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Over the course of the past few years, Minnesota Vikings’ Vice President of Player Personnel and Assistant General Manager George Paton has gotten his share of attention for NFL front office jobs. After a week where it appeared that this might be the year he moves on, it sounds like he’s staying in Minnesota once again.
#Vikings assistant GM George Paton has pulled himself out of the running for the #Browns GM job, source said. The search continues.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) January 24, 2020
Numerous sources on social media (though I saw it from Close, Personal Friend of the Daily Norseman Tom Pelissero™ first) are saying that Paton has removed himself from consideration to be the next General Manager of the Cleveland Browns and will be staying with the Vikings after all.
After declining to be interviewed by teams over the past few years, Paton actually sat down with the Browns for a pair of interviews, including on this past weekend. It sounded like the Browns were getting ready to pull the trigger and hire Paton to run their football operations, but now that won’t be happening.
Paton came to the Vikings at the same time as Rick Spielman did, and is considered to be a vital member of the Vikings’ front office when it comes to the evaluation of talent. With Spielman (and head coach Mike Zimmer) facing a pivotal year in their Vikings’ tenures, perhaps Paton is staying because he would be the logical replacement to move into the big chair in Minnesota if the Vikings were to part ways with Spielman after the 2020 season.
Or maybe he just really, really likes it in Minnesota.
But, George Paton will not be following Kevin Stefanski to Cleveland, as he’s withdrawn from consideration for the Browns’ GM position.
What are your thoughts, folks?