The Denver Broncos held an end-of-season press conference on Tuesday featuring team owner/CEO Greg Penner, coach Sean Payton and general manager George Paton. Here are 10 notable takeaways from the presser.
10
Greg Penner encouraged by 2023, understands fan frustration
Penner was encouraged by the team’s progress in 2023, but he also understands frustrations from fans — and he has high expectations, too. The owner expects better days ahead.
“I think we took a big step forward this year,” Penner said. “I was encouraged by what I saw. … With that said, we understand the championship standard that we have here, both for the organization and the fan’s expectations.
“This is a proud franchise. We grade ourselves by our winning record, and this year, we didn’t meet our expectations. … I want to make sure our fans understand that I get their frustrations. The main message for Broncos Country that I would have is we’re just as impatient as you are to win here. We understand that we have a lot of work to do this offseason to get better. I want to thank the fans for your loyalty, support [and] passion. I think we have the best fans in the world here.”
9
George Paton's job is safe
After the Broncos benched quarterback Russell Wilson, speculation increased that general manager George Paton could be on the hot seat. Paton clearly isn’t getting fired, at least not right now.
“It’s been a year now, and I thought it worked really well, especially the partnership between Sean and George,” Penner said. “That relationship between head coach and GM is critical. I was impressed with the way that they handled going from free agency to the draft. It was great to see a number of young players that George and his staff had drafted previously step up and play key roles. I thought there was improvement this year, and I think George can help us build a winning roster here.”
So, Paton is safe.
8
Paton has a year of experience scouting for Payton
After working together for the first time in 2023, Paton and Payton will now enter Year 2 with more familiarity.
“It’s going to be huge,” Paton said of now having experience with Payton. “We’ve had three coaches in three years. It’s hard on the building, and it is hard on the scouts. [We’ve had] new coaches coming in and out. Sean does a great job of describing the vision he wants for each position.
“The scouts have an idea, and the scouts are experts because Sean and the coaches talk so much about players and what they are looking for in players. Last year at this time, we were looking for a coach, but we feel like we [now] have a big jump on the offseason because of that [continuity]. We know exactly what he wants at each position, both on offense and defense.”
Paton knows what Payton looks for in a prospect — including quarterback prospects.
“Quarterback is a little different, but I do know what Sean is looking for in a quarterback,” Paton said. “We’ll see [what happens].”
7
Payton would not reveal statuses of coaches, players
Payton said the team will not begin their 2023 evaluation until next week, which allowed him to sidestep questions about the job security of select coaches and players.
“It’s only our second day since Sunday,” Payton said. “I know there will be a number of questions about staff, but we haven’t gotten into those discussions yet, relative to any personnel, player-wise or coach for that matter. That’s kind of where we are at …
“Like I said, the tough part of this presser is always the questions are good questions, but the cart is ahead of the horse. We’ve got the next two weeks. I’ll be spending time with George, Greg, our coordinators and all that stuff. We’ll look closely, just as we do with our own roster, at what we’re doing. Again, it’s too early today to even get into any discussions.”
6
Broncos want Pat Surtain in Denver 'for a long time'
This is no surprise, of course, but Paton has now said publicly that the team hopes to keep Surtain with the team for the foreseeable future.
“We’re all big fans of Pat,” Paton said. “I think Sean said it — we’re going to have a big meeting in a couple weeks and go through the entire roster, Pat included. We want Pat here for a long time, but I’m not prepared to make any statements on anything moving forward.”
Surtain is heading into the final year of his rookie contract. Denver will have to make a decision on his 2025 fifth-year option (about $18.41 million) by May 2. The Broncos seem likely to exercise that option, and they will eventually have to work on a long-term extension.
Paton did not offer an updates on Surtain’s contract status.
5
Broncos won't be active early in free agency
Denver is expected to be about $24 million over the salary cap, so it’s no surprise that Paton admitted the team will not be active early in free agency later this spring.
“We won’t be in on the first wave of free agency like we were last year,” Paton said. “You can’t do that every year. We’ll be very strategic and very specific on what positions and what players we try to sign.”
Paton also said the team has six draft picks and they “could have more” by the time April arrives, perhaps a hint that a few trades are on the way. So the Broncos might not make big splashes during free agency, but the team should be active leading up to and during the draft.
