Vikings refuse Packers permission to interview George Paton

At some point in his career, current Minnesota Vikings assistant to the General Manager George Paton will likely get the opportunity to run a team on his own. If it happens this year, however, there is one destination that he won’t be headed to.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter (via Pro Football Talk), the Green Bay Packers requested permission to interview Paton for their newly-vacant GM position. The Vikings’ response was, and I quote, “HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA no.”

(That might not have been their exact quote, but I would like to think that it was.)

The Packers’ GM position is currently vacant because of the “reassignment” of former GM Ted Thompson. Thompson, if you’ll recall, is the guy that managed to parlay sitting on his hands for four hours during the 2005 NFL Draft and handing in a card with Aaron Rodgers’ name on it into over a decade of people having the impression that he was even mildly competent at his job. Apparently the jig is up, so the Packers are looking for someone else.

The Packers will hire a GM here eventually (or just hand that job to Rodgers, too), but the person that they hire will not be George Paton. This, for us, is a good thing.

UPDATE: To clarify why the Vikings are allowed to refuse permission.