Getty Denver Broncos WR Tim Patrick makes a catch in the fourth quarter against the Las Vegas Raiders.
While the Denver Broncos continue to create more cap space ahead of the new year in the NFL, they have made a decision on Tim Patrick‘s future with the team.
According to Mike Klis of 9News, the Broncos and Patrick agreed on a reworked one-year deal.
Patrick signed a three-year extension in 2021 worth up to $34.5 million with $18.5 million of it guaranteed.
Per Field Yates of ESPN, Patrick will drop his base salary this season from $9.5 million to the league minimum of $1.2 million un upside and another $170,000 in per-game roster bonuses.
This move for the Broncos creates over $8 million in cap space.
Patrick is on this one-year prove it deal because he has missed the last two seasons with a torn ACL and torn Achilles that both occurred during training camp.
Patrick has Performed Well for Denver
After being undrafted and signing with the Broncos in 2017, Patrick has taken advantage of every opportunity he has gotten.
In 2018, Patrick started in four games and finished the season with over 300 yards and scored a touchdown.
In 2020, Patrick became one of the top wide receivers for the Broncos after the team had moved on from Emmanuel Sanders and drafted Courtland Sutton, Jerry Jeudy, and K.J. Hamler.
Sutton suffered a torn ACL in 2020 and Patrick was given a shot to prove that he can be a number one wide receiver for the Broncos.
Patrick caught 51 passes for 742 yards and led the team in receiving touchdowns with six.
The following season, Patrick had another dominant year with 734 more yards on 53 receptions and led the team once again in receiving touchdowns with five.
Heading into the 2022 season, Patrick seemed to be Russell Wilson’s favorite target in training camp, but after dealing with the two-season ending injuries, we never got to see how the relationship would translate onto the field in games.
Reworking this new deal with Patrick is giving the 30-year-old a chance to prove once again that he deserves another big pay day with the hopes that it could come from the Broncos.
Currently, the Broncos’ wide receiver room consists of Patrick, Sutton, and second-year speedster Marvin Mims Jr.
Broncos Continue to Create Cap Space
Entering the offseason, the Broncos were well over the cap and need to be under it by the time free agency begins on March 13.
The Broncos are taking on the largest dead cap number in NFL history at $85 million because of Wilson’s contract that he will not play on in Denver.
On March 9, the Broncos also created $12.9 million in cap space by trading Jerry Jeudy to the Cleveland Browns in exchange for a fifth and sixth-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. This deal will be finalized once the new year begins.
The Broncos also restructured the contract of right tackle Mike McGlinchey and will be creating another $11 million in cap space, per Yates.
After making all these moves, with more potentially on the way, the Broncos have over $20 million in cap space, according to spotrac.com.
Over recent days, the Broncos have created over $50 million and added two more draft picks which gives them flexibility to move up or down in the draft.