ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — On Monday, the Denver Broncos traded their highest-paid player, their most decorated player, the face of the franchise and the longest current tenured Bronco when they said goodbye to Von Miller.

Yet despite trading the Super Bowl 50 MVP to the Los Angeles Rams for future draft capital, George Paton was adamant the Broncos are not rebuilding.

“We’re not approaching a rebuild,” Paton stated firmly on Tuesday, even laughing at the notion. “We’re just trying to do it the right way. And sometimes you have to make tough decisions. We want to build a foundation here. We have a lot of good players here.”

“That’s not fair to Justin Simmons. That’s not fair to Teddy Bridgewater. That’s not fair to some of our core guys to rebuild,” Paton continued. “I think we have enough players here. Now do we need to continue to build the foundation to get to where we need to go? Certainly. And we will continue to do that and that’s what we’ve done with some of these trades.”

If they are not rebuilding, are the Broncos retooling? Reshaping? Reloading for the future?

Nope.

They still have their eyes and attention on the 2021 season.

“I still believe in this team. We’re 4-4. People think we’re 2-6. We haven’t played great football and we’re 4-4. I’d like to think we’re going to play better and we’re going to get in the thick of it,” Paton stated, mentioning the team’s current record roughly 10 times during his Tuesday press conference. “We are 4-4. It feels like we’re 1-7. But we are 4-4 and we’re right in the thick of it.”

As Denver’s General Manager acknowledged, Denver’s four-game skid, which ended on Sunday, made it feel as if the Broncos were already eliminated from the playoffs. However, believe it or not, they only sit half a game out of the final wild card spot.

“We’ve had a lot of injuries. That’s not an excuse. That’s not an excuse, but we are getting some guys back and despite everything that’s happened to our football team, we’re 4-4,” Paton continued. “Not what we wanted, but I do think we’ll continue to improve.”

After trading the face of the franchise, Paton met with the Broncos’ captains and squashed any thoughts that the team is rebuilding before they could even arise.

“I just told them I believed in them. I believe in the players that have to replace Von. And you saw that on Sunday,” Paton said. “We believe in all of these guys. We’re 4-4. Everything’s in front of us. So we had a long conversation. I think they’re all in. I know they’re all in.”

Along with trading Miller, Denver made only one other deal before the 2:00 P.M. trade deadline on Tuesday as they sent rookie seventh-round pick Kary Vincent Jr. to the Eagles for a sixth-round pick.

Paton made it clear that “This is not a fire sale.”

“We traded one player,” he added. “He’s a great player, but we believe in the guys behind him. We believe in this roster. We do need to player better. Everyone needs to know that. There is an urgency. We haven’t played great. We need to play better. But the fact of the matter is we’re 4-4 and we’re still in it. I believe in these guys. I believe they can turn it around.”

Saying all of that, Paton didn’t bury his head in the sand and pretend like the 4-4 Broncos, who just traded away their most accomplished player for a future second-round draft pick and third-round draft pick, have arrived.

In fact, after the General Manager made it clear the Broncos “wanted to do right” by Von and send him to a winning organization, he was questioned if he didn’t view the Broncos as a winning organization.

After taking a second to ponder the question, he stated he does view the Broncos as a winning organization. However.

“We’re still trying to get where [the Rams are] at,” Paton said. “We’re a younger team. I think we’re going to get there. It may take a little more time. I just think they’re up and rolling. We may be by the end of the season, but if we had to trade him, that was the place, the type of place where we wanted to trade him.”

In Paton’s mind, the Broncos aren’t rebuilding, yet they clearly haven’t made it. At 4-4, their record accurately represents how Denver’s General Manager views them—somewhere in the middle.

“We’re going to get some great capital from the Rams. It allows us to build a foundation that we’ve already started to build, just add to that foundation and build this thing the right way. And that’s what we’re going to do,” Paton stated, selling his vision of the team. “Moving forward with this team, I believe in the players here. I believe in the coaches here. We’re 4-4.”

“It hasn’t been perfect. We’ve had some ebbs, we’ve had some flows and we have a long way to go,” Paton continued. “But I do believe in the players. We’re 4-4. Everything’s in front of us. We’re still in the thick of it. But yes, we do have a long way to go. Really look forward to the second part of the season and that starts Sunday with the Cowboys, a really great football team.”

The most important person in the organization believes the Broncos have too many pieces to rebuild, but aren’t close enough to turn down a highly-competitive offer for a future Hall-of-Fame player.

After George Paton said goodbye to Von Miller he shifted his attention to Sunday’s game against the Dallas Cowboys, not 2022.