What George Paton and Nathaniel Hackett are looking for in the next Broncos quarterback

INDIANAPOLIS — Where will George Paton and the Denver Broncos look for their next quarterback?

Everywhere.

The trade market? Absolutely.

Free agency? Yep.

In the draft? Of course.

And don’t rule out the two quarterbacks who were tossing the rock in Orange & Blue last year.

“I’m really excited to work with Drew [Lock]. I really am,” Nathaniel Hackett said on Tuesday at the NFL Combine. “I’m excited to see him. He’s a really talented kid.”

Lock has one year remaining on his rookie deal, something George Paton has pointed to multiple times in the offseason.

As for Teddy Bridgewater, who is an unrestricted free agent, well, he may be the only free agent quarterback the Broncos would consider signing on the open market.

When asked if there are multiple quarterbacks he would sign in free agency, Paton stated, “I wouldn’t say multiple.”

“But there are some we like that are very appealing, including Teddy,” Paton stated, apparently pointing out the one free agent quarterback he would have interest in. “You know how I feel about Teddy. I know the coaches watch him They have a lot of good things to say about Teddy.”

The search for Denver’s next quarterback will be wide-reaching, with “no stone going unturned.”

“We just want the best guy. We don’t care if it’s free agency; we don’t care if it’s the draft; we don’t care if it’s a trade,” Paton said, when asked what avenue the team will consider adding a quarterback. “We’re going to exhaust all options to try to get the best guy for the Broncos.”

“We’re going to keep every open at the quarterback position. We know how important it is. It’s the most important position in sports we believe. I know everyone is chomping at the bit,” the general manager added, after questions continued to pour in about the position.

Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson and Kyler Murray are a few of the names “everyone is chomping at the bit” for in Broncos Country.

Paton didn’t close the door on a potential blockbuster deal involving trading multiple first-round picks for a star gunslinger.

“That’s the flexibility you have when you have 11 picks,” Paton stated. “If we have to give a little to go get a player, we can do it and it’s not going to handcuff you for the draft. Like I said, everything is on the table.”

If the ninth-overall pick isn’t traded away for a veteran, it could very well be used on finding Denver’s next great quarterback.

“This class is an interesting class. You have five or six talented guys, and they’re all different,” Paton said, evaluating the 2022 quarterback class for the first time publicly. “So we just really need to hone down and sort it out and stack them, and see who’s best for the Denver Broncos if we go that direction in the draft.”

This year’s quarterback class is widely viewed as weak. Paton does consider next year’s class—which is viewed has strong—when evaluating whether or not to draft a quarterback in the first round this year.

Unlike past regimes in Denver, both Hackett and Paton don’t believe height is as much of a factor for a quarterback as it used to be. However, “hand size is [a] big” factor in Paton’s eyes.

While Paton didn’t give away all of his secrets for what he’s looking for in a rookie quarterback, Hackett wasn’t as private. As he has in the previous month, the head coach pointed to toughness and intelligence as two of the qualities he looks for in a quarterback.

“For a quarterback, one important thing is they have to be tough. They have to be tough mentally and physically,” Hackett said. “The stresses they go through just being able to stand in front of so many different people. Then you look at the physical aspect of it and to be able to take hits. Even if it’s perfect, you’re going to be hit. It’s a long season. It’s that form of toughness and intelligence, and the ability to be able to call a play. We have long play calls. Then to be able to understand the different defenses you’re going to get [in order to get] yourself in a perfect play.”

On Tuesday, for the first time, he added two more qualities to the equation.

“Then, accuracy,” Hackett added. “Those are kind of the three top ones, and then if you’re lucky, you get an athletic guy, too. Those are the four things that we look for in a quarterback with a lot of other things that kind of go into it. That’s kind of the overview.”

Hackett’s non-negotiables in a signal caller are toughness, intelligence and accuracy. Athleticism is a nice bonus too.

“Whenever you’re talking to a quarterback, you’re always looking for that ‘it’ factor,” the head coach elaborated. “That’s always so important because you want a quarterback that when he’s out there, he’s going to make other people better around him… In the end, it’s about that intelligence to be able to get out there and process quickly because it’s the hardest position and all sports, in my opinion. I mean, it’s unbelievable. You want to be sure you make the right decision there.”

Don’t worry, Broncos Country, Paton and Hackett aren’t ignoring the most important position in sports.

In fact, “it on our mind a lot,” Paton stated.

“You need one in order to get where you need to go,” he added. “It’s the most important position in sports, so we’re always looking. We do have Drew Lock under contract, we have ‘Ryp.’ But we’re always looking. No stone unturned to find that guy. We know we need better play out of the quarterback position. So we’re going to be aggressive.”

Options, options, options. The Broncos are going to search every option that’s out their to upgrade the most important positions in sports.

Being aggressive in their pursuit, however, will not be an option. Paton and Hackett are making it their No. 1 priority.