EAGEN, Minn. — George Paton believes in Drew Lock and Teddy Bridgewater. 

Paton, in his first year as the Broncos’ general manager, hasn’t wavered in his belief that either Lock or Bridgewater could be Denver’s franchise quarterback. And through two weeks of training camp, he likes what he’s seen from both as they battle for the starting job. 

“Both Teddy and Drew just being more consistent. I think they’re both doing a really good job. We’re happy with both and you can see, some days it’s Drew, some days it’s Teddy,” Paton said Thursday. “We do think we have two really good quarterbacks here,” Paton said. “We may have that guy here. So we’re not panicking. We’re going to build this team with foundational players and hopefully we have a foundational quarterback here in our group.”

But many wonder if Lock and Bridgewater don’t become the franchise quarterback, where do the Broncos go next? That’s why some wonder why he passed on now-Chicago Bear quarterback Justin Fields in the draft and instead drafted cornerback Pat Surtain II. 

Paton recently said in an interview with Sports Illustrated’s Peter King that “quarterbacks are available more than franchise corners every year, at least the last couple of years” explaining his decision to take Surtain. Paton was asked directly about his comments to King on Thursday. 

“I’ve said before the quarterback position is the most important position in sports, so I hope that didn’t get misconstrued with that comment,” Paton said. “And that didn’t have any impact on our decision. We made our decision because we thought Pat Surtain II was the best player at that time in the draft. So we took him, we’re happy, we’re moving on. We like the other players. We hope they do well, we’re wishing them well. But for our team at that time, it was Pat Surtain II.”

Surtain has been the most impressive rookie in camp so far and could be a consistent contributor in 2021, playing several positions on the field and providing some much-needed depth. 

“We’re fortunate we have a player in Surtain that can play multiple positions at a young age. Not many rookies can play three positions,” Paton said. “It’s a really good problem to have… We have a lot of teams calling us on our depth. But we like our corners, that’s for sure.”

But for Paton and the Broncos, the search for a franchise quarterback continues. For that to be Lock or Bridgewater, they first must fit his definition of a “franchise quarterback.”

“That’s tough. Someone who can win games on their own,” Paton said. “When things aren’t going right, someone who can take over a game no matter what the O-line is, no matter what the receiver is and can win games on their own. I could go in-depth more, but that’s kind of how I look at it.” 

And as of Thursday, Paton is “confident” that quarterback is already on their roster. 

“I like our two quarterbacks. They embrace competition,” Paton said. “I think both of those guys are winning quarterbacks. We need to play better around them as well. We need to play better defense, we need to play better up front, better special teams. We didn’t have that last year. Hopefully we’re better around them and hopefully it will pay off.

“I know that quarterback is of high importance. I’m not panicked. I’m not panicked about the quarterback position. I like our two quarterbacks.”