ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — With a thin spot on the depth chart at tight end due to recent injuries, the Denver Broncos have signed 41-year-old Marcedes Lewis to their practice squad.
Team sources confirmed the signing Wednesday morning after Lewis had worked out for the Broncos on Tuesday. Lewis, who was the Jacksonville Jaguars’ first-round pick (28th overall) in 2006, is in his 20th NFL season.
Marcedes Lewis has signed with the Broncos practice squad for his 20th season in the NFL. His rookie year, 2006, coincided with Denver coach Sean Payton’s first year as head coach with the New Orleans Saints. Mike Dinovo-USA TODAY Sports
To put that into team context, the Broncos selected quarterback Jay Cutler in the first round of the 2006 draft and Cutler played his last NFL game in 2017. Broncos coach Sean Payton was also in his first season as a head coach — for the New Orleans Saints — in 2006.
Lewis arrives with the Broncos in need of help at the position. Lucas Krull fractured a bone in his foot earlier this season and hasn’t played since the Broncos’ Week 3 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, and is on injured reserve.
Tight end Nate Adkins left Sunday’s win over the Dallas Cowboys with a knee injury. Adkins also often lined up at fullback and H-back for the Broncos and Lewis has long been considered one of the best blocking tight ends in the league.
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Evan Engram and Adam Trautman are the only two healthy tight ends on the Broncos’ active roster. The Broncos have two other tight ends on the practice squad — Patrick Murtagh, an international pathway player from Australia, and Caleb Lohner, a seventh-round draft pick this past April who played just one year of college football after his basketball career at Baylor, BYU and Utah.
Lewis would be an immediate candidate for a gameday elevation from the practice squad, possibly as soon as Sunday’s game in Houston against the Texans.
Lewis played in 17 games for the Chicago Bears last season, starting four, and finished with one reception. He played on 19 percent of the offensive snaps for the Bears to go with 52 special teams snaps.
