Broncos general manager George Paton was sitting with a reporter in the lobby of a downtown Indianapolis hotel on March 5 when he mentioned his preference to avoid “splash” moves, the kind of addition that has a higher financial cost than on-field impact.
“Unless it’s unique and there are circumstances where you want to spend a lot of money for a great player,” he said.
That unique circumstance came less than 36 hours later when Paton agreed to trade three players and five draft picks to Seattle for quarterback Russell Wilson. The circumstances — more than a half-decade of underwhelming quarterback play — helped push Paton to orchestrate one of the biggest trades in NFL history.