Broncos Sign Ex-Belichick Project Tight End
The Denver Broncos are trying to get back on the horse (pardon the pun) after an embarrassing collapse at the hands of the Indianapolis Colts. Sitting at 2-3 and nearly through a 10-day mini-bye, the Broncos are knee-deep in preparations to take on the Los Angeles Chargers on Monday Night Football.
While Broncos fans cringe at the possibility of another primetime humiliation, the team is furiously filling roster holes the injury bug keeps blasting open week to week.
On Saturday, the Broncos signed former New England Patriots tight end Dalton Keene to the practice squad. In a corresponding move, the Broncos waived long-snapper Joe Fortunato, who was signed earlier this week after Jacob Bobenmoyer was lost to injury.
That means that Mitchell Fraboni will serve as the Broncos' long-snapper while Bobenmoyer heals up. Meanwhile, Keene is a 6-foot-4, 251-pound second-year tight end out of Virginia Tech.
The Patriots drafted the Littleton, CO, native in the third round back in 2020, but Keene only went on to appear in six games with the club, totaling just three receptions. After suffering a minor knee injury, the Patriots placed him on injured reserve in August, only to waive him a couple of weeks later.
The Philadelphia Eagles signed Keene to their practice squad in September and released him on October 4. He's been on the street for less than two weeks, and the Broncos are hoping that New England's impatience will be their gain.
Denver's tight end corps could be on the brink of an infusion of impact, as rookie third-rounder Greg Dulcich has been activated off IR, which only means that the Broncos are practicing him to see if he's ready for live-bullet ball. The team has 21 days to determine whether he's ready to play, and if he isn't actually promoted to the 53-man roster, Dulcich will have to return to IR for the season.
Throw in Keene, and help could be on the way after the combined efforts of Albert Okwuegbunam, Eric Saubert, Eric Tomlinson, and Andrew Beck have been lackluster through five games. That's what the Broncos are hoping, anyway.
Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen.
Follow Mile High Huddle on Twitter and Facebook.
Subscribe to Mile High Huddle on YouTube for daily Broncos live-stream podcasts!
