The Denver Broncos must cut their roster down from 85 players to just 80 on Tuesday afternoon, and it’s likely we’ll see 60 or fewer of those players actually end up playing against the Minnesota Vikings in the team’s preseason finale on Saturday night. Whatever players make it through to the final 80 will have a chance to not only put some tape out there for the Broncos but all 31 other teams as well. It’s a chance to make another roster, or at least impress enough to get a shot on someone’s practice squad.
And that includes the Broncos. Unfortunately, as the roster gets better and better, making difficult roster cuts is going to become more and more common. The Broncos will have to say goodbye to players when roster cuts come around that have had big offseasons, that previously made a strong impression, or perhaps even once looked like long-term key contributors.
With cuts to 53 players looming, I thought it might be interesting to take a look through a handful of players on the roster right now that would be considered rather “shocking” cuts, relatively speaking. There are only 53 spots on the team. Which players would be more along the lines of shocking or at least surprising cuts? Here are five names.
Denver Broncos shocking potential cut no. 1: JR Reed, DB
As the Denver Broncos approach roster cuts, my best guess is that they’re going to be trying to keep at least 10 or 11 defensive backs. Usually, you’ll see teams go with six cornerbacks (because your starting lineup typically includes three) and five safeties. Could we see the Broncos go slightly unconventional and keep six safeties with five corners?
I would say that’s not impossible just because the players at safety right now, you almost like them better than you like the players at corner. The Broncos have a variety of players worth keeping at the safety position:
- Justin Simmons
- Kareem Jackson
- PJ Locke
- Caden Sterns
- Delarrin Turner-Yell
- JR Reed
Is the team going to try to keep all of these guys? At this point, it seems like the decision is between cutting fifth-round pick Delarrin Turner-Yell (after you already cut Jamar Johnson) or cutting JR Reed, who has done really well in training camp and the preseason. Reed was also out there with the Broncos’ top special teams unit against the Buffalo Bills.
At this point, I think it would be more shocking to see Reed be the one that gets cut as opposed to Turner-Yell, who the team could try to sneak onto the practice squad, even as a fifth-round pick.
Denver Broncos shocking potential cut no. 2: Jalen Virgil, WR/KR
I can already hear people from where I sit.
It wouldn’t be shocking for Jalen Virgil to be cut! He’s an undrafted receiver, and that’s one of the deepest positions on the team! There’s no way you can keep seven receivers on the roster!
Blah, blah, blah.
There are certainly justifiable reasons to cut guys at receiver, even if they play well throughout training camp and the preseason. Unfortunately, I think the reasons to cut Jalen Virgil are dwindling by the day. Your primary reasons for cutting Virgil right now have literally nothing to do with on-field performance, which is where I take a serious issue with the idea of cutting him loose.
What message does it send to future undrafted players if a guy like Virgil goes out and plays really well, does what he’s supposed to do, and makes the right kind of impression? What message does it send if a guy goes out there and makes all these plays, proves his worth on special teams, and still ends up getting cut? I think it sends a bad message to future UDFAs and I think it sends a bad message to the roster overall.
We know that the Broncos decided to promote from within when it comes to “replacing” Tim Patrick on the roster. If they didn’t intend on bringing other receivers in from the outside, I don’t think it’s right that they would cut the guys they decided were the right “Plan B” in this case.
https://twitter.com/Broncos/status/1561076442531856385
There are times in the NFL when you have to do some different things as it relates to roster construction and keeping certain guys around who have clearly earned their spot. Jalen Virgil can play special teams. He’s a very good kickoff returner. He’s got big-time NFL speed. He’s shown he can make huge plays as a receiver.
At this point, I would be shocked if he was cut and I think a lot of people in Broncos Country would be frustrated to see one of the team’s top playmakers from the preseason get the axe and go sign on with another team or get claimed by another team.
It’s a different conversation if the team is still keeping seven receivers and someone like Seth Williams, a sixth-round pick from a year ago, makes it instead. That’s a little more understandable, but right now, I don’t see any way you can justify going into the season with only six receivers considering the injury to Tim Patrick and the ongoing recovery/injury history of KJ Hamler.
Denver Broncos potentially shocking cut no. 3: Eric Saubert, TE
Through the first couple of preseason games, one of the more surprising observations I’ve made is the use of the fullback in the “base” offense. We know the Broncos aren’t going out there and trying to show a bunch of stuff for the regular season, so perhaps this means nothing, but Andrew Beck’s inclusion early and somewhat often could mean this team intends on utilizing a fullback more than we anticipated.
Head coach Nathaniel Hackett and offensive coordinator Justin Outten came from Green Bay where Josiah Deguara was a hybrid player like Beck — a tight end who could move around and play some fullback as well — so perhaps we should have expected a player like this to be included in the offense.
