George Paton opens up about Bradley Chubb's future with the Broncos

LONDON — Over a week before the NFL’s Nov. 1 trade deadline, there were already trade rumors swirling around many notable Denver Broncos.

As the deadline has drawn closer, those rumors have only picked up more steam with more players added to the mix.

But no name in those conversations has been bigger than Bradley Chubb.

On Thursday, as the team prepared for their game on Sunday against the Jaguars in London, general manager George Paton spoke to the media and was asked about his star pass rusher.

“I’ll keep that with Bradley and his agent,” Paton responded, when asked about Chubb’s future, with the options of extending him after this season or trading him before the deadline. “You know how much we like Bradley. We want to keep all of our core players and he is one of our core players.”

Despite wanting to keep Denver’s core players in town, there is a belief that the Broncos will be sellers at the trade deadline because of their 2-5 start to the 2022 season. When asked if the team will, in fact, be sellers before Tuesday’s deadline, Paton paused, and then responded, “We’re going to do what’s best for the team.”

Paton did not deny it.

Denver’s general manager also did not deny the team has received phone calls from other teams about trading for current Broncos.

“I work the phones a lot. And they call. I talk to GMs all the time. So we have received [trade] calls,” Paton added. “Obviously, nothing imminent. We’re going to do whatever’s best for this football team. We do like our players. We’re not in the mode of getting rid of our really good players.”

Chubb is undoubtedly one of Denver’s “really good players,” especially considering he’s having the second-best start to a season in his career. Through seven games, Chubb has racked up 5.5 sacks, eight quarterback hits and two forced fumbles.

Additionally, for Chubb’s case to stay in Denver, Paton added the defense is “borderline elite” and is what has kept the team in it. Paton downplayed the idea that the result of Sunday’s game against the Jaguars will have an impact on if the Broncos decide to trade players or not.

“Really, we’re just trying to win this game. It shouldn’t have any impact in what we do,” Paton stated. “Just looking forward to Sunday.”

On Sunday, Denver’s has an opportunity to break a four-game losing streak. By Tuesday afternoon, the world will know if Paton and the Broncos were sellers or stood pat at the trade deadline.