Denver Broncos: Positions and players to target on Sunday

The Denver Broncos’ initial 53-man roster is going to look a lot different on Sunday than it did on Saturday. Who and what will they target?

The Denver Broncos cut their roster down to 52 players on Saturday, making 36 moves to waive or release certain players, including a few players you might be surprised to see off the roster, if only for 24 hours.

The Broncos, just like every other team in the NFL, subjected some guys they like to the waiver wire — like safety turned linebacker Jamal Carter, running back Khalfani Muhammad, or offensive lineman Sam Jones — because these players were not yet ready for the 53-man roster rigors of the NFL.

Either that or they were just on the cusp and the team needed the extra roster space for the time being.

But as is typically the case, the roster we see from the Broncos on Saturday is going to look different on Sunday.

Usually it’s just a move or two on the active roster, but we know due to the fact that the Broncos have some players going on injured reserve — confirmed by John Elway on Saturday — that we’re going to see a flurry of activity and at least four moves made on Sunday to add players to this team.

Which players are going on IR?

• QB Drew Lock (thumb)
• TE Jake Butt (knee)
• RB Theo Riddick (shoulder)

Why are these players going on IR after the team established their roster? The reason teams do this with certain players is that these particular players have a chance to eventually come back.

Unfortunately, the Broncos can only bring two guys back. At this point, the smart money is on Jake Butt and Theo Riddick being the two guys that come back, which is a bit of a shocker we’ll get into in another post.

Because of the uncertainty with a few guys, what positions will the Broncos target on the waiver/free agent wire on Sunday? Certain guys require waiver claims, and just like the NFL Draft, the Broncos are 10th in line, so they are not guaranteed anything there.

Other guys are street free agents, vested veterans who do not require a waiver claim and can sign with any team they want, but those players often do not sign before week one because if they do, their 2019 contract is fully guaranteed. Teams don’t always want to guarantee players an entire year’s salary, so that process gets a little complicated and is part of the reason you may not see the Broncos go that route with certain positions.

What positions are the Broncos going to target?

• Backup quarterback
• Punt returner/wide receiver
• Linebacker
• Offensive line
• Best player available

We are going to take a look at these positions in-depth, but it’s important to hit you with a spoiler alert and let you know that the Broncos are likely going to be signing Corey Nelson at the linebacker position.

Nelson was drafted by the Broncos in the seventh round of the 2015 NFL Draft, played some good special teams for the Broncos, and has been bouncing around the league the last couple of years. He was in Denver to visit the team on Saturday with the intention of signing.

He joins Todd Davis, Josey Jewell, Alexander Johnson, Josh Watson, and Joe Jones. Perhaps the Broncos will look to IR Joe Jones as well.

If Nelson ends up signing, the roster will be at 53. If those aforementioned three players are put on IR, the Broncos will have three roster spots to fill.

Let’s take a look through these needs for the Broncos and what players they could add at these positions who were let go on Saturday.