Report: GM George Paton 'Promises' to Add 'Proven' QB Competition for Drew Lock

There will be a quarterback shake up in Dove Valley this year. Drew Lock no longer has the Broncos' benefit of the doubt.

For the last two-plus months, the Denver Broncos have been tied to just about every viable veteran quarterback even remotely available around the NFL. With a young quarterback already on the roster just entering his third year, why are the Broncos being so active on the market? 

Because Drew Lock failed to leave no doubt. 

In the NFL, opportunity is finite. It's fleeting. And if a player doesn't make hay when the sun shines, the league will quickly lose patience and move on. 

It's not too late for Lock but the days of the Broncos giving him the benefit of the doubt as the team's 'understood' starter are over. Henceforth, Lock will have to sing for his supper. 

Carpe Diem. 

9NEWS' insider Mike Klis reported that adding competition for Lock at QB for new GM George Paton is fait accompli. It's matter-of-course. 

New general manager George Paton promises to either trade for, or sign, a veteran quarterback with starting experience to compete with Lock. At the very least, Lock will have to compete for his starting job in 2021. He simply didn’t play well enough in 2020 to keep it without a threat.

As a second-year quarterback in 2020, Lock was given every chance. Even when he wasn’t playing well, head coach Vic Fangio never pulled him. It was Lock or bust in 2020. But the Broncos finished 5-11 and Lock wound up ranked No. 32 in passer rating among qualified quarterbacks.

It won’t be Lock or bust in 2021. Paton already tried to acquire Matthew Stafford in a trade but Detroit sent him to the Rams instead. It may be Lock to start. But if he busts, the Broncos want a proven alternative to play instead.

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This screams what I've been saying on the Huddle Up Podcast for two months now; Paton isn't going to draft a quarterback at pick No. 9. The Broncos already have a young, unproven commodity at quarterback with potential in spades. 

What the team needs now, especially with Vic Fangio's back up against the wall in 2021, is a sure-thing quarterback to serve as a true fail-safe. One, as Klis writes, that is "proven."

The candidates: Andy Dalton, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Alex Smith, and Jacoby Brisset. 

Say what you will about any of those journeymen QB at this stage in their respective careers, but if Lock were to fail to win the job in training camp, or were to get hurt or benched in-season, with the talent the Broncos have on offense at the skill positions, especially Fitzpatrick, Smith, and Dalton could probably make a lot of hay with them. 

My guess is that a true veteran threat will elevate Lock's play this year, regardless of whom the Broncos ultimately bring in. Until and unless a quarterback proves his bonafides without question, there has to be a little competitive anxiety built into the equation. 

Iron sharpens iron, after all. Just ask the 2015 Broncos. 

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