Detroit Lions allocated Australian TE Patrick Murtagh through international program

The Detroit Lions will be eligible to carry an extra player on their practice squad this season after being allocated a player from the NFL’s International Pathways Program.

The Lions added tight end Patrick Murtagh, 23, from Australia, to their roster Thursday.

As an IPP player, Murtagh will stay with the Lions through training camp. If he does not make the 53-man roster, the Lions can carry him as an extra developmental player on their practice through the regular season.

“Detroit lions bound,” Murtagh wrote on Instagram. “Beyond grateful for everyone that’s been apart of this journey. To my team around me, friends, family and everyone else out there Thank you! Here is to us! We are going to Detroit.”

Murtagh, listed at 6 feet 5, took part in the NFL’s 2022 international combine last October.

He played Australian rules football for the Gold Coast Suns developmental team and was a track standout who won an Australian state decathlon championship and competed in the triple jump and high jump, according to AmericanFootballInternational.com.

The Lions took Iowa’s Sam LaPorta in the second round of last week’s draft to be their No. 1 tight end this fall. LaPorta joins a young room that includes returning contributors Brock Wright, Shane Zylstra and James Mitchell, a fifth-round pick in 2022.

The NFL allocated eight players through its IPP program this year to teams in the NFC North and AFC West.

Here is the complete list of player allocations:

NFC North:

AFC West:

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.