The Denver Broncos Were Saved By The Walton-Penner Group
The Denver Broncos haven’t had a really competitive season since Peyton Manning retired back in 2015. They were never bad enough to be in range to select a top quarterback in the NFL Draft, or even good enough to make a real playoff push. They were stuck in purgatory, and General Manager John Elway was running the team into the ground.
Broncos Hire George Paton
In 2021, the Broncos hired former Minnesota Vikings executive George Paton to a multi-year deal. Paton was entering a situation where the team really had no direction. Denver had the 9th overall pick in the NFL Draft, with a QB in striking range. They had some pieces on offense, including Jerry Jeudy and Courtland Sutton.
In free agency, Paton continued to add to the defense, bringing in former Bears CB Kyle Fuller and CB Ronald Darby on a three-year deal. He also extended Justin Simmons, making him the highest-paid safety in the league, along with DT Shelby Harris, to a three-year $27 million deal.
In the NFL Draft, Paton elected to stay away from a quarterback, selecting Alabama CB Patrick Surtain II with the 9th overall pick. Instead of selecting someone like Justin Fields, he opted to trade for QB Teddy Bridgewater. He continued to add on offense, taking UNC RB Javonte Williams in the second round, and Wisconsin-Whitewater Guard Quinn Meinerz. Looking back, it was a good draft for Paton, as he selected two cornerstone players for the Denver Broncos.
Big Changes Came
After another losing season in 2021, it was time for some big changes. Denver revamped their coaching staff, firing Head Coach Vic Fangio and his coordinators, putting an emphasis on finding an offense-minded leader. After a long search, the Broncos hired former Packers Offensive Coordinator Nathaniel Hackett. Denver hadn’t had an offense-minded coach in years, so it gave the fan base hope that the offense would finally be the focal point of the team.
Shortly after hiring Hackett, Paton went all in, making a blockbuster trade with the Seattle Seahawks. The Broncos struck a deal for former Super Bowl champion Russell Wilson. Now, the Broncos’ offense looked complete. They had a solid WR core, a standout rookie running back, and now a veteran quarterback who could come in and lead a young offense.
Having the pieces on offense, Paton continued to load up on defense. He brought in Randy Gregory and DJ Jones to bolster the defensive line in free agency, which had been a weak point. In the NFL Draft, Paton selected Oklahoma OLB Nik Bonitto with the 64th overall pick and took six defensive players with their nine picks. The Broncos were generating a ton of buzz within the media, as they looked to clinch a playoff berth for the first time since 2015.
The Broncos Are Officially Sold
Pat Bowlen, along with his siblings, bought the team in 1984 for $78 million. Bowlen would go to purchase the shares that were held by his two brothers and sisters. Bowlen stepped away from the team in 2014 due to Alzheimer’s. His trust in the organization was placed in a trust to Joe Ellis and others. It was a long eight-year battle between family members and multiple lawsuits, and the team was finally put up for sale on February 1st.
The Denver Broncos were put up for sale in February 2022 and were officially sold in August. A group led by Rob Walton and Greg Penner purchased the team for $4.65 billion, setting a record price paid for a sports franchise in North America. The Panthers previously set a record for a $2.3 billion sale when David Tepper bought the team back in 2018.
Ownership’s Immediate Impact
The first big move made by Denver’s new ownership was giving Wilson a five-year contract worth $245 million, including $165 million guaranteed. The Broncos’ new ownership wanted continuity, and extending Wilson kept him on the roster for the foreseeable future. What looked like a strong team heading into the 2022 season turned out to be a disaster.
The Broncos went 5-12 and fired their first-year head coach after a blowout loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Christmas. Jerry Rosburg took over as the interim head coach, and Denver needed to check a lot of boxes off in the offseason. They immediately began searching for a head coach, but set their sights on longtime New Orleans Saints Head Coach Sean Payton.
