Wes Welker Situation Remains Unresolved, Roster Spot Still Open

November 17, 2013; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Broncos wide receiver Wes Welker (83) is tackled by Kansas City Chiefs defensive back Husain Abdullah (39) during the first quarter at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

In case you thought you might wake up to Wes Welker having been reinstated by the league with a new drug policy, here’s this from Tuesday night:

This is incredibly frustrating, and probably especially so for the Denver Broncos, who would much prefer to include Welker in their gameplan for Sunday’s showdown in Denver against the Kansas City Chiefs. The Broncos even went so far as to waive Nathan Palmer on Tuesday to possibly make room for Welker.

As it is now going to be Wednesday on a game week, it’s highly unlikely the Broncos are going to do much more waiting before they figure out what to do with that extra roster spot. They could continue to leave it open in case of Welker’s return, which seems like the likeliest scenario at this point, but they could also choose to give someone an essential trial run for however long the duration of Welker’s time away is.

As of right now, it seems they can just plan on Welker missing the full four weeks, because like the lockout negotiations from 2011, there’s never an end in sight as long as it’s the players vs. the owners.

With that being said, it’s becoming increasingly likely that we won’t see Welker in the Broncos’ huddle on Sunday, but even if it comes down to a situation where Welker is made available on a Friday, I think the Broncos would put him in the mix immediately. He’s a really valuable player to have for third down and red zone situations.

We’ll keep you updated in as far as we know what’s going on, but for right now, there has been no new drug policy agreed on, and Welker is still suspended.