Pick a lane, George Paton.
“Everything is in front of us,” the Broncos general manager said Tuesday afternoon at UCHealth Center when asked about his 4-4 squad. “We’re in the thick of it.”
If thatap the case, I asked, then why trade Von Miller? If you feel you’re in the AFC West playoff chase, then why take your best defender out of the equation with half a season left?
Paton stammered at that one a little.
“They’re in a … they’re … we’re still trying to get to where they are,” Paton said of the 7-1 Los Angeles Rams, the Vonster’s new squad.
“We’re a younger team. And I think we’re going to get there. It may take a little more time. I just think they’re up and rolling. And we may be by the end of the season. But if we had to trade him, that was the type of place we wanted to trade him.”
²’t this supposed to be that type of place?
“We really wanted to do right by (Von),” Paton said. “We wanted to send him to a winning franchise with a great head coach and a top-notch defense.”
²’t this supposed to be that type of … oh, never mind.
Pick a lane.
In the final hours of the NFL’s trade deadline on Tuesday, Paton punctuated a hectic 10 days by swapping rookie cornerback Kary Vincent Jr. to the Eagles for a sixth-round pick. And that was it.
Tailback Melvin Gordon, who’s in the last year of his contract? Still here. Cornerback Kyle Fuller, also in a contract year? Still here. Tim Patrick? Still here. Courtland Sutton? Still here.
Want to ride shotgun on the 9-8 bandwagon? Plenty of good seats still available, kids. Like, thousands. Seriously.
“This is not a fire sale,” Paton stressed.
“We believe in all these guys. We’re 4-4 and everything’s in front of us. We had a long conversation. I think they’re all-in. I know they’re all-in. We traded one (star) player. He’s a great player, but we believe in the guys behind him. We believe in this roster.
“We do need to play better. Everyone needs to know that. There is an urgency.”
Oh, doctor. If I had a dollar for every time a Broncos player, coach, or executive used the word “urgency,” I’d have enough money to start buying out coach Vic Fangio’s contract.
Pick a lane.
If itap not a fire sale, then what is it?
“We’re not approaching a rebuild,” Paton countered. “We’re just trying to do it the right way. Sometimes you have to make tough decisions.”
Paton’s actions Sunday and Monday spoke 10 times louder than his words on Tuesday. And thank goodness.
“(He’s) had a lot of success in this league,” he said of offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur. “I believe in Pat, but we do need to play better.”
(Wink.)
“The thing I like about Vic,” he said of Fangio, “is (that) he’s stayed the course and he has not flinched.”
(Wink.)
“We feel like Teddy is our quarterback,” he said of Teddy Bridgewater, “and Teddy is our leader. And if we can play better around Teddy we’ll get good results.”
(Wink.)
“We want to build a foundation here … Thatap not fair, to some of our core guys, to rebuild.”
Itap also not fair to apountry to leave fans twisting in the wind. But whatever.
Paton spent more than half of his 20 minutes at the podium heaping enough praise upon the Vonster to turn heads in Vatican City. He also insisted that the rumors of Saint Von and a lingering locker room rift were “absolutely not” true, although given the aforementioned comments on Shurmur, your levels of trust may vary.
You wish Paton had gone all-in dealing away guys in contract years, guys who aren’t a realistic part of 2022 or ‘23. But the downside of throwing in $9 million to the Rams for Miller was that it also limited his flexibility with moving Gordon or Fuller, both of whom are playing out the string here.
In a lame-duck season with a lame-duck ownership trust, a lame-duck coaching staff and a lame-duck quarterback, Paton is in Season 1 of a six-year deal. He’s playing the long game.
Eleven draft picks — so far — in 2022 is a lot of wiggle room for a first-time general manager. It also serves as a pretty nifty conversation-starter with a new owner, if you think about it, once the regime change becomes official. Which direction do you want us to go, boss? Who’s the next face of the franchise?
If that draft capital gets flipped into an Aaron Rodgers or a Russell Wilson, all will be forgiven. Including Von. Especially Von.
Pick a lane.
All apountry wants — and the least that they deserve — is an idea where this ship is sailing.
“We are 4-4,” Paton said. “It feels like we’re 1-7, but we’re 4-4.”
We get it. On Election Day, the Broncos GM had to play politician. Thread the needle. He can’t say with a straight face in front of microphone that this bunch is .500 thanks to the grace of the Good Lord and the NFL’s scheduling computer.
But trading a team icon and then standing in front of reporters and doubling down on Shurmur, Steady Teddy and Fangio?
That takes some serious stones.
“I have a son, and he didn’t appreciate that I traded Von Miller,” the Broncos GM said.
Then he smiled.
“He’s still not talking to me.”
Pick a lane. For your son’s sake. For everybody’s.
