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Somehow, John Elway might have fired and promoted himself at the same time. It was announced this offseason that he would move into a different role within the organization and that George Paton would take over as the general manager. Paton spent the past 14 seasons with the Minnesota Vikings and aims to turn this team around, and it’s going to be a tough ask.

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Denver has been a mess as of late, and just finished their fourth-straight losing season. In fact, since their Super Bowl win following the 2015 campaign, they have had just one winning record which was their 9-7 mark the year after winning it all.

Sadly in 2020, it seemed as though they could be getting things corrected. They finished strong the prior year with Drew Lock appearing as though he would be their new long-term starter. Denver then loaded him up with weapons in the draft, including Jerry Jeudy and K.J. Hamler.

The result was a 5-11 campaign that saw Lock struggle to stay healthy — and he battled inconsistent play when he was on the field.

There were rumors they could move on from Vic Fangio late in the season due to these issues but apparently, Elway believes he’s the guy to get it fixed. With a mark of 12-20, it’s hard to buy into what he’s selling but maybe working with the new GM will help them find a winning recipe.