Denver Broncos: 5 moves in 2021 the team may live to regret

4. The team’s obsession with Cam Fleming

According to my unofficial tracker, the Denver Broncos have now sacrificed three players worth keeping because of Cam Fleming.

In my eyes, Fleming is player 53 out of 53 on the Denver Broncos’ current roster, but the much smarter idea at this point is to put Fleming on the practice squad and open up a roster spot for a player you have more long-term plans for, because no one is stealing Fleming off the practice squad.

Oh by the way, if you were really afraid of that, you could also protect him on a weekly basis.

It’s astounding that Fleming, whose $1 million guarantee isn’t going anywhere regardless, was not placed on the practice squad as the Denver Broncos sacrificed keeping players like fullback Adam Prentice (now with the Saints), Trey Marshall (a special teams ace who was plucked by the Chargers), and Mac McCain (a young corner who was stolen by the Eagles) to ensure that Fleming was still around.

It will be even worse if, at some point, an injury elsewhere causes the Broncos to cut Fleming, elevate someone else, and put Fleming on the practice squad.

The idea and process of signing Fleming when the Denver Broncos initially did so were exactly on point. After the Ja’Wuan James injury, they covered their butts with the signing of not only Bobby Massie (who won the job) but also Fleming, who was a contender for the job at the time of his signing.

After it became apparent that he wasn’t in contention for the job, the Denver Broncos should have started making plans for stashing him on the practice squad with the exceptions the NFL has made for up to six veteran players on the practice squad.

Instead, we’ve seen at least three young players with promise walk out the door for nothing in return.