The Broncos will again enter a season without their optimal receiving corps available. Tim Patrick will miss a second straight season, while KJ Hamler is off the roster. Denver’s top target, Jerry Jeudy, is likely to miss early-season time due to a hamstring injury.
While the team does not plan to move Jeudy to IR on Wednesday, it will reinforce its receiving corps with a depth piece. The Broncos intend to sign Phillip Dorsett, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com tweets. Dorsett did not make the Raiders’ 53-man roster, being released Tuesday.
This Denver receiving nucleus has struggled to stay healthy since its inception in 2020. While Jeudy could return as early as September, Courtland Sutton represents the Broncos’ top receiver. The team will likely need to give substantial playing time to rookie Marvin Mims, who began training camp as a likely backup behind a Jeudy-Sutton-Patrick trio. The Broncos had been expected to re-sign Lil’Jordan Humphrey after cutting him Tuesday. It is unclear if the team plans to add both he and Dorsett.
A former first-round Colts pick, Dorsett never lived up to his draft slot. After making next to no impact from 2020-21, Dorsett did resurface as part of the Texans’ receiving corps last season. He caught 20 passes for 257 yards and a touchdown. The Broncos are surely targeting the 30-year-old wideout as a depth piece, but with Mims a rookie and no clear No. 3 target in place while Jeudy is down, Dorsett could conceivably play a role on offense for Sean Payton‘s team.
Dorsett and Russell Wilson were teammates with the Seahawks in 2021, but the former played in just two games with Seattle and caught one pass.
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