American Football Executive George Paton

Paton previously served as the assistant general manager and vice president of player personnel for the Minnesota Vikings and served with the Vikings in various executive roles for 14 seasons. Paton began his NFL career as a scout for the Chicago Bears before serving as the director of pro personnel for the Miami Dolphins from 2001 to 2006 and joining the Vikings in 2007. Before his career as an executive, Paton played college football at UCLA and later professionally in the Austrian Football League and Italian Football League. Paton’s tenure in Denver has been marked by a number of high-risk moves that have achieved poor results, thus leading to widespread criticism from several observers.

A native of La Cañada Flintridge, California, Paton played quarterback at Loyola High School (Los Angeles), and was a four year letter winner at defensive back for the UCLA from 1988 to 1991, being a part of a pair of Bruin bowl teams. While at UCLA, Paton earned a bachelor's degree in history.

In 1992, Paton played in the Italian Football League. In 1993, Paton played in the Austrian Football League with the Vienna Vikings. The team reached the semi-finals of the league playoffs.

Chicago Bears

In 1997, Paton began his executive career with the Chicago Bears in their scouting and personnel department, eventually rising up to the position of assistant director of pro personnel in 2000.

Miami Dolphins

In 2001, Paton was hired by the Miami Dolphins as their director of pro personnel.

Minnesota Vikings

In 2007, Paton was hired as the director of player personnel for the Minnesota Vikings, reuniting with the Vikings vice president of player personnel, Rick Spielman, who worked with Paton in Miami and Chicago. When Spielman was promoted to the Vikings general manager in 2012, Paton was promoted to be assistant general manager. In 2019, Paton was given an additional role as vice president of player personnel.

Denver Broncos

On January 12, 2021, Paton was named the general manager of the Denver Broncos.

In January 2022, Paton hired former Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett to be the team's next head coach following the firing of Vic Fangio. Paton hired Hackett instead of Kevin O’Connell, Brian Daboll, or Mike McDaniel, who all landed NFL head coaching jobs that same offseason and led each of their respective teams to at least one playoff appearance in future seasons.

About six weeks later, Paton agreed to a blockbuster trade for nine-time Pro Bowl and former Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson. Denver gave two first-round picks, two second-round picks, a fifth-round pick, quarterback Drew Lock, defensive lineman Shelby Harris, and tight end Noah Fant to Seattle for Wilson and a fourth-round pick. Paton subsequently awarded Wilson with a five-year contract extension worth $245 million (to keep Wilson in Denver through the 2028 season) before the quarterback played a down for the team.

Although these moves were expected to propel the Broncos back into playoff contention, the Broncos finished the 2022 season with a disastrous 5-12 record and last place finish in the AFC West. Wilson struggled through the worst season of his career in 2022, and Hackett was fired before the end of the season after a blowout loss to the injury-riddled Los Angeles Rams. After Paton hired coach Sean Payton, who led the New Orleans Saints to a Super Bowl victory, to become the Broncos’ head coach in 2023, Wilson and the Broncos improved, but the team missed the playoffs again with an 8-9 record. On March 4, 2024, Paton and Payton announced that the organization would release Wilson at the beginning of the 2024 NFL league year. Wilson's release resulted in an NFL record $85 million dead cap hit.

The Broncos have also had a track record of poor drafting under Paton’s control of the team, with the 2022 and 2023 draft classes both being graded as among the worst in the league by several NFL analysts. Writers have pointed to the Broncos’ lack of talent over Paton’s tenure as evidence of subpar drafting.

The aforementioned moves and drafts, along with several other unsuccessful acquisitions, have resulted in fans, analysts, and writers heavily criticizing Paton during his tenure as the Broncos’ general manager.

The son of a high school football coach, Paton is married to Barbara. They have two children, a daughter, Bella and a son, Beau.