Broncos set “fluid roster” for now, will continue trying to upgrade 53-man
Aug 30, 2022, 3:24 PM
Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images
The Denver Broncos’ initial 53-man roster for the 2022 season is set. While there are changes being hinted at with two players set to go on IR and two players rumored to come back on Wednesday, the NFL set a 2 p.m. deadline for rosters to be cut down for Tuesday.
The first changes to come will be tight end Greg Dulcich and corner Michael Ojemudia going on the Injured Reserved list, which will keep them out for the first four weeks. General Manager George Paton met with the media on Tuesday and said each should be ready for week five. In the meantime, that will give the Broncos two open roster spots. They are expected to give those spots to Eric Tomlinson and Mike Purcell.
“That was just procedural,” Paton said. “We have to hold these IR guys until tomorrow, so Purcell and Tomlinson are a big part of what we’re doing. Mike’s one of our core guys, we didn’t play him in the preseason, and they’re going to be here. They’re doing a favor for the team and taking one for the team.”
Because each are veteran players, neither needs to pass through waives and can pick which team they want to join next. Both seem to have a handshake agreement with the Broncos.
“I feel good about our 53-man roster; very fluid. As you guys know, tonight will be a busy night for our pro scouts,” Paton said. “They’ve written over 1000 reports on the bubble players, so tonight; we’ll be up most of the evening seeing if we can upgrade the bottom end of our roster or even the top end of our roster. So it’s a fluid roster. I feel good about where we are as a football team. I know we’re all excited for the regular season.”
The Broncos already made one trade on Tuesday, casting off Malik Reed for a late-round draft pick. As the roster crunch hits the entire league, players are being let go that could possibly help Denver. The Broncos are still in need of help at linebacker and a few other positions.
“We just want to thank these players, and we’re going to try to get a lot of these players back in a practice squad, and we’ll just kind of see how the night goes,” Paton said of the 19 players the Broncos let go of on Tuesday.
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