Broncos sign OT Adam Bisnowaty, place Austin Fort on IR

On Friday, following the Denver Broncos' 22-14 preseason loss to the Seattle Seahawks, an MRI confirmed that rookie TE Austin Fort has torn his ACL. The injury came in the second half of Thursday night's bout at CenturyLink Field.

The team announced that it had placed Fort on injured reserve, but in the corresponding roster move, instead of signing another tight end to replace him, the Broncos added another offensive lineman.

Denver announced the signing of Adam Bisnowaty, a second-year player. Bisnowaty was originally a New York Giants' sixth-round draft pick back in 2017.

He's bounced around the NFL, having spent time in Detroit, Carolina, Minnesota and most recently, Washington. A former high school wrestler, Bisnowaty is no stranger to grappling with giant athletes.

However, he's bounced around the league for a reason. The Broncos' backup offensive tackles, beyond Elijah Wilkinson, have been the epitome of lackluster through two preseason games.

The trio of Jake Rodgers, Quinn Bailey and John Leglue might have some long-term upside, but in the present, they've been a turnstile. The veteran of the group, Chaz Green, has been just as bad and was penalized twice for holding in the fourth quarter in Seattle.

That's the environment Adam Bisnowaty steps into with the Broncos. For a backup/fringe offensive tackle, it's about as fortuitous an opportunity as he's likely to find in the NFL.

The 6-foot-6, 305-pound tackle has one career start under his belt, and it came as a rookie at right tackle. We'll see if he can make some hay in Denver.

Meanwhile, the implication in the Broncos signing an OT instead of a TE replacement would indicate that the team expects either Jake Butt or Bug Howard to be available soon. Butt practiced the first two days of camp but has been sidelined with a setback in his recovery from the third ACL tear of his football career, suffered last September.

Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen.

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