Broncos final 53-man roster still a work in progress

There’s no doubt the Denver Broncos reached 53 players by Tuesday’s cutdown deadline, but the final roster is far from finalized.

Speaking to the media Tuesday, Broncos general manager George Paton said he and his front office team would be burning the midnight oil sorting through other team’s transactions and waiver claims looking for upgrades.

“We do like our 53-man roster. We’re really high on our roster, but we’ll sit tonight,” Paton said Tuesday afternoon. “We’re picking nine in the waiver claims. We’re No. 9, so we think we can help us like we’ll always do throughout the season.

“We’ll be up most of the night going through all the waiver claims, the trades — all the scenarios. It’s quite busy out there, so we’ll have a pulse on the league and everything that’s going on.”

During the next few days, the Broncos roster will shake out to what it’ll be in Week 1. Here’s how things have played out thus far and how they could play out moving forward:

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Additions

Even before the roster cutdown deadline, the Broncos made a deal for inside linebacker Jonas Griffith, whom the team acquired along with a 2022 seventh-round pick from the San Francisco 49ers in exchange for a 2022 sixth-round pick and a 2023 seventh-round pick.

Paton touted Griffith’s special teams play, saying he helps with an area in need of an upgrade.

“This kid is 6-3, he can run, he can fly and he’s really going to help our special teams,” Paton said. “I think we need help on special teams. From last year and even in training camp, probably not good enough. This guy is going to add. He’s going to help us, and we’re excited to get him.”

In addition to Griffith, Denver expects to retain several players on its practice squad and possibly the active roster, should they pass through waivers.

“We’re hoping to get a lot of these players back on our practice squad and even some on our active roster,” Paton said.

Paton confirmed on Tuesday that Denver will place running back Mike Boone and cornerback Michael Ojemudia on short-term injured reserve, which will eventually open two roster spots.

But to place both players on short-term IR, the Broncos had to use two roster spaces on the final 53. Once Boone and Ojemudia are placed on short-term IR, Denver can pick up two players.

Among the candidates to fill those two open roster spots for the Broncos are offensive tackle Cam Fleming and defensive lineman Shamar Stephen.

Both Fleming and Stephen were released on Tuesday, but when asked if they could be back on the active roster soon, Paton said:

“They’ll return, definitely.”

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Subtractions

Among the roster moves to get the Broncos to 53 players on Tuesday was a trade that sent wide receiver Trinity Benson and a 2023 sixth-round pick to the Detroit Lions for a fifth- and seventh-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.

A training camp “success story,” according to Paton, Benson flashed on the radars of several teams, who called the Broncos seeking a trade for the young wideout.

“I think it’s a great story and the credit goes to Trinity — another great person. He was down the depth chart here because we are talented there. It’s a credit to him that teams were calling,” Paton said. “We just thought it was a win-win for us to get value, a win for Trinity, and really a win for the Detroit Lions.

“We’re excited for him. He’s a great person, and he’s going to do well in Detroit.”

With the emergence of rookie Pat Surtain II, the defensive backfield could be another position group that could see some turnover.

Echoing his comments from Saturday’s game broadcast, Paton said on Tuesday the team has received calls on its defensive backs, as Denver is deep at the position and they’re a premium around the league.

“We’ve gotten a lot of calls, and we’ll just kind of see how it goes,” Paton said. “We really like this group. We’d like to keep the group, but we are getting a lot of calls.”

Surtain resides in a crowded cornerbacks room, with free agent acquisitions Kyle Fuller and Ronald Darby starting on the outside and Bryce Callahan in the slot.

A transaction could free up cap space — Fuller’s cap hit is $9.4 million while Callahan’s is $8.5 million — while also opening up a spot for Surtain to play right away.