Report: Ex-Broncos WR Tim Patrick to Sign with Lions

Released Tuesday, the veteran receiver already has a new NFL home.

Green Bay Packers linebacker Eric Wilson (45) tackles Denver Broncos wide receiver Tim Patrick (12) in the first quarter at Empower Field at Mile High. / Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Tim Patrick was out of a job for about five minutes.

The veteran wide receiver, released by the Denver Broncos on Tuesday, is expected to sign to the Detroit Lions practice squad "with the idea that he will work his way on to the active roster," ESPN's Adam Schefter reported.

Contract details were not available at the time of writing.

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Denver opted to move on from Patrick after seven seasons and 143 receptions for 2,009 yards and 12 touchdowns — but also consecutive campaigns lost to a torn ACL and an Achilles injury, respectively. He hasn't caught a regular-season pass since Jan. 8, 2022.

His medical history notwithstanding, the soon-to-turn 31-year-old ultimately fell victim to the numbers game. Patrick was lapped on the depth chart by free-agent addition Josh Reynolds and seventh-round rookie Devaughn Vele, a younger, cheaper, and less injury-prone WR who shares a similar playstyle.

“Yeah, obviously not an easy one," Broncos general manager George Paton said of the decision to part with Patrick. "Just on behalf of everyone in our organization, [we] just can't say enough great things about the type of player and the person Tim has been while [as] a Bronco for the last seven seasons. We have a lot of great respect for Tim [with] the resilience, the work ethic and the perseverance [with] the last two years [and] to come back from the injury and play like he did. We just wish him the very best. What went into it is a number of things. We really like our depth at receiver, and we liked the depth at other positions on our team. We wanted to keep some other players at other positions. Special teams comes into play. Obviously you have the new element at kickoff and kickoff return. There will be over 200 more plays. So it wasn't just one thing. Tim did a lot of really good things. We wish him well and we're going to miss him."

The Broncos are carrying five wideouts on their initial 53-man roster: Courtland Sutton, Marvin Mims, Troy Franklin, Reynolds, and Vele. The team released WR Lil'Jordan Humphrey at final cuts but is reportedly "confident" they'll re-sign him to the practice squad.

Denver also waived WRs David Sills, Michael Bandy, Brandon Johnson, Phillip Dorsett, and Jalen Virgil earlier Tuesday.

"Receivers—we thought [No.] 1 through 12 could play in a game," Paton said. "So how do you get down to five? There was a lot of collaboration between [Head Coach] Sean [Payton], the scouts, myself and the coaches. It’s hard. It just doesn’t happen overnight. We talked about this really all through camp. We knew we had some tough decisions to make. We drafted two [receivers] and we signed a free agent in Josh Reynolds. If you were on the back end of the roster, you really had to make your mark or be an outstanding [special] teamer to make it."

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