Former Kentucky players Keidron Smith, Marquan McCall sign NFL deals

A pair of former Kentucky players inked new NFL deals on Tuesday.

Following brief stops in Miami and Washington D.C., defensive back Keidron Smith is now making his way to Denver. On Tuesday afternoon, the Broncos announced that the franchise has signed Smith to its practice squad.

Smith, who played at Kentucky in 2022 after starting his college career at Ole Miss, went undrafted in the 2023 NFL Draft but has spent time with both the Dolphins and Commanders since then. Unfortunately, he has yet to appear in a regular-season game as a rookie, but he’ll at least have another shot at making that happen in Denver to close out the season.

Later in the day, the Las Vegas Raiders reportedly signed former Kentucky defensive tackle Marquan McCall. The 6-foot-3, 380-pounder went undrafted in 2022 but was picked up by the Carolina Panthers as an undrafted free agent. He appeared in every game with the Panthers as a rookie nose tackle and recorded 15 tackles but was waived this past August.

McCall later made a very short stop with the New England Patriots before getting waived again immediately following a failed physical due to knee issues. He’s been off the field ever since but appears to be getting a second chance, this time with the Raiders.