Broncos make a couple of very notable practice squad additions

The Denver Broncos made a couple of very notable practice squad additions on Wednesday, bringing in Ha Ha Clinton-Dix and Travis Fulgham.

The Denver Broncos are always tinkering with the back end of the roster, typically making some weekly adjustments to the practice squad and the bottom of the 53-man roster. Some of these moves, as we saw recently with the team’s addition of undrafted rookie offensive tackle Adrian Ealy, could amount to nothing.

Other additions late in the regular season can definitely amount to something, as we’ve seen in recent years with players like Nate Hairston and Damarea Crockett who joined the Broncos late last season and have been key contributors on special teams throughout the year, as well as more prominent players like Tim Patrick, who just signed a big contract extension with the team.

Denver Broncos make notable practice squad additions

You just never know with these bottom of the roster dart throws, so it’s important to always try and find the good with these players and see what they could potentially bring to the table down the road.

Those additions to the team this week are some names that many fans in Broncos Country will recognize. They are safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix and wide receiver Travis Fulgham.

These two moves are both grea t uses of the exception of adding veteran players to the practice squad.

NFL clubs are permitted up to six vested veterans on the practice squad. The Broncos have not utilized the veteran exception a bunch, but on a few occasions, they have, including with linebacker Avery Williamson who is currently on his second stint with the team.

Breaking down the Ha Ha Clinton-Dix move

With rookie safety Caden Sterns popping up on the injury report, PJ Locke on the COVID list, and Kareem Jackson dealing with a shoulder injury, this is a phenomenal move.  He was most recently playing special teams for the Las Vegas Raiders, so this move is as much about adding depth at safety as it is about getting some additional intel on a division rival.

Clinton-Dix was a first-round pick out of Alabama back in 2014, and he’s got 16 career interceptions, including a pick-six two seasons ago with the Chicago Bears.

For all of the conspiracy theorists out there, Clinton-Dix was one of the players that voiced his opinions in defense of Aaron Rodgers when a report came about exposing the relationship between Rodgers and Mike McCarthy, as well as some other not-so-great stuff coming out of Green Bay.

That could ultimately mean nothing, or maybe it doesn’t mean nothing…

Clinton-Dix is a former Pro Bowl player whose best days are almost certainly behind him, but you just never know when you’re going to need a player with experience like this and it’s clear that George Paton and the pro personnel department in Denver are taking this playoff chance seriously. He’s giving Vic Fangio the best possible resources to compete and planning in case of injury or anything else that might happen at the safety position.

Breaking down the addition of WR Travis Fulgham

Travis Fulgham was a sixth-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions, and after a year in Detroit, he was cut in August and claimed off of waivers by an NFC North rival.

That team? The Green Bay Packers.

Fulgham was probably not with the Packers long enough for Aaron Rodgers to remember him even being there, but then again, maybe he was.

The Philadelphia Eagles scooped up Fulgham off of waivers when the Packers let him go, and he wound up as one of the most highly coveted fantasy football waiver pickups early in the season.

He had a big run of games in the month of October and into the first weekend of November, catching 29 total passes with four touchdowns including a 152-yard performance against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Unfortunately, his production took a dip as the season progressed.

Still, Fulgham’s stretch of games just last season makes him an intriguing dart throw at the position as he combines intriguing size (6-foot-2, 215 pounds) with the ability to do things like this…

Even with a new coaching regime and a Heisman winning receiver in Philadelphia, it’s surprising that Fulgham didn’t stick with them this year, and it’s even more surprising that he hasn’t caught on with another team at this point in time.

7 Denver Broncos free agents and others who won’t be back in 2022

The Denver Broncos have a handful of important free agents on expiring contracts and other players who will not be back in the 2022 offseason.

We’ll see how these moves work out for the Broncos, but for the time being, I love the process and the way George Paton is taking shots on players with a chance to really contribute to this team, maybe not immediately, but down the line.