Hillman, Sanchez among final Broncos roster cuts

At the beginning of training camp, Ronnie Hillman was the Denver Broncos returning lead rusher from a Super Bowl-winning team. And veteran offseason acquisition Mark Sanchez was presumed by many to be the starter come the regular season opener against the Carolina Panthers.

Now, a month removed, both have fresh labels: former Bronco.

The two were let go from the team, along with 23 others, ahead of Saturday’s deadline cut down to a final-53 man roster.

Sanchez’s release comes as little surprise given the eight-year pro lost the starting quarterback role to Trevor Siemain last week, coupled with rookie Paxton Lynch taking all the reps in the team’s fourth preseason game Thursday.

The move also saves the Broncos $3.5 million of Sanchez’s $4.5 million would-be 2016 salary, along with a seventh-round draft pick Denver would have had to send to Philadelphia should he have made the roster.

Broncos general manager John Elway said Sanchez handled himself with class, that he came into a difficult situation as the quarterback of a Super Bowl club and it was “unfortunate he didn’t win that job.”

“I know he was disappointed. He wanted to stay here. We just thought that where we are [that] it was probably best for us to go in different ways at this point in time,” Elway said.

I’m “Mark was great. You know what? He handled everything great. It was a tough situation to walk into.”

Siemian and Sanchez had been in competition all offseason for the starting job, though by many accounts the veteran had a slight edge heading into training camp. However, Sanchez failed to distance himself, failing to hit the field in either of the Broncos final two preseason games.

The Broncos had tested the waters on a trade for Sanchez, with the Minnesota Vikings and Dallas Cowboys among the teams linked as potential suitors.

However, the Vikings traded a 2017 first-round pick and a 2018 fourht-round pick for Eagles quarterback Sam Bradford, effectively squandering any chance Sanchez could take over in Minnesota for the injured Teddy Bridgewater.

The Cowboys did sign Sanchez shortly after the Broncos released him.

Hillman, however, was perhaps the biggest surprise of cuts made to slim down Denver’s roster to 53 before Saturday’s 2 p.m. deadline.

The fifth-year running back led the Broncos in rushing yards a year ago (863) on a path to a Super Bowl 50 win, but Hillman had been in competition with Juwan Thompson and Kapri Bibbs for the team’s third string job behind rookie Devontae Booker and starter C.J. Anderson.

Thompson was given his walking papers Friday.

Elway said Hillman did “a lot of good things” since being the team’s third-round draft pick in 2012, but Bibbs offered more on special teams.

“It’s always tough. They’re all close. That one was really close,” Hillman said. “Kapri has worked very hard and deserved a shot. We’re going to give Kapri that shot.”

Follow 104.3 The Fan digital content producer Johnny Hart on Twitter: @johnnyhart7.