The Denver Broncos felt they were deep at wide receiver and knew their scraps might get picked off—and that’s what happened in the last few days with cuts around the league and former orange and blue players ending up around the NFL.
While that’s how the league works, longtime NFL coach and second-year leader of the Broncos pointed at one of the players on the outside looking in as a tough decision. And that was longtime Broncos player Tim Patrick, who was let go after being with the team since 2018.
“A number of our guys landed in different places now, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Detroit and I think, I think we knew that was going to be difficult,” Payton said on Wednesday. “So that’s it. I say this, it’s a good problem to have when you have that type of competition.”
Patrick quickly caught on with the Detriot Lions practice squad as he hopes to work his way back onto the NFL regular-season field. Patrick has not played a regular-season snap since earning a three-year, $30 million extension with Denver. In the past two training camps, he suffered a torn ACL in 2022 and then an Achilles injury last summer. That means Patrick didn’t play with Russell Wilson at all and had only seen time with Bo Nix in preseason. He looked good enough in the preseason to still be out on an NFL field after all that time off too. Patrick had 50-plus catches for 730-plus receiving yards and five-plus touchdowns in his last two seasons playing. Over his career Patrick has played in 55 games—all of the Broncos, he has 12 career touchdowns—11 of which came in his last two active seasons.
“That was obviously extremely difficult, the other night in that preseason game against Green Bay he made some plays,” Payton said. “I’ve watched his progress, his journey off of two seasons and the makeup and all the things that we look for. “We visited for a few minutes and I’m happy, because I know Dan Campbell well and I think the world of Tim and all of you who have covered him longer than I’ve coached him understand all the things he brings to the table, aside from just being on the field. So that was difficult.”
Patrick took a pay cut in the spring with the hopes of it helping him make the Broncos, that didn’t work out for him but he may catch on elsewhere.
Without Patrick, the Broncos WR group will be anchored by Courtland Sutton, Josh Reynolds and Marvin Mims Jr. The team also has rookies Devaughn Vele and Troy Franklin on the roster with Michael Bandy, Lil’Jordan Humphrey and David Sills V being carried on the practice squad.
Payton again on Wednesday mentioned Vele as a possible comparison to Patrick. The two both joined the Broncos as undrafted free agents out of Utah and have a similar frame—so maybe the torch was passed.
