ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The Broncos have made a series of roster moves to reach the league-mandated 53-man limit, the team announced Tuesday.
The Broncos waived 22 players, released three players and made a pair of trades to help trim the roster to 53 players. Denver also placed cornerbacks Essang Bassey and Duke Dawson Jr. on the Reserve/Physically Unable to Perform list. Bassey and Dawson will not count against the active roster and will be eligible to return after six weeks of the regular season.
Denver released T Cam Fleming, CB Nate Hairston and DL Shamar Stephen and waived T Quinn Bailey, TE Shaun Beyer, WR Tyrie Cleveland, RB Damarea Crockett, TE Austin Fort, T Drew Himmelman, WR Kendall Hinton, DT Isaiah Mack, S Trey Marshall, CB Mac McCain III, CB Parnell Motley, WR De’Mornay Pierson-El, FB Adam Prentice, LB Curtis Robinson, QB Brett Rypien, G/C Austin Schlottmann, RB Stevie Scott III, CB Saivion Smith, DE Marquiss Spencer, OLB Derrek Tuszka, LB Barrington Wade and WR Seth Williams.
The Broncos also agreed to trade WR Trinity Benson to the Lions for 2022 fifth- and seventh-round picks and agreed to trade for linebacker Jonas Griffith from the 49ers.
Denver is able to form a 16-player practice squad, which can include six vested veterans, starting on Wednesday.
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — After several months and an evenly matched competition, the Broncos have settled on a decision.
Teddy Bridgewater will be the Broncos’ starting quarterback, Head Coach Vic Fangio told his team on Wednesday.
Bridgewater, whom the Broncos acquired for a sixth-round pick ahead of the 2021 NFL Draft, won the battle over incumbent starter and 2019 second-round pick Drew Lock.
As recently as Tuesday afternoon, Fangio said the competition was “pretty damn close” and that he had not made a final decision.
Bridgewater earned the job behind a nearly flawless preseason campaign, as he completed 16-of-19 passes for 179 yards, two touchdowns and a 141.0 quarterback rating. Bridgewater did not turn the ball over and was not sacked during his four preseason series. During those opportunities, Bridgewater led Denver’s offense to three touchdowns and one field goal. Were it not for an illegal use of hands to the face call against the Vikings that wiped out a Bridgewater touchdown run, the Broncos would have scored touchdowns on each of his possessions leading the team.
In his reps with the first-team offense in Seattle, Bridgewater completed 9-of-11 passes for 105 yards, one touchdown and a 136.7 rating in two series.
Following the performance, Fangio praised Bridgewater’s performance.
“Teddy played well, obviously,” Fangio said Saturday. “You guys saw it. Some of his good plays were hard quarterback plays, where he had to manipulate the pocket, step up, step laterally, wait for something to come open late. I thought he did really well. He was helped by the fourth-down conversions, but one of those fourth downs was because we dropped a pass on third down that would have been an easy conversion. So I thought he played very well.”
Peyton Manning put the finishing touches on a Hall of Fame career by ending up in Denver. He does not think Aaron Rodgers will do the same.
Manning, appearing on MLB Network as part of the MLB All-Star festivities in Denver, said he believes Rodgers will play this year and will remain in Green Bay.
“I hope he plays somewhere this year. The fact that Aaron Rodgers might not play this year, I can’t fathom it,” Manning said. “He’s too good of a player, too fun to watch for the fans. I personally hope it’s in Green Bay. That’s what I see him as. I hope they can make amends and work it out. That is team is so close, if he were to leave there it’d be a major change, obviously, for them. My gut is he’s not coming to Denver. My gut is Denver’s gonna have Drew Lock or Teddy Bridgewater be their quarterback. At this point, you’ve kind got to know what your plan is. You can’t be having a new quarterback three weeks before the season.”
Rodgers himself says he’ll figure out what he’s doing in the next few weeks.
There is now a high possibility, if not probability, that Phillip Lindsay departs the Denver Broncos this offseason.
According to media reports, the Broncos on Monday placed an original-round tender — worth $2.133 million for 2021 — on the restricted free-agent running back.
