https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/sean-payton-tremendous-leader-marcedes-lewis-is-in-great-shape-at-41
Thwarted in their efforts to add a tight end via waivers (twice), the Denver Broncos had to find a free agent at the position.
They found one in 41-year-old Marcedes Lewis.
“You kind of follow his career, and I knew he’d been training, I knew he’s in great shape,” coach Sean Payton told reporters on Wednesday regarding the decision to add the 2006 first-rounder. “He’s a tremendous blocker. . . . So we brought him in for a workout, brought him on to our practice squad. I’m glad he’s here. He’s a tremendous leader. . . . He had been in the league long enough where the reports have just been unbelievable anywhere he’s been. Jacksonville, Green Bay, Chicago. It’s good to have him here.”
Payton recognized the unusual nature of a position player having a 20-year NFL career.
“I think he’s obsessed with taking care of himself,” Payton said. “That has a lot to do with it. I had checked on a mutual friend. He’s been training two times a day and then you can see that he’s in shape.”
If Lewis plays for the Broncos on Sunday against the Texans, he’ll be going against a team coached by DeMeco Ryans, another first-round pick from the class of 2006.
“I think when he’s 55, he’s going to be able to block the D-gap,” Payton said of Lewis. “We used to say that about Vinny Testaverde, like when he’s 60, he’s still going to throw a pretty ball. I just think that all the other things that come with him are assets for our team.”
The team is otherwise doing very well, at 6-2. The Lewis signing addresses one of the Broncos’ few glaring needs.
https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/sean-payton-tremendous-leader-marcedes-lewis-is-in-great-shape-at-41
