George Paton (American football executive)

George Paton (born May 5, 1970) is an American football executive who is the general manager of the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). Paton previously served as the assistant general manager and vice president of player personnel for the Minnesota Vikings and served with the Vikings in various executive roles for 14 seasons. Paton began his NFL career as a scout for the Chicago Bears before serving as the director of pro personnel for the Miami Dolphins from 2001 to 2006 and joining the Vikings in 2007. Before his career as an executive, Paton played college football at UCLA and later professionally in the Austrian Football League and Italian Football League.

Early years
A native of La Cañada Flintridge, California, Paton played quarterback at Loyola High School (Los Angeles), and was a four year letter winner at defensive back for the UCLA from 1988 to 1991, being a part of a pair of Bruin bowl teams. While at UCLA, Paton earned a bachelor's degree in history.

Europe
In 1992, Paton played in the Italian Football League. In 1993, Paton played in the Austrian Football League with the Vienna Vikings. The team reached the semi-finals of the league playoffs.

Chicago Bears
In 1997, Paton began his executive career with the Chicago Bears in their scouting and personnel department, eventually rising up to the position of assistant director of pro personnel in 2000.

Miami Dolphins
In 2001, Paton was hired by the Miami Dolphins as their director of pro personnel.

Minnesota Vikings
In 2007, Paton was hired as the director of player personnel for the Minnesota Vikings, reuniting with the Vikings vice president of player personnel, Rick Spielman, who worked with Paton in Miami and Chicago. When Spielman was promoted to the Vikings general manager in 2012, Paton was promoted to be assistant general manager. In 2019, Paton was given an additional role as vice president of player personnel.

Denver Broncos
On January 12, 2021, Paton was named the general manager of the Denver Broncos.

Paton has been heavily criticized during his tenure as the Broncos' general manager, primarily for three moves. During the 2022 NFL offseason, Paton hired former Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett to be the team's next head coach following the firing of Vic Fangio. Later that offseason, Paton agreed to a blockbuster trade for nine-time Pro Bowl and former Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson. Denver gave two first-round picks, two second-round picks, a fifth-round pick, quarterback Drew Lock, defensive lineman Shelby Harris, and tight end Noah Fant to Seattle for Wilson and a fourth-round pick. Paton subsequently awarded Wilson with a five-year contract extension worth $245 million (to keep Wilson in Denver through the 2028 season) before the quarterback played a down for the team.

Although these moves were expected to propel the Broncos back into playoff contention after finishing the previous six seasons without a playoff berth, they ended up backfiring. The Broncos finished the 2022 season with a disastrous 5-12 record and last place finish in the AFC West. Wilson struggled through the worst season of his career that year, and Hackett became just the fourth coach in league history to be fired before the end of his debut season after a blowout loss to the injury-riddled Los Angeles Rams. After a 2023 season in which the Broncos finished with an 8-9 record and missed the playoffs, Paton announced that Wilson would be released at the beginning of the 2024 NFL league year. Wilson's release resulted in an NFL record $85 million dead cap hit.

Personal life
The son of a high school football coach, Paton is married to Barbara. They have two children, a daughter, Bella and a son, Beau.