4
Paton seemingly hinted that two players could be leaving
Paton did not directly say so, but he seemed to imply that two pending in-house free agents might leave in March. After saying that the team views cornerback Riley Moss as “a starter in this league,” he said the same applied to linebacker Drew Sanders. That may or may not have been a hint that Sanders will be in line to start in 2024 after Josey Jewell hits free agency. Paton described Alex Forsyth the same way — “We feel he’s a starter in this league at center” — perhaps a precursor to Lloyd Cushenberry leaving in free agency this spring. Jewell and Cushenberry were key starters for the Broncos in 2023, but the team might not be able to afford them in 2024.
3
No update on new uniforms or a potential new stadium
The Broncos are working on new uniforms and there has been speculation that the team might eventually build a new stadium as well. Penner did not have much of an update on either front.
“Stadium — nothing to update there,” Penner said. “We’re continuing to evaluate options. It’s a long-term, complex question of what we end up doing there. I will say that I was pleased with the impact of the upgrades that we made this last offseason. I think that fans, from the feedback that we got, appreciated it as well.
“Uniforms — nothing to announce on new uniforms today. That’s also been [some] learning for me. I just figured when you wanted to change your uniforms, you just made a new uniform. But boy, it’s a several year process with the league and Nike to get there. We’ll be having some things coming there in the future, but nothing to announce today.”
2
Broncos did not deny threat to bench Russell Wilson
After the Broncos benched Wilson with two games remaining on the 2023 schedule, reports emerged that the team had previously threatened to bench him weeks earlier if he did not revise his contract. Wilson later confirmed those reports himself.
That was a big topic during the team’s end-of-season presser. This was Paton’s opening remark on the situation:
“I appreciate the question. I’ll address the ‘Russ’ situation hopefully one time and as thoroughly as possible. During the bye week, I did reach out to Russ’ agent in good faith and in a creative attempt to adjust his contract. We couldn’t get a deal done, and we moved on with our season. It didn’t come up again. Fast forward to Week 17, and Sean makes a change at the quarterback position. This was a football decision made by Sean in what he thought was in the best interest of team. This was completely independent of any conversations I had with the agent.
“Again, it was a football decision made by Sean. [Regarding] negotiations, I’ll keep the specifics private out of respect for everyone involved. Negotiations are hard. You have difficult conversations and tough conversations. You can characterize a negotiation anyway you want. We always try to handle ourselves professionally and in the best interest of the Broncos. This was no different.”
Paton danced around the topic of Wilson being threatened by saying he was keeping specifics “private.” That did not stop multiple reporters from continuing to ask if Paton would specifically deny threatening to bench Wilson during negotiations. The GM skirted the topic.
“We made a good faith attempt to adjust his contract,” Paton said. “We handled ourselves professionally, and I’ll leave it at that.”
So if the team did not threaten to bench Wilson, why would the QB say that they did?
“That’s a good question,” Paton said. “We tried to make an adjustment to the contract. We did so professionally and what was in the best interest of the Broncos.”
Clearly, that’s not a question Paton wants to answer.
Update: As a reader has pointed out, it’s possible that Paton did not want to directly say that Wilson lied when he said the team threatened to bench him. Making such a statement and essentially calling the quarterback a liar would undoubtedly damage an already strained relationship.
1
Broncos claim Wilson could return in 2024
Despite all the drama, both Payton and Paton said Wilson could remain with the team in 2024.
“The door remains open with ‘Russ,'” Paton said. “I’ve had good conversations with Russ, and Sean has had good conversations. The door is open. We’ll get through the process, and we’ll visit with the coaching staff and scouting staff. We’ll visit with Russ and his people, and we’ll go from there.”
There are three possible ways to read those comments from Paton. The first way is to take it at face value and believe that Denver is truly open to the possibility and are willing to bring the QB back in 2024.
The second way to read it is as a conditional possibility — the Broncos are open to Wilson returning IF… he adjusts his contract. That seems unlikely to happen because the QB has all the leverage. Wilson will be paid whether he’s on the team or cut, so he has no reason to accept a pay cut for football reasons (personal reasons might come into play if Wilson does not want to move his family again).
The third way to read it is posturing from the team in an effort to create some trade value. No team will trade for Wilson if they believe Denver is about to cut him. And even if teams do believe the Broncos plan to keep him, finding a trade partner might still prove to be difficult given his contract.
If Paton is being honest, Wilson returning to the team in 2024 remains a possibility. The next few months will be interesting.
