Denver Broncos wide receiver AT Perry has been an elusive unicorn of sorts in recent years. Everyone in Broncos Country was excited to have Perry aboard the practice squad when he joined it last year, because he was pretty outstanding in limited action with the New Orleans Saints back in 2023.
As a sixth-round pick with elite size and speed, Perry significantly outplayed his sixth-round draft status by catching 12 passes for 246 yards with four touchdowns and over 20 years per reception. The Saints cut him in the middle of his second NFL season, and the Broncos -- with tons of connections to the Saints organization, obviously -- scooped him up.
It was assumed -- wrongly at this point -- that Perry would almost instantly come in and help this team, even if he just had to come in and get open on the word "hut". Instead, Perry has been more of a legend, like Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, or the Chupacabra. Despite the impatience to see him perform, head coach Sean Payton and the Denver Broncos are willing to wait for the fruit of their long-term investment.
Sean Payton breathes new life into young Broncos wide receiver AT Perry
“I would say quite a bit. He was having a real good spring, kind of an accelerated spring before the injury. It’s always frustrating for a player like that that has that type of setback as he’s trying to make the roster. He’s participating now. He’s developmental, he’s long, he’s got good strong hands. So we’ve been encouraged, and it’s good to have him back on the field healthy.”
- HC Sean Payton (via Broncos PR)
It's not a foregone conclusion that Perry is going to make an impact on this Denver Broncos roster. In fact, as of right now, he's not even on it.
Perry is on the Broncos' practice squad for the time being, but you could easily argue he's the 6th receiver given the fact that he's made actual contributions to an NFL roster over the past couple of years as opposed to a guy like Michael Bandy, who doesn't really ever get called up for duty.
The presence of Perry perhaps gave the Broncos a bit more confidence to make the trade to send Devaughn Vele to the New Orleans Saints. It's given at least a bit more long-term upside to the group, considering Perry is not yet even 26 years old, while Vele is 27 going on 28 later this season.
The Broncos are believing in their young roster. They are willing to wait on players who may have been given up on by those looking from the outside-in, because they realize there is fruit that can come from those investments. And when you invest in talent over a long period of time, you allow those players to do as Sean Payton says, build confidence through demonstrated ability.
Even with poorly timed injuries, the Broncos didn't throw in the towel on AT Perry. At some point, hopefully we get the chance to see the fruits of their labor behind the scenes.