 NFL Draft. And Hamler also had a big catch in the fourth quarter. Wilson hit him down the sideline for 47 yards, the key play on Denver’s game-winning touchdown drive.

So, if they’re finding a rhythm with Wilson, why trade any of them? You can’t commit $245 million to a franchise QB then take away some of his weapons. That wouldn’t make much sense, and Paton made the correct call to make no moves on offense. That’s the side of the football that needs additions for the Broncos, not subtractions.

If, and it’s a big if, the Denver offense can get cooking in the second half, they may still have a fighting chance to salvage this season. Even without Chubb, the defense projects to still be elite.

Now it’s time for Wilson and the receivers to do their part. Paton clearly still believes in them.

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