ENGLEWOOD • George Paton’s first draft selection as Broncos’ general manager was cornerback Pat Surtain II, and he sure wants to hold onto him.

Surtain was taken with the No. 9 pick in the 2021 draft, and his impressive three-year career has included making the Pro Bowl in each of the past two seasons. He is under contract in 2024 with a salary-cap number of $6.67 million and the Broncos by the deadline in May will pick up his fifth-year option for 2025 of about $18.41 million.

Surtain also this year becomes eligible to sign a contract extension, locking him up past 2025. Paton said Tuesday it is imperative to keep him around although he didn’t provide specifics.

“We’re all big fans of Pat,’’ Paton said at a season-ending news conference at the Centura Health Training Center. “We want Pat to be here for a long time but I’m not prepared to make any statements on anything moving forward.”

For an extension, Surtain is expected to command a salary in excess of $20 million per season.

Payton ‘disappointed’

Before the season, first-year head coach Sean Payton said he would be ticked off if Denver didn’t make the playoffs.

The Broncos didn’t, going 8-9 to miss the postseason for the eighth year in a row and to have a seventh straight losing season. And, yes, that disappointed Payton.

“I have a hard time saying something like that,’’ Payton said when asked if he considered the season a success. “My appetite is where it should be, a little big stronger. I said this at the beginning of the season. … I felt like we had a chance, and this team had a chance to get into the postseason. I feel the same way now. I’m disappointed by that.”

Payton was pleased with how the Broncos bounced back from a 1-5 to start to win five straight games to move to 6-5. But they lost four of their final six and were denied a winning season by losing 27-14 at Las Vegas on Sunday.

Red-zone woes

Payton said there were “a handful of things that I could have done different and better” in 2023. That included his play calling when the Broncos got close to the goal line.

“Our tight red zone was awful,’’ he said. “I have to look closely at my sequencing and what I’m doing and calling. What I mean by that is goal-to-go (situations).’’

Payton said there was a play during the season that really bothered him, although he didn’t say which one it was.

“I want to get my eyes fixed, so I call the right play and I don’t mess up and and call the wrong play on a play that happened one time this year,’’ he said. “That was embarrassing.”

Rookie reviews

The Broncos didn’t have a first-round pick in 2023 and had just five total selections. Still, Paton likes how that draft is turning out.

“I think it was a really good class,’’ Paton said. “You didn’t see it on Sundays all the time, but we saw it in practice.”

The class was headed by wide receiver Marvin Mims Jr., who made the Pro Bowl as a returner.

“(He’s) a work in progress as a receiver, but he had some really big moments,’’ Paton said.

Among third-round picks, Paton called cornerback Riley Moss an eventual “starter in this league” and lauded his play on special teams. And he said linebacker Drew Sanders has a “big upside.”

Cornerback JL Skinner, taken in the sixth round, played in just two games, and center Alex Forsyth, a seventh-round selection, didn’t get into any. But Paton said Skinner has good “range and physicality” and he projects Forsyth will be “a starter in this league.”

Evaluation time

Payton said the coaching staff is taking this week off before beginning in earnest preparations for 2024.

Payton said next week will be spent on evaluating the current roster. The Broncos eventually will move on to evaluating other team’s free agents and draft prospects.

As to whether there will be any changes to his coaching staff, Payton said that also will be evaluated.

“It’s too early (now) to even get into any discussions,’’ he said.