First look at the Broncos’ 2024 initial 53-man roster

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Following a training camp and preseason that featured intense competition, the Broncos have set their initial 53-man roster for the 2024 season.

Denver’s initial 53-man roster features 25 players on offense, 25 players on defense and three specialists.

The initial roster also features six of the Broncos’ seven draft selections from the 2024 NFL Draft and three undrafted rookies. Denver has now seen at least one undrafted rookie make the initial 53-man roster in 20 of the last 21 seasons. In the last two seasons, seven undrafted free agents have made Denver’s initial 53-man roster.

The key word, of course, is initial. Denver is now able to submit waiver claims and formulate its practice squad.

“I think there are 1,400 players, if I’m not mistaken, on the wire tonight,” General Manager George Paton said Tuesday. “So we’ll sift through that. It will take us half the night, then we’ll watch those players. Any way we can upgrade our team, we’ll do that. We feel like we’re stronger in certain areas on our team, maybe a little weaker [in others]. If we can upgrade the weaker areas, then we’ll do that. We’re looking across the board, any way to upgrade our team.”

Ahead of any additional moves, though, we’re taking a position-by-position look at the Broncos’ initial roster.

Note: Players are listed by position group and listed in alphabetical order.

Quarterback (3): Bo Nix, Jarrett Stidham, Zach Wilson

Head Coach Sean Payton said Sunday the Broncos planned to keep all three quarterbacks on the roster, and Denver made the move Tuesday. All offseason, Payton spoke highly about Denver’s quarterback room, which features Bo Nix as the starter. On Tuesday, Paton echoed those thoughts.

“We think highly of the quarterback room,” Paton said. “I really liked the process. I thought the competition brought out the best in really all of the quarterbacks. All these guys support each other, they compete and they work well together. We looked at last year, [and] I think almost half the league kept three quarterbacks. With the rule changes, we think that number will increase. We’re glad to have all three. In regard to Bo, he’s earned the opportunity to be the starter. We’ve talked about it multiple times. Just the poise, the maturity and efficiency that he’s operated on the offense has been impressive. We know like every rookie, he is going to have ups and downs, but we’ll support him through that. We’re confident in Bo and just look forward to his continued growth and development. With Zach, we knew Zach was really talented. We didn’t know the person. We love the day to day with Zach, and we love the person. He’s smart and [has] all the intangibles. He obviously played well and he moved the team, and ‘Stiddy’ did as well. We like our group.”

Running back (4): Audric Estime, Jaleel McLaughlin, Blake Watson, Javonte Williams

A pair of new backs join Denver’s running back room, as fifth-round pick Audric Estime and undrafted free agent Blake Watson both made the initial 53. Veteran fullback Mike Burton and running back Samaje Perine were among the players released.

“With Samaje, [he’s] another great pro,” Paton said. “He’s going to move on and do well somewhere else. [That is] another stacked room and it’s not just because they are young, [but] we like the talent. They are young and they are talented, the whole group. Javonte, Jaleel, Estime and then this Watson kid is really talented. … We like the room. We loved having Samaje here. He won us games. We just wish him the best.”

Wide receiver (5): Troy Franklin, Marvin Mims Jr., Josh Reynolds, Courtland Sutton, Devaughn Vele

Denver’s wide receiver room features three new players from a year ago, as veteran Josh Reynolds joined the team from Detroit and Troy Franklin and Devaughn Vele made the roster as draft picks. Vele was a seventh-round selection who stood out during training camp. Veteran Tim Patrick was among the players Denver parted ways with on Tuesday.

“Obviously not an easy one,” Paton said. “Just on behalf of everyone in our organization, [we] just can’t say enough great things about the type of player and the person Tim has been while a Bronco for the last seven seasons. We have a lot of great respect for Tim [with] the resilience, the work ethic and the perseverance [with] the last two years [and] to come back from the injury and play like he did. We just wish him the very best. What went into it is a number of things. We really like our depth at receiver, and we liked the depth at other positions on our team. We wanted to keep some other players at other positions. Special teams comes into play. Obviously, you have the new element at kickoff and kickoff return. There will be over 200 more plays. So it wasn’t just one thing. Tim did a lot of really good things. We wish him well and we’re going to miss him.”

Tight end (4): Nate Adkins, Greg Dulcich, Lucas Krull, Adam Trautman

Denver returns its primary contributors at tight end from the 2023 season and surely hopes to see Greg Dulcich continue his strong training camp performance once the regular season arrives.

Offensive line (9): Garett Bolles, Frank Crum, Alex Forsyth, Mike McGlinchey, Quinn Meinerz, Alex Palczewski, Matt Peart, Ben Powers, Luke Wattenberg

In addition to the Broncos’ projected starters, Frank Crum, Alex Forsyth, Alex Palczewski and Matt Peart also earned initial spots. Crum, a Wyoming product, made the roster as an undrafted free agent.

“Crum, you don’t get many [6-foot-7] guys or whatever he is that can bend like he does and has the power he does,” Paton said. “He’s still raw. You see him in pass [protection]. I know he got beat a couple of times, but for a kid who played at Wyoming and a first-year rookie in the NFL to do some of the things he did in practice and vs. Green Bay. He played well in Indy, obviously. I thought he played well most of the game. He had a few breakdowns, but really talented. I really love the upside of Crum.”