This means the team will have the right of first refusal should Lindsay sign an offer sheet with an outside suitor, but Denver would not receive compensation if the sheet isn’t matched. (You may recall the Broncos nearly losing CJ Anderson to the Dolphins in 2016 after opting not to tender him at the second-round level.)
Compare this to the $3.384 million second-round tender which would have, at best, landed the Broncos a second-round draft choice or, at worst, ensured Lindsay’s return next season.
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A two-time 1,000-yard back and ex-Pro Bowler, Lindsay gutted through an injury-marred and statistically disappointing 2020 campaign in which the Colorado product collected just 502 ground yards and one touchdown across 118 attempts (eight games). He added seven receptions for 28 yards, losing pass-catching duties to veteran Melvin Gordon, who led the Broncos with 1,144 yards from scrimmage and 10 total scores (nine rushing).
But Lindsay grew increasingly unhappy with his standing — or lack thereof — in the organization, publicly airing his displeasure on numerous occasions this offseason. The writing presumably on the wall, he hinted at a Denver divorce during a March 10 interview on SiriusXM NFL Radio.
“What more can I do? What more can I show?” Lindsay responded when asked if he feels wanted.
Assuming Lindsay indeed is a goner, the Broncos are slated to move forward at the position with Gordon, who still faces potential league discipline over his drunken-driving arrest last October. (Gordon was cleared of DUI charges.)
The team also has Royce Freeman under contract through 2021, though it now becomes likely the Broncos address the position in next month’s draft.
Lindsay’s contract move caps off a hectic Monday for new Broncos general manager George Paton, who re-signed defensive end Shelby Harris, brought aboard cornerback Ronald Darby, declined safety Kareem Jackson’s option, and tendered at the second-round level RFA linebacker Alexander Johnson and wide receiver Tim Patrick.
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ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Denver Broncos running back Melvin Gordon’s DUI charges were dismissed Wednesday morning in Denver County Court as Gordon pleaded guilty to lesser charges of excessive speeding and reckless driving.
Gordon had a jury trial scheduled for April 8 if the case had not been settled before then. The 27-year-old was arrested Oct. 13 in downtown Denver and charged with DUI; he also was cited for speeding — between 25 and 39 mph over the legal limit.
He did not take a Breathalyzer test at the scene.
The Denver District Attorney’s office dismissed the DUI charges after Gordon’s legal team raised evidentiary concerns. Gordon, who had pleaded not guilty to the DUI charge in January, had a previous hearing rescheduled to Wednesday after his attorneys cited new information.
Gordon will likely avoid league discipline as well. The NFL has previously suspended players who had been charged with reckless driving, including former New York Giants kicker Aldrick Rosas last season, but in that incident Rojas had also been charged with leaving the scene of an accident and driving without a valid license.
In 2018, then-New York Jets wide receiver Robby Anderson was not suspended by the NFL after he had pleaded no contest to a reckless driving charge.
Gordon signed a two-year, $16 million deal with the Broncos last offseason. He led the Broncos in carries (215), rushing yards (986) and rushing touchdowns (nine) this past season.
Wednesday’s dismissal also had potential financial impact for Gordon beyond lost salary due to a league suspension. If Gordon had been suspended, Broncos general manager George Paton could have moved to void $6.5 million worth of guaranteed money for 2021 in Gordon’s deal because of the arrest.
As the season drew to a close, Gordon said: “As far as the contract and all that stuff, I let my agent handle all that — the void and all that stuff. Hopefully I did enough for them to want to keep me here. … So, we’ll see; hopefully it works out, and hopefully they like me enough to kind of put all that stuff to the side. I guess in a couple months or so we’ll see what’s up.”
Two weeks after his arrest, Gordon had said: “I am sorry I was even in the situation … Obviously I try to do my best to walk a straight line and lead by example, things like that. I’m a little upset I even put myself in that situation.”
The Denver Broncos are placing the franchise tag on safety Justin Simmons for the second consecutive season, it was announced Friday.
Simmons, who was poised to become an unrestricted free agent, becomes the first player to be tagged this offseason. The Broncos now have until July 15 to work out a long-term deal.
