Justin Joly departure and 3 other absurd Broncos' decisions from roster cuts

The Denver Broncos have one of the best rosters in the NFL and absolutely can win the Super Bowl this year. That does seem to be something that most can agree on. The Broncos are likely in the Super Bowl in 2025 if Bo Nix doesn't break his ankle in the Divisional Round.

But 2026 is a new year, and the Broncos have gotten to work making a ton of various roster moves over the past couple of days. Some of them have been great, but others have been horrific, to stay the least.

Which Broncos roster decisions during cuts have us scratching our heads at the moment?

Odd Denver Broncos roster decisions made have fans scratching their head

Justin Joly cut, latches on with Dolphins

This one definitely feels shocking. The Broncos took Justin Joly in the fifth round of the 2026 NFL Draft, with the idea that he'd be a developmental prospect. With that said, Joly very clearly did have upside as both a blocker and a receiver.

Two rounds later, the Broncos used the second-to-last pick in the NFL Draft on Dallen Bentley, who ended up making the roster over Joly, and it's largely unheard of for a fifth-round rookie with clear upside to not make a roster.

For whatever reason, the Broncos didn't want to even take a chance on rostering Joly with the hopes of developing him. Sure, this could indicate that the depth is just too good right now, but the tight end position is arguably the worst on the roster, so perhaps keeping a rookie tight end who just turned 22 years old wouldn't have been a bad idea...

Joly is now with the Miami Dolphins, and the Broncos have essentially already lost out on any chance of developing the young tight end. Perhaps the decision to part with Joly is indicative of bigger evaluation issues at the position.

Taurean York cut, not re-signing to the practice squad

Taurean York was a very notable undrafted free agent signing, as he received the biggest signing bonus and guarantee:

However, while the Broncos risked losing York when they cut him, they also simply didn't keep him on the inital 53-man roster, and are again doing something similar here as they are at tight end. The inside linebacker position is, along with tight end, the weakest position on the roster, and, once again, the Broncos don't want to take a chance to develop a young player.

Sure, they got Red Murdock back, but Denver has a very clear long-term need at the position for two new starters, as Alex Singleton and Justin Strnad are both getting up there in age. York only just turned 21 years old, so he's quite young, even for NFL rookie standards.

Once again, the Broncos not even wanting to take a chance on the development of a player at a major position of need is head-scratching.

Jaleel McLaughlin cut in favor of Tyler Badie

It appears as if the Broncos kept Tyler Badie over Jaleel McLaughlin due to Badie's pass protection and special teams upside, which is fine, but outside of that, Badie is an unplayable running back, as he offers virtually nothing as a runner or receiver.

Badie just isn't as good of a football player as McLaughlin is. Now, yes, the Broncos have their three primary running backs set in stone in J.K. Dobbins, Jonah Coleman, and RJ Harvey, and do have their fullback in Adam Prentice, but it wouldn't have hurt for the Broncos to have chosen McLaughlin over Badie, as there is some pass protection skills in the room already with Coleman and Harvey, so that isn't necessarily a skill that Denver was dying for at RB.

Badie's special teams ability is really the only viable reason why he'd get the nod over McLaughlin, but Badie's special teams upside, in my opinion, does not overtake McLaughlin's ability on the ground and what would have been his potential ability to get snaps in the event of injury.

Keeping three quarterbacks

In my view, keeping both Jarrett Stidham and Sam Ehlinger on the roster is because neither one played well enough to cement themselves as the backup quarterback. Stidham looked thoroughly overwhelmed in the AFC Championship Game and had a much worse preseason this year than he did last year.

And while Ehlinger definitely took some strides this offseason, he doesn't even have backup-caliber experience at this point. It's an odd spot for the Broncos to be it, as they clearly aren't confident in either to be the QB2, but also don't have a clear solution in sight.

What they should have done, to be frank, is chosen one of Stidham or Ehlinger to be the QB3 and parted with the other with the hopes he comes back onto the practice squad. That's been the case in prior seasons, but not this year.

If the Broncos would have kept just two QBs, that would have allowed them to, for example, keep another player at a much more urgent position of need.

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