Randy Gregory is heading to San Francisco with a guaranteed $28 million in his pocket. If you’re curious, that averages out to $9.3 million per Broncos sack and $4.67 million per Denver start. Nice work if you can avoid it.
All of which kinda begged this question from the usual gang of idiots inside the Grading The Week offices recently:
What exactly, George Paton, would you say you … do here?
George Paton’s Latest Job Review — D
OK, now this, first off: In movie terms, Paton, the Broncos’ GM, no longer has what Hollywood calls “final cut.”
League sources confirmed recently to the Grading The Week buzzards that coach/PR specialist Sean Payton has the last and loudest word on everything.
Paton has a title. Sunshine Sean has all the power. That was part of the conditions that got the latter out of the makeup chair at Fox and into the hot seat at Dove Valley.
Look, NFL general managers have to push a lot of buttons. But you’ve got to nail just four of them: Finding a coach; landing a quarterback; drafting and keeping a good, sustainable young core; nailing good values on the free-agent market.
Paton’s results so far: Nope; maybe; sort of; and holy heck, no.
Nathaniel Hackett might have worked with Aaron Rodgers — accent on the “might — as a head coach. But we know he brought only the worst out of Russell Wilson. After Hackett flamed out so quickly, bringing on Payton — for better or worse — was a joint effort.
Strike one.
Big Russ? To their credit, current Broncos coaches have stoked some kind of fire under DangeRuss’ hindquarters, in part through berating the snot out of him, a direct contrast to Hackett’s nauseating fawning and kid gloves. Mind you, the flip side of said progress is that it doesn’t matter much when your defense is giving up 35 points to bad Washington, 28 to bad Chicago, and a gazillion to the Dolphins. Also, that contract extension, even if it was allegedly Greg Penner’s idea? Oy.
Strike two.
Drafting? Paton’s DNA is in collegiate scouting, but GTW would only grade him out at a “C” so far. Why? For one, Pat Surtain II would be a star anywhere. Javonte WIlliams could be, too, if his knee holds up. And yes, Quinn Meinerz, Baron Browning, Caden Sterns and Jonathon Cooper have kept the train moving forward at various points when (and if) they’re healthy.
But whenever the leg that is the ’22 draft crop gets leaned on — man, the whole table starts to fall over. Nik Bonitto appears to be on the right track. But Damarri Mathis? Delarrin Turner-Yell? Montrell Washington? Luke Wattenberg? Eyioma Uwazurike? Figuratively or literally lost at this level. Sure, Marvin Mims Jr. looks tasty. When he plays. Which is what, never?
But even mixed results through the draft look like masterpierces compared to our man George’s stabs at the free-agent market.
Ronald Darby. Kyle Fuller. MIke Boone. Shamar Stephen. Courtland Sutton’s four-year, $60.8 million extension was hailed as a bargain in November 2021. Yet over the last two seasons, No. 14’s made 19 starts, piled up 84 catches, 1,045 receiving yards and five touchdowns. Over a 17-game regular season, that projects, on average, to 935 receiving yards and four scores. Yet Sutton’s got the fourth-highest cap hit of any NFL wideout this season, per Spotrac.com.
Tim Patrick, who landed a three-year, $34 million extension from Paton that November, hasn’t appeared in an NFL game since Week 17 of 2021, a span that hit 637 days as of Friday morning.
And Gregory? Holy cannoli.
The hand-wringing Jerry Jones allegedly did after losing the former Husker to the Broncos on the free-agent market was utter baloney. The number we all should’ve been paying attention to was 12. As in, that was how many games big Randy started over his first five — five! — seasons in Dallas.
The bull that ignores red flags? He’s got nobody but himself to blame when he finds himself lying in the center of the ring with swords sticking out of his back.
