Denver Broncos roster moves: 2017 draft class leads surprising cuts
The Denver Broncos are making some shocking roster moves, including releasing half of their 2017 NFL Draft class. What will happen next?
Getting the Denver Broncos’ roster down to 53 players was never going to be easy. We discussed that on Friday night with a post outlining what the team might do next after cutting the roster down by 13 players.
There is not a perfect way to cut the roster down, especially with more than 53 players deserving roster spots, but the Broncos are really turning heads with the way they are gutting the 2017 NFL Draft class from the roster.
The top two picks in the 2017 NFL Draft for the Broncos — Garett Bolles and DeMarcus Walker — are in no danger of being cut, but third-round picks Carlos Henderson and Brendan Langley are both gone.
The Broncos also made the shocking decision to release both fifth-round pick Isaiah McKenzie and sixth-round pick De’Angelo Henderson.
That makes four members from the 2017 NFL Draft class purged off of the roster, leaving only Bolles, Walker, Jake Butt, and backup quarterback Chad Kelly.
Yikes.
Here are all of the official reported cuts for the Broncos so far:
Jordan Leslie, WR
Mark Chapman, WR
Bryce Bobo, WR
John Diarse, WR
Jeremiah Poutasi, OL
J.J. Dielman, OL (waived/injured)
Austin Fleer, OT
Antonio Simmons, DE
DeShawn Williams, DL
DeQuinton Osborne, DL
Marcus Rush, OLB
Michael Hunter, CB
Marcus Rios, CB (waived/injured)
Carlos Henderson, WR
De’Angelo Henderson, RB
Austin Traylor, TE
Isaiah McKenzie, WR
River Cracraft, WR
Trey Marshall, S
Jeff Holland, OLB
Jordan Moore, S (waived/injured)
Clinton McDonald, DL
Brendan Langley, CB
Brian Parker, TE
Zaire Anderson, ILB
Kyle Peko, DT
Shamarko Thomas, S
Cyrus Kouandjio, OT
C.J. Smith, CB
Dave Williams, RB
DeAndrew White, WR
Austin Schlottmann, OL
Caushaud Lyons, DL
Troy Fumagalli, TE (IR)
Andreas Knappe, OT (waived/injured)
Jerrol Garcia-Williams (out for season)
Leon Johnson, OT
Other shocking moves
The Broncos’ decision to cut Jeff Holland seems unwise. As outlined in the post linked above, keeping Holland was just as much about 2019 and beyond as it was about 2018.
Denver is obviously not concerned about its edge depth beyond this season when only Von Miller and Bradley Chubb could be on the roster.
Zaire Anderson has been with the team for quite some time, but he was out-played by undrafted free agent Alexander Johnson, who came in and made some splash plays both offensively and defensively.
Kyle Peko has been on and off with the Broncos’ active roster over the past three seasons, and the team wants to keep him on the practice squad yet again.
Clinton McDonald is a bit of a surprise but maybe he’s just not healthy enough to contribute this year. He renegotiated his contract earlier this offseason. He could be ‘on call’ for the Broncos this year.
The decision to cut both Isaiah McKenzie and River Cracraft is a tough one for me. The Broncos didn’t necessarily need to keep either guy, but what are they going to look to do with their practice squad here? Will McKenzie get claimed by another team? He’s obviously a player you’d love to develop further.
Broncos roster moves: What's up next?. dark. Next
If a team needs an offensive tackle, Cyrus Kouandjio has put out some good tape. He should get picked up by someone.
What will the Broncos do next? This has already been a crazy Saturday.