Tim Patrick has rebounded from back-to-back injury-marred seasons that closed his Broncos tenure, and he is now reuniting with a former Denver front office staffer in New York.
Darren Mougey will add the veteran wide receiver to the Jets’ roster, ESPN’s Rich Cimini reports. Patrick’s Lions season (2024) also is rather relevant to this signing, as Jets HC Aaron Glenn was in place as Detroit’s DC at that point.
This transaction will give Patrick a chance to play a 10th NFL season. Patrick, 32, caught on with the Broncos as a 2018 waiver claim. Mougey was in place under then-GM John Elway at the time. Mougey moved up the ladder to director of player personnel during George Paton‘s first GM year (2021). That year brought a Patrick extension (three years, $30MM). While the 6-foot-4 wide receiver did not live up to that deal due to the above-referenced injuries, he has provided contributions to other teams over the past two seasons.
The Broncos released Patrick shortly before the 2024 season, leading him to the Lions’ practice squad. That quickly preceded a move up to Detroit’s 53-man roster, and the possession receiver caught 33 passes for 394 yards and three touchdowns to help a dominant Lions offense secure a No. 1 seed. The Lions re-signed Patrick in 2025 but traded him to the Jaguars last summer, acquiring a 2026 sixth-round pick in the deal. Patrick caught 15 passes for 187 yards and three TDs last season.
Perhaps more importantly for Patrick’s NFL viability as his mid-30s near, he played in 16 games in each of the past two seasons. The Broncos saw Patrick become an important target during their time in quarterback purgatory, but their blockbuster Russell Wilson trade did not include any game time with Patrick. The former $10MM-per-year player suffered a torn ACL during training camp in 2022 and went down with an Achilles tear in July 2023.
While it would be quite interesting to see Wilson and Patrick finally link up — should the potential TV analyst accept a Jets offer — the veteran pass catcher did his best work with Teddy Bridgewater and Drew Lock. The Utah product caught 51 passes for 742 yards and six touchdowns in 2020. He then worked with Bridgewater and Lock in 2021, hauling in 53 passes for 734 yards and five scores that season.
The Broncos had placed a second-round RFA tender on Patrick in 2021 before signing him to an extension. Denver extended Patrick and Sutton in November 2021 but saw the former drift off the radar as the latter moved back into the WR1 role with the franchise. The Broncos slashed Patrick’s 2024 salary down toward the veteran minimum and attempted to trade him later that year. He played for $2.5MM in 2025.
The Jets have done extensive WR work since assembling a flawed crew around Garrett Wilson last year. Last year’s squad, with Wilson going down seven games in, became the first Jets edition since 1976 to fail to produce a 400-yard pass catcher. However, Gang Green acquired Adonai Mitchell from the Colts at the trade deadline and traded up to No. 30 (via the 49ers) for Indiana’s Omar Cooper Jr. last month. Patrick will be positioned to represent a veteran presence to complement those rookie-deal cogs around Wilson.