Broncos place Watson on IR; reports say team intends to cut the OL
Aug 20, 2018, 10:49 AM | Updated: 7:17 pm
Just more than a year after signing a three-year, $18.375 million deal, Menelik Watson heads out the door at UCHealth Training Center.
The team announced Monday that Watson had been placed on injured reserve, and reports indicate the left tackle will be released once healthy.
Broncos head coach Vance Joseph said after practice Monday it wasn’t necessarily that Watson no longer fits in Denver, but rather guys “playing really well behind him.”
“He’s been injured. It’s hard to make a football team injured. You’ve got three or four guys behind you playing good football. It wasn’t about fit; it was more about Billy (Turner), Eli (Wilkinson) and those guys playing good football — and Max Garcia.”
NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Monday that Watson has a pectoral strain, which should keep him out only two weeks and will make him available for teams by the open of the regular season.
Watson gave up 7.5 sacks for 62 yards in just seven starts for the Broncos in 2017 before landing on injured reserve with a calf injury.
Injuries also marred the former second-round pick’s brief tenure with the Oakland Raiders, including a ruptured Achilles tendon that ended his 2015 season during training camp.
He started just more than a quarter (17) of the possible games (64) from 2013 to 2016 for the Raiders.
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