Biggest 2021 upgrade? Paton replacing Elway as GM
At the time, it didn’t feel like a revival. Broncos Country mourned, shedding tears with linebacker Von Miller as he departed in a trade to the Los Angeles Rams, leaving the only NFL team he had ever known.
At the time, with the Broncos facing collapse for the sixth season in a row, the man that dared to trade Miller was unpopular in Colorado, even under the roof of his own home.
“I have a son. He didn’t appreciate that we traded Von Miller. He’s still not talking to me,” admitted Broncos general manager George Paton, barely 24 hours after trading Miller.
It didn’t seem like a moment of revival at the time. It felt more like the burial of another lost season for a franchise in disarray, with it difficult to tell who would be the quarterback, the coach, and the owner of the Broncos in 2022.
But know what? It turned out trading Miller, a stellar passrusher in decline, was a masterstroke by Paton.
One day short of five weeks since he swapped the Vonster for future draft choices, the Broncos awake in Kansas City, playing the hated Chiefs on “Sunday
Night Football,” with first place in the AFC West on the line.
“I honestly think it was like a kick in the butt,” said Denver linebacker Bradley Chubb, who has seen reinvigorated teammates climb back in the playoff race by compiling a 3-1 record since Miller played his last snap for the team in late October.
Paton, the rookie GM that stepped into the long shadow of John Elway when replacing him in the front office, is beginning to look like a legitimate candidate for NFL executive of the year.
The best reason to believe a return to championship greatness might finally be within sight is the work Paton has done since