Broncos 53-man roster: 3 players team should consider claiming on waivers

One man's trash is another man's treasure. That phrase has been around for hundreds of years and it applies in the NFL as well, particularly around this time of year. On Tuesday, all 32 teams around the league reduced their rosters from 90 players down to 53.

If you do the math, that's about 1,184 football players looking for new homes. Now, any player who was waived is subject to be claimed by one of the other teams in the league before they can be brought back to the team that let them go and added to the practice squad or back on the main roster to replace a player going on injured reserve.

Veteran players who were cut instead of waived become instant free agents, free to sign with any team they choose.

The Broncos came up with an initial 53-player roster that makes sense for the most part, but they didn't get things completely right. Now, they will search the waiver wire to see if there is a player they can't live without. There is a report already floating out there that the team intends to bring back Mike Purcell, Fabian Moreau and Quinn Bailey on Wednesday.

This would indicate that the team is going to place some players on short-term injured reserve. It doesn't appear that Jerry Jeudy will be one of those, but cornerback K'Waun Williams will almost certainly go there and offensive lineman Alex Palczewski (hand) will be another candidate.

However, if the Broncos want to see what the waiver wire has to offer, these players could be intriguing for spots on either the main roster or the practice squad.

Austin Watkins, Wide Receiver

Undrafted out of UAB in 2021, Austin Watkins' professional career has already taken him to many different stops. But he sure seemed to find a good home in Cleveland this summer.

Watkins was a standout in preseason, catching 16 passes for 257 yards and two touchdowns in parts of four preseason games. If you read through any of the training camp reports coming out of Browns camp, he was catching everything thrown his way.

But there were just too many talented receivers in front of him in Cleveland. However, the Browns probably want him back so they can stash the 25-year old on the practice squad.

Watkins has great size at 6-foot-3 and 210 pounds and the Broncos have a need at wide receiver. When the season opens, they will have just three healthy wide receivers left (Courtland Sutton, Marvin Mims Jr, Brandon Johnson).

It sounds like the team will bring Lil'Jordan Humphrey back to be part of the practice squad but more help at that position is going to be essential. It wouldn't hurt the Broncos one bit to put in a claim for this guy and take a shot on him.