“Designating Justin with the franchise tag is a procedural move that allows us to continue working on a long-term deal,” general manager George Paton said in a statement Friday. We are completely focused on making sure Justin remains a big part of the Denver Broncos for many years to come.”
NFL teams have until Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET to place the franchise tag on their most valuable player.
Simmons, the Broncos’ third-round pick in the 2016 draft, played on the franchise player tag in 2020, worth $11.4 million. He finished with 96 tackles and five interceptions. It was his third consecutive 90-tackle season. He has consistently been an active player in run defense along the line of scrimmage with the versatility to match up on a variety of players in coverage.
The 27-year-old has the combination of on-field performance and off-field community engagement, given that he has played every defensive snap for each of the past three seasons and was the Broncos’ nominee this past season for the Walter Payton Man of the Year award.
When Paton was hired in January, Broncos president of football operations John Elway said trying to re-sign Simmons was “one of the biggest things” Paton had on his to-do list.
Simmons has consistently been one of the most active players in the community and one of the team’s leading voices in social justice initiatives.
He has won the Darrent Williams Good Guy Award, given out by the Denver chapter of the Pro Football Writers of America each season to a Broncos player to recognize professionalism and depth in interactions with the media. Simmons is the only three-time winner of the award since it began in 2006.
Defensive tackle Jurrell Casey‘s run with the Broncos is over after one season.
Adam Schefter of ESPN reports and PFT has confirmed, via a league source, that the Broncos have released Casey. Casey was set to count for more than $11.8 million against the cap and the team clears all of that space as a result of the move.
The Broncos sent a seventh-round pick to the Titans for Casey last March. He started the first three games of the season, but missed the rest of the year with a torn biceps.
Casey made the Pro Bowl in each of his final five seasons with the Titans, so some team will likely be willing to bet on a rebound if he can show he’s healthy enough to play.
The Broncos also released cornerback A.J. Bouye this month and the two moves opened up about $24 million in cap space for the team to use this offseason.
The Los Angeles Rams reportedly agreed on Saturday to pay a premium to acquire Matthew Stafford from the Detroit Lions, but at least three other teams were prepared to do the same. Hours after reports indicated that several others sought to trade for the 12-year veteran, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports that at least three clubs actually made offers for Stafford — and every one of them included a first-round draft pick, plus more. Those teams, per Rapoport: The Chicago Bears, Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers.
The reported trade offers go even further, as Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer wrote the Panthers actually offered the No. 8 overall pick in order to acquire Stafford. Their proposal also came with a later pick. Washington offered the No. 19 overall pick with a third-round pick. The Colts offered a package of picks, but never offered their first-round pick. The Bears and Jets kept tabs on Stafford, but the Jets never made an offer. The New England Patriots were willing to offer a second-round pick and a player, but Stafford didn’t want to play in New England.
In total, according to Rapoport, the Lions had more than six formal trade offers for Stafford, who was the No. 1 pick in the 2009 NFL Draft. But Chicago, Carolina and Denver were “among a handful of teams” outside of the Rams who made the most aggressive plays for the veteran QB. The Indianapolis Colts, San Francisco 49ers and Washington Football Team were also in the mix, as NBC Sports’ Peter King reported previously, but may or may not have offered first-round picks for Stafford.
While Stafford’s now locked into Los Angeles, where he represents a clear upgrade over fellow former No. 1 pick — and new Lions QB — Jared Goff, the fact that the Bears, Broncos and Panthers reportedly all made legitimate attempts to acquire him speak to their respective desires for new signal-callers.
Chicago’s former first-rounder, Mitchell Trubisky, is set to hit free agency in March, and 2020 acquisition Nick Foles appears destined for an expensive backup role. The Broncos have publicly supported former second-rounder Drew Lock, though his 2020 decline has seemingly reignited the team’s hunt for a long-term answer. And the Panthers, despite signing Teddy Bridgewater to a lucrative three-year deal prior to 2020, have openly hinted at seeking a more reliable or higher-upside replacement this offseason.