"That's your No. 1 goal": George Paton opens up on Drew Lock and the Broncos' quest to find a franchise quarterback

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Days after hiring one of the hottest general manager prospects in the NFL over the last few years, Vic Fangio welcomed George Paton to town with a home-cooked meal.

“He hasn’t been here long enough to get the meatballs yet,” Fangio said during Paton’s introductory press conference on Tuesday, without even cracking a smile. “He’s got to prove his worth before he get meatballs. But he’s well on his way there. We just had a regular steak dinner the other night.”

If Paton wants to prove himself worthy of Fangio’s Italian meatballs, a good place to start would be for the new general manager to find the Broncos a franchise quarterback. Since Peyton Manning rode off into the sunset after Denver’s Super Bowl 50 championship, the Broncos have gone round and around the carousel of quarterbacks while piling up a losing record over the last five seasons.

“The quarterback’s the most important position in sports. So if you don’t have stability at quarterback, you’re going to have a hard time sustaining and winning. So [it’s] very important,” Paton said about how important finding a franchise quarterback is for a team to have success. “But I don’t think the focus should be taken off the defense just because you want a franchise quarterback. I think we all want the franchise quarterback and that’s your No. 1 goal—to try to draft and develop or acquire any way you can.”

Paton’s search for the guy won’t be starting from scratch, however. The Broncos already have 24-year-old Drew Lock currently on their roster.

“I liked Drew coming out of the draft,” Paton said about his evaluation of Lock leading up to the 2019 NFL Draft. “Big arm. Athletic. Playmaker. I haven’t studied him. I haven’t gotten into a lot of tape. I’ve only been here four days. I’ve watched enough tape to know he’s talented. He can develop.”

When asked if Lock can be a guy the Broncos can win with moving forward, the new general manager declined to comment. Paton’s predecessor and new boss John Elway hasn’t lost faith in his former second-round pick.

“I’m still high on Drew,” Elway stated on Tuesday. “I think he has the physical abilities to do it. I think this year was essentially his rookie year. I think he was put behind the eight ball with everything that went on with COVID-19 with no offseason, especially with a young offense, a new offensive coordinator, so I think, you know, it was not by any means an ideal situation for Drew.”

In his first full season as a starter, Lock tossed 16 touchdowns to a league-high 15 interceptions for a 75.4 passer rating.

“I still think that Drew’s a young guy. Obviously he showed flashes this year,” Elway said. “He had mistakes—young quarterbacks always make mistakes. I made a million mistakes my first two to three years, but it’s how you can learn from those.”

“So you know, those are the things that George will have to look at,” Elway continued. “We’ll all be looking at, Vic will be looking at—just trying to find that guy that can step in and be successful in that position, it doesn’t necessarily have to be the franchise guy, but has to be able to allow us and give us a chance to win and be able to make plays and give us a chance to win. That’s where the quarterback situation is.”

Despite Elway’s public belief in Lock, John won’t have final say on the Broncos’ quarterback situation as he gave that up when he brought Paton to town with a six-year contract.

“I’m going to say obviously we’re going to continue to look at that position, you always are, and look at opportunities that you have and George will go through that whole process and then if there’s an ability for us to get better in that position, better than we think we have, then I think George will make that decision. But there will be a lot of thought that goes into it,” Elway stated. “Obviously, it’s a very difficult position to find, but I think Drew did a nice job this year, but George will continue to look to fill that spot if we don’t think that Drew’s that guy.”

When pressed with the possibility of Paton trading three first-round picks and two star players for a franchise-type quarterback—say Deshaun Watson, potentially—Elway said he would give his input, but ultimately even that big of a decision would be Paton’s call.

“He’ll still be the one making that decision because that’s his role and that’s his responsibility,” the President of Football Operations said. “I’m here to support him in any way I possibly can and give him my viewpoints, but it’s going to be his decision.”

After spending the past 14 years with the Minnesota Vikings, searching for quarterbacks isn’t new to Paton. In fact, in his tenure with the Vikings, most recently as the assistant general manager, Minnesota had 16 different starting quarterbacks.

“I was in Minnesota, I think we went to the playoffs with six different quarterbacks, if I’m own mistaken, I could be wrong,” Paton stated. “That’s not ideal, but you can still win if you don’t have the franchise guy. You can still win. But obviously we’re looking.”

In those 14 seasons, the Vikings acquired a quarterback in the first round of the draft twice, traded a first-round pick for a quarterback and signed two high-profile free agent quarterbacks. It’s safe to say, Paton’s not afraid go big in an attempt to find a franchise quarterback.

Fangio wants his new boss to create his own opinion of Lock and the Broncos’ quarterback situation without influence from him or the rest of the staff. Paton’s current evaluation of the young quarterback will determine how the Broncos will approach the offseason in regards to the most important position in sports.

If Paton hits on a signal caller—whether that be Lock or another quarterback—Fangio will be cooking up authentic Italian meatballs for his boss.