Payton spoke about wanting to be a part of a team with good ownership and spoke highly of the Walton-Penner Group. Payton did his best to work with and build around Wilson, but it ultimately didn’t work. The Broncos made the tough decision to bite the bullet and release Wilson. By doing this, they’d take on $85 million in dead money, trusting Payton to find their next franchise QB.
It proved to be the right decision, and the huge gamble paid off. Denver took Oregon QB Bo Nix with the 12th overall pick, and it would change the franchise. Nix had a tremendous rookie season, leading the Broncos to their first playoff appearance since 2015. The Walton-Penner group put all of their trust in Sean Payton, and it paid off.
Greg Penner’s Daily Involvement
Penner is one of the most involved owners in the sport. He is at every game, whether it’s home or away, and always shows his support to his players after games in the locker room. The players have only positive things to say about him, and compared to other owners in the NFL, Penner is among the best.
The Walton-Penner group has also allocated a tremendous amount of resources to the team, giving Paton room to work with. Paton has extended all of Denver’s rising and long-term stars. Denver extended Zach Allen, Sutton, and Bonitto, all in one offseason. They also spent over $100 million in free agency to build on an already elite defense and put more weapons around their young quarterback.
Ben Johnson’s Homecoming Sparks Turning Point for Jared Goff
If you’ve been on NFL Twitter at all in the last few days, especially if you’re a Lions fan, you’ve probably seen the stat.
Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff is now 3-17-1 in his career without either former Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson or Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay calling plays. Detroit’s offense looked anemic in their season-opening 27-13 loss to the Green Bay Packers, and Goff received the lion’s share of ridicule from social media.
And yeah, it’s a pretty damning statistic. It’s a bit shortsighted to act like wins are a quarterback stat straight-up, but a win-loss record that poor has to say something, right?
It’s what led media personalities like ESPN’s Peter Schrager to declare Johnson “already 1-0” as a head coach before the Bears even took the field. (The Bears lost in Week 1, making Johnson 0-1 as a head coach.)
After one game, Goff is already being written off as nothing more than a game manager who benefitted from ingenious playcallers that made him look better than he really is.
But let’s take a closer look at those McVay/Johnson-less starts.
Goff's Week 2 matchup against Ben Johnson has huge implications
Goff’s seven starts without McVay in Los Angeles came nearly a decade ago when he was a rookie on a 4-12 Rams team that fired its head coach in December. The 14 starts in Detroit without Johnson were from the 2021 Lions team that had an all-new coaching staff, a midseason offensive coordinator change, and a roster that was largely devoid of talent on both sides of the ball.
And that’s not to make excuses for Goff. He certainly could have played better both in 2021 and his rookie year, but it’s important to remember where those starts were within the context of his career. In 2016, he was an overwhelmed rookie on a team that had no chance at being competitive. In 2021, he was a castoff quarterback who was viewed by many as a throw-in in the Matthew Stafford deal to make the money match.
Which is to say, coordinators notwithstanding, Goff isn’t the same player as he was in 2016 or 2021. He’s evolved into one of the NFL’s smartest and most accurate quarterbacks, and has the most touchdown passes in the NFL since 2022. Of course, he still has his limitations as a creator and dealing with pressure, and his success does have lot to do with Johnson and the talent around him. It's the ultimate team sport, after all.
But still, you have to think Goff wouldn’t be able to produce at nearly that high a level if he was truly just a scrub who didn't bring anything to the table himself.
This is a big moment for Goff. If he flounders at home on Sunday and loses to his old coordinator, the narrative that he can’t win without Johnson or McVay will only grow louder. But in the building, they’re not dwelling on comparisons to last year's offense.
“I don’t feel like there is a narrative in here about anything last season,” Goff said Wednesday. “I think we’re very aware that last year we had a good year, and this year we’re 0-0 and now we’re 0-1. Very aware of the reality of that, I don’t think there’s anything from last year that comes into this year and gives you a head start. We know it starts over and we have to find a way to get a win this week.”
The whole Lions team is going to come out angry after last week and wanting to take out its frustrations on its former coordinator. But, as is typical in the NFL, the quarterback might have just a bit more to prove than everyone else.
