Tim Patrick being gone sends odd message to Broncos locker room

The Denver Broncos are moving on from veteran wide receiver Tim Patrick.

And quite frankly, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.

When that news dropped on Monday afternoon, it caught Broncos Country by surprise. Denver will either try to trade Patrick before Tuesday’s 2:00 p.m. cutdown deadline or tell him goodbye.

He won’t be on the team this coming season.

Why?

Patrick’s story is inspiring. He was carted off at training camp each of the last two years, his seasons ending before they even started with an ACL injury and an Achilles injury. Some guys might have just retired, but not Patrick.

The former undrafted free agent who’s been an underdog his whole career did what he knows best. He battled like heck to return to the field and did everything the Broncos asked.

Patrick ran with the No. 1 offense for the most important parts of camp and looked like himself against the Green Bay Packers in the second preseason game. The “dress rehearsal” was passed with flying colors as the Broncos smacked the Cheeseheads and Bo Nix found Patrick for a touchdown.

That was the moment everyone thought Patrick was back and had officially made the team. When he didn’t suit up against the Arizona Cardinals this past Sunday, that seemed like the final formality he’d be on the 53-man roster. Apparently, something changed.

Yes, Brandon Johnson looked good against the Cardinals, but was that really enough to get Patrick out of town? Everyone’s excited about rookie Devaughn Vele, but come on now, he was a seventh-round draft pick for a reason. Give him some time to grow.

And fourth-round pick Troy Franklin has been M.I.A for most of the summer. Denver was never going to cut a guy who played with Nix at Oregon and Sean Payton traded up to draft, but it’s impossible to say he’s more deserving of a spot on the roster than Patrick.

Frankly, this decision sends an odd message to the Broncos locker room. How can Patrick work all the way back, prove he’s still an effective player, roll with the No. 1 offense and still not get a spot on the team?

One of the biggest things Denver has going for them is a strong chemistry. Guys like Russell Wilson, Jerry Jeudy, Frank Clark and Randy Gregory were all shown the door. For a variety of different reasons, they didn’t fit on a 2024 Broncos team that needed a culture reset.

Patrick certainly wasn’t part of that problem.

No one is predicting this year’s squad will go to the Super Bowl, but they’ve looked hungry all summer. A perfect 3-0 preseason, Nix turning heads and a crisp training camp are big reasons why.

Cutting or trading Patrick isn’t going to completely derail that, but it will put a dent in the good vibes this team built up together. Patrick did nothing wrong, yet he’ll be playing for a different team this season.

Surely Payton and GM George Paton have their reasons for making this decision. They’ll be grilled about them the next time they meet with the media. But you can bet at least a few veterans on the team are unhappy how it went down.

The Broncos gave Patrick another shot, and he seized it. It appears from the outside looking in that he’s getting a raw deal.

Plus, Payton and Paton are taking away a solid option from Nix on offense. Maybe Franklin becomes a piece down the road, but he’s not helping Denver win more games this year than Patrick would have.

Cuts happen. Trades happen. Changes happen in the NFL.

But this feels like a change that didn’t need to be made. Tim Patrick has played his last snap in a Broncos uniform. And that doesn’t seem like it was the right call.