Broncos pare down roster; Ridley, Thompson cut
With only two days to trim their roster from 90 to 53, the Broncos got an early start Friday to move closer to their final group.
The Broncos finished training camp and preseason facing difficult decisions at multiple positions, especially running back. Among the first wave of cuts Friday were veteran running backs Stevan Ridley and Juwan Thompson.
Ridley was signed for depth after Devontae Booker suffered a wrist injury in the offseason. But he surprised many with his immediate impact in camp. A former 1,200-yard back for the Patriots, Ridley sustained a knee injury in his final season with New England that hindered his play the past three seasons.
Denver provided a fresh start, but a competitive one. Behind C.J. Anderson and Booker, the Broncos had signed Jamaal Charles in May and drafted De’Angelo Henderson, a small but speedy rookie who led the team with 129 rushing yards in the preseason.
In four preseason games, Ridley had a team-high 38 carries for 109 yards (2.9 average) and one touchdown — a 27-yard run in Thursday’s preseason finale against Arizona.
Thompson faced the same uphill battle as he vied to retain a roster spot. The fourth-year back was signed by the Broncos as a college free agent in 2014 and has played in 38 regular-season games, with two starts. Last season he spent the first seven weeks on the practice squad and competed as both a halfback and fullback in Gary Kubiak‘s system. This year, with Mike McCoy as offensive coordinator, the team relied on Andy Janovich as its lone fullback.
The Broncos also waived wide receiver Anthony Nash, a rookie out of Duke; offensive lineman Cameron Hunt, an undrafted rookie out of Oregon; tackle Justin Murray, a 2016 practice-squad player; and tight end Steven Scheu, a first-year player who joined the team’s practice squad last season.
NFL teams can begin to form their 10-player practice squads Sunday, and the four could be candidates.
On the defensive side, the Broncos waived outside linebackers Vontarrius Dora, Ken Ekanem, Deon Hollins and Danny Mason, as well as inside linebacker Quentin Gause.
Dora played one regular-season game for the Broncos last year after spending the first 13 weeks on the practice squad. Mason, who had previously signed with the team in 2015, was brought back during training camp after injuries to outside linebackers Shane Ray and Shaquil Barrett.
Barrett recently came off the physically unable to perform list after recovering from a hip injury, and Ray (wrist) is expected back within the first few weeks of the season.
Safety Dante Barnett and defensive end Shakir Soto, both undrafted rookies, were also waived Friday.
Unlike in past years when teams spread cuts over two weeks to get down to 75 after the third preseason game and then 53 after the fourth game, teams will only make one round this year. The list of the unemployed will grow to nearly 1,100 by Saturday afternoon, but many teams got an early jump on forming their rosters by making moves Friday.
The cuts, however, are only one piece of the puzzle.
The Broncos are also mulling options for some veterans, including safety T.J. Ward, whose name has come up in trade discussions. Earlier Friday, the Broncos traded offensive tackle Ty Sambrailo to Atlanta for a 2018 fifth-round pick.
Denver has yet to decide how they will fill the void of Paxton Lynch, their backup quarterback who is expected to miss the first few weeks of the season with a shoulder sprain. Kyle Sloter took his first NFL start Thursday as a result and is in the running to be a third quarterback on the roster, at least for Week 1.
“Well, we’ll see. Those calls are going to happen tomorrow. (Friday) and Saturday, I should say,” Joseph said after Thursday’s preseason game. “He’s played very well . ... He’s impressive. He’s a young, poised quarterback. He’s very intelligent. I’ve been impressed with Kyle.”
Keeping a third quarterback, however, will affect the Broncos’ roster construction since they originally planned on keeping only two, Siemian and Lynch.