The Denver Broncos could trim their quarterback group sometime soon.
The Denver Broncos currently have four quarterbacks on their active 53-man roster.
Drew Lock is back on the practice field on a full-time basis after injuring his shoulder in the team’s week two loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, and Brett Rypien is up on the 53-man roster on a full-time basis along with Jeff Driskel and Blake Bortles.
Although these four guys aren’t costing the Broncos very much in terms of cap space or cash, having four quarterbacks is not the best use of valuable 53-man roster spots.
Especially when you consider that the Broncos already have no fewer than five players (Brandon McManus, Sam Martin, Jacob Bobenmoyer, Diontae Spencer, and Joe Jones) who are strictly special teams players and a couple of other rookies who are essentially ‘redshirting’ this season, it makes very little sense to have four quarterbacks on the active roster.
In addition to it not making much sense roster-wise, the Broncos also can’t divide quarterback reps between four guys in practice. Most NFL teams carry three quarterbacks between the active roster and practice squad.
You really only need two on the 53-man roster most of the time but because of the NFL’s strict COVID protocols, teams are probably more likely to keep up to four quarterbacks, just in case.
With Lock now back to full strength (we hope), it no longer makes sense for the Broncos to keep all four of the guys they have out there. With Brett Rypien seizing the backup spot over Jeff Driskel, it seems that Driskel’s spot, in particular, is in jeopardy.
The Broncos can’t un-pay Driskel, who received a two-year, $5 million with $2.5 million in guarantees this offseason. He got a $1.5 million signing bonus and a guaranteed $1 million salary in 2020, but there are no guarantees beyond this season.
Since Driskel has been demoted to third-string, the Broncos could try to release him and re-sign him to the practice squad since his contract for this season is already fully guaranteed. That’s if they feel his presence is a necessity.
With Melvin Gordon likely facing a three-game suspension at some point in the 2020 season and a variety of players coming off of injured reserve in the near future, the quarterbacks will likely be one position group that gets a re-shuffling when it comes to 53-man roster spots.