Sean Payton Opens Up on Unique Bond With George Paton

On Friday, the Denver Broncos silenced the NFL rumor mill by extending GM George Paton on a five-year deal. Paton is now under contract through the 2030 season.

Paton was the general manager when Sean Payton arrived as head coach back in 2023. While the Walton-Penner ownership group made the final decision to hire Payton and acquire his coaching rights from the New Orleans Saints, Paton played a part in the process.

However, Payton is a strong personality. There was no guarantee that Payton would hit it off with Paton in Denver, but three year's later, the proof is in the pudding.

“I said this to him the other day... I said to him, I said, ‘Man, I consider myself very fortunate to have been with one general manager in New Orleans who I would call a very close friend and a great working partner, and then to find another person like George,'" Payton said of Paton on Saturday. "I know that we both feel the same way."

Payton is referencing Saints GM Mickey Loomis, with whom he forged a lasting and productive partnership for 16 years. Payton and Loomis won a Super Bowl together back in 2009.

Sharing a Brain

Bringing it back to the present, it turns out that, like Loomis, Payton and Paton share a brain and actually see the NFL world through a similar lens. It's kind of weird that their last names are pronounced the same, though they're obviously spelled differently — but it's another piece of common ground.

Payton made it clear how much of a boon Paton truly is to the Broncos and how they complement each other.

"We love the grind together. He’s a tremendous asset and all,  and he’s very good at what he does," Payton said of Paton. "I think we complement each other."

Never in Doubt

Payton and CEO and co-owner Greg Penner said at different points during the offseason that Paton wouldn't be going anywhere. Penner made it clear that the process just needed to play itself out, but that Paton was integral to the Broncos' future.

"I am super excited for him," Payton said of Paton. "I said that to you guys at the Combine; it was just a matter of time. We think alike in a lot of cases.”

A Productive Partnership

Together, Paton and Payton have won 32 games in three seasons, an AFC West crown, and a playoff game. They had the Broncos one step away from the Super Bowl before losing quarterback Bo Nix to a from-out-of-nowhere ankle injury.

Paton and Payton share the credit for the Broncos' rapid turnaround. Before Payton arrived in Denver, Paton had already put some serious skins on the wall, even if he failed to get the head coach thing right on his first go-round with Nathaniel Hackett. and struck out on the quarterback front with Russell Wilson.

Paton drafted cornerback Patrick Surtain II, right guard Quinn Meinerz, rush linebackers Nik Bonitto and Jonathon Cooper, and center Luke Wattenberg before Payton showed up. Together, they've continued to develop those players, while adding other lynchpins via the draft, like Nix, wideout/returner Marvin Mims Jr., cornerback Riley Moss, wideouts Troy Franklin and Pat Bryant, and running back RJ Harvey, among others.

Because they "think alike," as Payton mentioned, he and Paton have also done extremely well on the free-agent market, getting All-Pro production of signings like defensive end Zach Allen, safety Talanoa Hufanga, and special teams ace Devon Key, not to mention key starters over the past few years, like offensive linemen Ben Powers and Mike McGlinchey and defensive linemen D.J. Jones and Malcolm Roach.

The Broncos are on the right path, and the Walton-Penner ownership group wants to keep them moving straight ahead with a chance to continue climbing the NFL pantheon. A year ago, when Payton publicly voiced his Super Bowl aspirations, the NFL world collectively chortled, but nobody is laughing now. This team is a bona fide contender.

With Paton and Payton now under contract for the foreseeable future, and Nix entering just his third NFL season, the future has never been brighter for the Broncos.

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