The early returns on George Paton’s tenure with the Broncos aren’t great

There is still a long way to go before the finish line, but the early returns are a little alarming. George Paton’s first offseason in charge of the Broncos isn’t exactly off to a rousing start.

Let’s take a look at his early efforts:

• In late January, the Broncos threw their hat in the ring for Matthew Stafford. Ultimately, they lost out, as the Rams outbid them for the former Lions quarterback.

• When he took the job, Paton said that getting a long-term deal done with Justin Simmons was a priority. Thus far, he’s been unable to accomplish that goal, however, as Denver used the franchise tag on the safety for a second-straight year.

• For months, there’s been speculation that the Broncos would restructure Von Miller’s contract, avoiding the linebacker’s $18 million salary in 2021 and reducing his $22.225 million cap hit. That didn’t happen, forcing Denver to pick up the team option on the Super Bowl 50 MVP’s final season.

• Two weeks ago, Paton told reporters that he was discussing a new deal with Kareem Jackson’s agent, hoping to reduce the safety’s cap hit for 2021. Those conversations obviously went nowhere, as the Broncos released Jackson, one of their best playmakers, to save $10 million in cap space this season.

• At the start of free agency, the Broncos announced that they were signing Shelby Harris to a three-year, $27-million deal. That’s good news for the defensive lineman, as he gets paid to stay in Denver. But given that there was no market for his services a year ago in free agency, when he was coming off of a better season and the salary cap had gone up instead of down, it seemed like Denver was overpaying to keep one of their own.

• The Broncos released A.J. Bouye after the 2020 season, parting ways with the veteran cornerback. They replaced him with Ronald Darby, signing him to a three-year, $30-million deal. Since their fairly similar players, it might’ve made more sense to pay Bouye for one more season instead of having to get locked in to a long-term deal with Darby.

• On Thursday, the Broncos rescinded the original-round tender offer they had given Phillip Lindsay, essentially ending the running back’s tenure in Denver. This came a day after they signed Mike Boone away from the Vikings. So instead of keeping a player who posted back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons in 2018 and ’19, Paton chose a player who has rushed for 379 total yards during his three-year career.

Granted, the work is not yet done. There is still plenty of time for Paton to make some big-time moves, masterstrokes that turn around the franchise. But his early efforts haven’t been promising.

Essentially, he’s done the following:

Added
RB Mike Boone
CB Ronald Darby

Lost
CB A.J. Bouye
DL Jurrell Casey
S Kareem Jackson
RB Phillip Lindsay

In other words, the Broncos roster right now is worse than it was at the starting of last year’s training camp. Given that Denver went 5-11 in 2020, that’s not a good thing.

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