Denver Broncos: 5 worst moves on the final 53-man roster

The Denver Broncos’ roster is set at 53 players. Although there could certainly be some tinkering, what are the worst moves the team made to get there?

The Denver Broncos have finalized their 53-man roster, at least for the time being, after setting an initial roster then making a handful of moves the next day. The team, at the time of this writing, is now comprised of the 53 active roster players plus a 15-player practice squad with one practice squad spot open.

George Paton did a tremendous job in the 2021 offseason of adding talent to the Denver Broncos’ roster on both sides of the ball, and even after a quarterback battle between Teddy Bridgewater and Drew Lock ended with the incumbent losing his starting job to the newcomer, expectations are high for this team.

Still, not every move made by George Paton and company is agreeable, and no one ever said it had to be.

There are moves the Denver Broncos made to get to 53 players that fans have every right to question.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at what I believe were the five worst decisions as Paton and company cut the roster down.

Denver Broncos 5 worst 53-man roster decisions

1. Keeping OT Cam Fleming

I’m sure I’m the first one to say this, but why is Cam Fleming on the final 53-man roster for the Denver Broncos?

This move makes very little sense from a roster construction standpoint and based on Vic Fangio preaching meritocracy in the past. Cam Fleming was not very good in the preseason, to put it lightly.

The coaching staff didn’t determine he was good enough to really be considered for the starting right tackle position at all. All of those reps went to Bobby Massie and Calvin Anderson.

The Broncos could have used this roster spot elsewhere and Fleming could have been one of the team’s 16 practice squad members. His $1 million guarantee wouldn’t go anywhere based on that, and it’s just a smarter move based on other players that became available.

I still think the possibility of putting Fleming on the practice squad exists. It’s not like teams were lining up to sign him when the Broncos released him at initial cuts.

If he was going to get a job elsewhere based on his preseason play, tackles are at a premium and it would have happened already.

I think the process of signing Fleming even after signing Massie was a smart one, but the decision to make sure one of the 53 roster spots belonged to him was one of the worst decisions I think the Broncos made at this point.