General George Patton said: “‘Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom.’’ General manager George Paton hit bottom three years ago this week. How high has he bounced? A Mile Higher.

The Broncos fired head coach Nathaniel Hackett, who was hired by Paton in January of 2022, a day after that year’s Christmas and a 51-14 obliteration in Los Angeles by the Rams with Russell Wilson throwing two early interceptions. Paton acquired the veteran quarterback March 8 of ’22 in exchange for two first-round draft choices, two second-round picks and three players, including young QB Drew Lock. Wilson agreed to a seven-season $245-million extension.

The Broncos lost on New Year’s Day in Kansas City to the Chiefs for a 4-12 record to ensure last place in the AFC West for the third straight season. The Broncos had 22 players on injured reserve and earlier traded Randy Gregory, who had been awful in 10 games after Paton signed him to a $90-million contract.

Paton was as low as a GM could go.

Everyone in Colorado assumed he must go – fired by the new Walton-Penner Broncos ownership group.

On Jan. 4, the Broncos, who have clinched first place in the division for the first time in 10 years, will earn the No. 1 seed in the regular season finale against the Chargers’ JV team.

Paton has earned his keep.

The former high school quarterback and defensive back at UCLA is finishing the fifth season of his six-year deal with the Broncos and certainly will receive another long-term contract soon.

The Broncos’ 3-P Power Triad of Greg Penner (who turned 56 Dec. 18), Sean Payton (who was 62 Dec. 29) and Paton (who will be 56 May 5) could be together forever – or for a Super Bowl or four.

John Elway’s last major decision as Broncos’ president of football operations was to pick his successor as GM. The two finalists were Paton, an executive with the Vikings, and Terry Fontenot of the Saints. Elway chose Paton, and Fontenot joined the Falcons as general manager. It took four years for Paton and the Broncos to reach the playoffs. The Falcons have not been once.

Although Paton was responsible for the disastrous hiring of Hackett and the devastating trade for Wilson, he did pick Patrick Surtain II in the 2021 draft’s first round, then added small-college guard Quinn Meinerz in the third round and underrated Ohio State linebacker Jonathan Cooper in the last round. His other seven selections are gone, but Javonte Williams and Baron Browning have continued careers with the Cowboys and the Cardinals.

Paton managed to survive his general managerial time with the new regime (Penner) and eventually the new coach (Payton), but his drafts were derailed by the lack of first-rounders in 2022-23. He got Nik Bonitto at 64th in ’22 and Marvin Mims Jr. No. 63 in ’23. Both have become Pro Bowl players. Surtain was last year’s defensive player of the year, and Mims was the best NFL returner. Bonitto is an elite edge.

In his introductory media meeting Paton said he would grow the talent at both lines quickly in Denver. Another NFL GM once told me a franchise needed star-caliber players at 20 positions to be a championship contender. Because of associations with Payton, Penner and Paton’s executive staff the general manager has assembled a team featuring quarterback Bo Nix (Payton’s Pick), all-world offensive and defensive lines, a strong defense overall and close to 18 current or potential Pro Bowl-type players to team with franchise holdovers Courtland Sutton and Garett Bolles. The Broncos roster and reserve lists include 29 draftees and undrafted free agents along with 20 unrestricted veteran free agents signed.

And the roster features an Australian punter on the practice squad, a former Aussie Rules football player.

Since joining the Bears as a scouting intern in 1997 (the same year the Broncos won their first Super Bowl), Paton never has been with a Super Bowl team. He may have a chance here and now.

In a survey by NFLnetwork.com’s Tom Pellissero of 30 league general managers and executives, Seattle’s John Schneider was named top executive of the year with 19.5 votes. New England’s Eliot Wolf placed second.

Paton was third with two votes.

Payton got one vote for coach of the year. General George Patton would be proud of GM George Paton’s bounce from the bottom