The Denver Broncos have set their initial 53-man roster, and just because it's set now, doesn't mean it cannot change. That's kind of the point - the NFL is always moving and there are always players going from here to there.
Denver cannot sit still and will be working to seek any potential upgrades and will also need to assemble a practice squad as well, so the work really isn't close to being done. The team also can begin to shift their focus to Week 1 with the Kansas City Chiefs, as the team already has a major divisional game on the schedule to kick off the 2026 NFL Season.
Before we get there, though, so the Broncos have a chance to make a small handful of roster upgrades after the main cuts?
Denver Broncos roster upgrades George Paton could make after roster cuts
Zach Ertz, TE
Zach Ertz tore his ACL near the end of the 2025 regular season, but he's been cleared for all football activities and is still wanting to play. Despite being in his mid-30s, Ertz has still been a productive player, and given how weak the Broncos tight end room is right now, bringing Ertz in would make a ton of sense.
The Broncos shockingly parted with rookie TE Justin Joly, instead opting to roster Dallen Bentley. Bentley does bring more of a blocking upside, but he's much older and doesn't have the receiving prowess that Joly had. Anyway, even if the team picked Joly over Bentley, bringing in Ertz still would have made sense.
The veteran has played 30 regular season games over the past two seasons, and in those 30 games, he's caught 116 passes for 1,158 yards and 11 touchdowns, which translates to 66 receptions for 656 yards and 6 touchdowns over a 17-game season.
Ertz is still clearly very productive for his age, and would actually be more productive than any TE the Broncos currently have. While this would obviously be a one-year solution, it wouldn't hurt to infuse the offense with this type of production for 2026.
Tyrel Dodson, ILB
The Broncos also parted with Red Murdock and Taurean York, their two inside linebacker acquisitions this offseason. Given how deep the inside linebacker free agency class and NFL Draft were, it's flat-out inexcusable that the Broncos didn't find a legitimate upgrade.
Well, the Miami Dolphins cut veteran Tyrel Dodson, who had a year left on his deal, and he's played in either 16 or 17 games in each year since the 2021 season. In 2025 for Miami, Dodson had one interception, three passes defended, five sacks, 129 total tackles, 10 tackles for loss, and six quarterback hits.
He's not a huge threat in coverage, but the overall production has been present the last three seasons, even dating back to his days with the Buffalo Bills. The Broncos don't have much at all behind Alex Singleton and Justin Strnad, and even then, the Broncos starting duo is arguably the worst in the league.
With a team having Super Bowl aspirations, fielding the league's worst ILB room simply can't continue. If nothing else, Dodson could act as a legitimate floor-raiser with starting potential, allowing Denver to at least deepen the room.
Haason Reddick, EDGE
Haason Reddick has now been on three teams over the last three seasons, and his best days are behind him, but the Broncos should consider this move at least until Jonathon Cooper is eligible to play. Reddick broke out in the NFL for the first time in 2020 with the Arizona Cardinals.
Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph was the Cardinals defensive coordinator from 2019-2022. Reddick finished the 2020 season with 12.5 sacks, 15 tackles for loss, and 16 quarterback hits.
With that said, he's amassed just 3.5 sacks, eight tackles for loss, and nine quarterback hits over the last two seasons, which has spanned 23 regular season games. If the Broncos would consider some bottom-of-the-roster depth in the meantime while Cooper can't play, reuniting Reddick with Joseph would, be a floor-raising move, like a potential Dodson signing.
The Broncos do sport some of the best depth in the league, but that doesn't mean things can't get even better.
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