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The Broncos found their kicker on a busy Wednesday

June 1, 2023

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The Broncos’ front office was active on Wednesday, making four roster moves, including signing a kicker to replace nine-year starter Brandon McManus.

They signed kicker Elliott Fry, 28.
They signed tight end Tommy Hudson, 26.
They cut running backs Jacques Patrick, 26, and Tyreik McAllister, 25.

The Broncos still have a full 90-man roster.

Elliott Fry comes to Denver two weeks after being released by the Arizona Cardinals. The 28-year-old has had stints with 11 different teams (including Denver) but hasn’t stuck anywhere for more than a few weeks. Only three of those stints came in the regular season.

Fry, who played collegiate ball at South Carolina until 2017, got his first pro football work with the Orlando Apollos of the AAF in 2019. His first regular-season NFL job came with the Falcons in 2020, when he played one game. He made a 23-yard field goal, his only attempt, and went 1-for-2 on extra points.

In 2021, Fry subbed in for the Chiefs for one game and made three of his four attempts, with the long coming from 44 yards, and he made three of his four extra point attempts. He played a game with the Bengals later in the season and made his lone, 36-yard field goal attempt and also made his only extra point attempt.

Fry signed with the Jaguars last summer but was placed on injured reserve during training camp and was waived a few days later. He sat out the 2022 season but signed a futures contract with the Cardinals after the season ended. Arizona released him May 15.

For his career, Fry is 5-for-7 on extra points and 5-for-6 on field goals. His field goal percentage (83.3%) is slightly higher than Brandon McManus’ 81.4%, albeit on minuscule sample size. The details of Fry’s contract are still unknown, but the Broncos probably saved about $2.5 million by choosing him over McManus.

Fry was part of a three-man tryout last week that also featured Parker White, 24, and Brett Maher, 33. White, another former South Carolina kicker, has never kicked in the NFL. Maher has made 81% of his 116 NFL field goal attempts but is best known for missing five of his six extra-point attempts in the playoffs while playing for Dallas last season.

The Broncos could opt to bring in another kicker to compete with Fry for the job but, at least for now, he’s the only kicker on the roster.

Tommy Hudson, 26, is a big tight end who specializes as a blocker. At 6-foot-5 and 255 pounds, he certainly looks the part.

Hudson signed with the Titans as an undrafted free agent out of Arizona State in 2020. He spent his entire rookie season on the practice squad, except for a six-game suspension for violating the NFL’s performance-enhancing drug policy.

Hudson started his second season on the practice squad but was called up after Week 1. He played three games and then was placed on injured reserve. He returned later that season to play twice more but was placed on injured reserve again. He caught three balls on six targets for 31 yards.

Last season, Hudson was placed on injured reserve in training camp. He was released in October.

The Broncos now have six tight ends on their roster; Greg Dulcich, Adam Trautman, Chris Manhertz, Albert Okwuegbunam, undrafted free agent Nate Adkins and Hudson.

Jacques Patrick, 26, joined the Broncos this offseason after leading XFL running backs with 238 receiving yards. He ran for 443 yards on 3.8 yards per carry. At 6-foot-2 and 234 pounds, Patrick could have competed for a role as a bruiser. His only NFL touches came with the 49ers in 2021, when he carried the ball twice for 12 yards.

Tyreik McAllister, 25, was on the Broncos practice squad for most of the 2022 season after competing as an undrafted free agent in training camp. He was released two weeks ago and re-signed a few days later.