Entering his fourth NFL season already, former Denver Broncos 3rd-round pick Drew Sanders has reached the point of make-or-break.
And the odds are stacked against him, to be sure.
Sanders was the team's second pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, which also happened to be the first draft together for GM George Paton and head coach Sean Payton. He was also the first defensive player selected with Vance Joseph back in place as the team's defensive coordinator. On paper, the idea of taking an ultra-athletic, borderline positionless defensive player sounds great, but injuries and an inability to find his "forever home" have prevented Sanders from reaching his All-American potential at the NFL level.
Drew Sanders entering a pivotal camp as Broncos assess his future with the team
Since Payton came aboard as the team's head coach in 2023, player development has been the primary focus of roster building. The Broncos have prioritized their own guys, almost to a fault, and have stuck with them through a wide variety of difficult circumstances.
Regardless of how long the development process has been for other guys (or what hurdles have been in the way), it's going to be tough for the team to justify keeping Sanders around after this year's camp, unless he can absolutely come out swinging.
The team has switched Sanders from off-ball linebacker to edge rusher, back to linebacker, and back to edge rusher again. Whatever vision they had for him originally as a "pressure player" coming out of Arkansas hasn't been realized, although Sanders has shown some flashes as a pass rusher and special teams contributor.
The switch back to the edge this offseason is fascinating because going into the offseason program, that was essentially the best and deepest position group on the roster. The off-field circumstances for Jonathon Cooper might throw a bit of a wrinkle into things, but Sanders appears to be facing a situation where he has to really prove himself on Darren Rizzi's special teams unit in order to make the team.
Could the Broncos structure their 53-man roster a bit differently this season? Typically, they've been keeping five edge rushers, but with the team's lack of depth at linebacker right now, it wouldn't be too shocking to see Sanders kept as a 6th edge rusher and flex linebacker.
Up to this point, it feels like a million of the same types of pieces have been written about Sanders. Most people seem to be simply counting him out and writing him off, which may turn out to be right. He's the highest draft pick on the roster who feels like he could genuinely be on the roster bubble, and he may be the only one.
But as I've said before -- the Broncos almost owe it to Sanders to stick it out with him. They have changed his position multiple times, and he was a player whose talent they prioritized when draft capital was extremely limited. And at this point, he could still fill a valuable depth role on this team.
It's not out of the realm of possibility for Sanders to make this Broncos roster in 2026, but it feels like a longshot. He's got to make one more push in what could be his final training camp with the team.
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