Beck is listed on the Broncos’ “unofficial” first depth chart as the TE3, which could mean nothing, or perhaps that’s their way of saying he’s not really on the outside looking in. We know Beck can play a versatile role as well as special teams, but his inclusion in the lineup could lead to the shocking release of Eric Saubert.
Saubert had a really strong start to training camp, even earning a bunch of reps with the top offense. Albert Okwuegbunam has seemingly been the clear TE1 all of camp while Greg Dulcich has had to deal with a nagging hamstring injury.
Eric Tomlinson appears poised to be the team’s top blocking option at the tight end position, so is it possible that Saubert’s best bet at the Broncos’ roster is initially on the practice squad? Again, that would fall into the “shocking” category, at least for me. I felt like Saubert had borderline become a roster lock but if Beck is on the team and Tomlinson is a lock, Saubert could be the odd man out.
Denver Broncos potentially shocking cut no. 4: Brandon Johnson, WR
At this point, you can really just take this one to the bank. It would be a massive upset at this point, a massive shock, if Brandon Johnson was not among the final 53 players the Denver Broncos keep on their active roster to open the 2022 regular season.
The wide receiver position has obviously been shuffled around a little bit with Tim Patrick’s injury. I would even say that injury has paved the way for this to happen, otherwise, it might not have. Because Patrick was hurt, you now have a unique situation where three or four guys are not going to be dominating all your snaps at the position.
With a healthy Tim Patrick, it was more likely than anything that you were going to see a healthy dose of him, Courtland Sutton, and Jerry Jeudy with KJ Hamler sprinkled in throughout the season. Not much room for rotation. Without Patrick, the door has opened for a rotation at the receiver position with guys like Kendall Hinton, Montrell Washington, and now Brandon Johnson becoming factors.
Johnson was a modest undrafted free agent pickup who received a pretty light signing bonus compared to some of his peers. Lucky for him, none of that matters when you go out and take care of your business day in and day out.
Johnson has longstanding ties to Broncos wide receivers coach Zach Azzanni, who once recruited him to play at Tennessee when Azzanni was an assistant with the Vols program. Now, he’s getting the chance to coach Johnson in the NFL, and Johnson has made good on his opportunities. He is so entrenched on this roster that the Broncos don’t even have him playing in the second half of their preseason games.
At this point, I’m using this article as a platform to really highlight how solid Johnson’s standing on this roster is rather than speculate that he might be cut. He’s not getting cut barring anything truly shocking.
Denver Broncos potentially shocking cut no. 5: Jonathon Cooper, OLB
When you start looking at the Denver Broncos’ numbers game off the edge, you can’t help but wonder what the future is going to hold. This position group is loaded for the Broncos heading into the final week of the preseason, and there’s really no easy way to go about projecting which guys could be cut and which guys will stick around.
Special teams will be crucial, which is why I think you look at someone like Aaron Patrick — who has been called a “core” special teams player by coordinator Dwayne Stukes — as more of a roster lock than he may appear on the surface.
The question then becomes, who is the odd man out?
The Broncos will go into the 2022 season with at least five of these guys on the active roster:
- Randy Gregory
- Bradley Chubb
- Baron Browning
- Nik Bonitto
- Malik Reed
- Aaron Patrick
- Jonathon Cooper
At most, you might be able to find six spots for seven guys. Could we see a trade on the horizon for one of these players? That’s very much a possibility at this point. Over the course of the 2022 offseason, though, it’s been Jonathon Cooper that has missed a bunch of time after having surgery to repair an injured finger.
Cooper was back out on the field for the Broncos against the Buffalo Bills and he was flying around like usual. He was really the team’s late-round gem from that 2021 NFL Draft class and he showed some really outstanding stuff throughout the course of his rookie season.
The question is, was it good enough to earn him a roster spot in 2022? In my opinion, I think the Broncos would be fools to let someone like Cooper just hit the waiver wire. He would absolutely get picked up by some other team. He’s capable of playing special teams and being a factor in your rotation off the edge, and the Broncos have struggled to bring consistent edge pressure in recent years. Not to mention, he has three years of team control on his contract as things stand right now.
4 free agents the Broncos should target to shore up weak areas
The Denver Broncos may need to go out and get a little aggressive on the free agent market to shore up some weak areas. Who could they sign?
I think the Broncos should find a team that is willing to trade something decent for Malik Reed, get him an opportunity somewhere with more snaps available, and roll with six players off the edge while sacrificing on the active roster at stack linebacker. Cutting Cooper to potentially include someone like Joe Schobert on the roster would drive me absolutely nuts.