Broncos Injuries Complicate the 53-Man Roster Math Ahead of Deadline

The Denver Broncos' preseason is in the books after shutting out the Los Angeles Rams, 41-0, in the finale. Now comes the hard part of deciding who makes the 53-man roster, which will change multiple times over the first 48-72 hours as waiver claims are made and players land on injured reserve. 

Multiple Broncos players are dealing with short-term injuries that could cause them to miss a few weeks of the regular season. These players are prime injured reserve designated-to-return candidates, but to be eligible, they have to be on the 53-man roster after the August 29 deadline. 

Then, the Broncos can place them on injured reserve, and they'll be eligible to return. Rush linebacker Baron Browning isn't one of those players, as he is already on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list and will likely remain to start the season. 

That will sideline him for the first four weeks at least, as Browning works his way back from knee surgery. However, the  Broncos have three candidates from a strong secondary that stood out in the preseason, though not all defensive backs did well. There's also an option with Jerry Jeudy, depending on how severely the Broncos actually view his recent hamstring injury. 

K'Waun Williams is the top guy as the nickel cornerback, but he was unable to take the field during the preseason and hardly practiced due to an ankle injury.  9NEWS' Mike Klis mentioned during the broadcast of the preseason finale that Williams' spot wasn't safe from Essang Bassey for contract reasons. 

Williams counts for $2.8 million against the salary cap, and cutting him would give Denver $2.1M in cap savings, with the rest being dead money. However, the play differential between Bassey and Williams is worth keeping that contract on the books, and in Klis' 53-man roster prediction, he mentioned Williams as a candidate to go to IR as he fully recovers, to be designated to return later. If Williams is certain to miss three or more weeks of the regular season, that's exactly what the Broncos should do. 

Another corner candidate is rookie Riley Moss, who's working back from core muscle surgery. He's a bit of a different case, as many expected him only to miss a game or two. 

However, having Moss sit for two to three weeks would give him extra time to recover. With Williams and Moss, some of the Broncos' depth options at cornerback had a great preseason, and they could make the team comfortable in accepting the wait time to get Williams and Moss back. 

The final secondary player is safety P.J. Locke, who played well in the first preseason game. Since then, he has been sidelined with a lower leg injury. 

Locke, the fourth safety, is also a core special teams player. Delarrin Turner-Yell had a strong preseason, and the Broncos also have rookie sixth-rounder J.L. Skinner, and they can look to both of them to replace Locke while he gets healthy. 

Locke has been mentioned as an IR candidate by multiple insiders. The timeline for him to return is still five or more weeks away, which would cause him to miss the first four games at least. That makes him a prime candidate to land on IR until he's good to return. 

Then there is Jeudy, who, since suffering a hamstring injury last week, has been mentioned as an IR candidate who could be brought back. However, he's expected to miss Week 1 and is a long shot to be back for Week 2, but he's expected back by Week 3. 

Hamstring injuries are tricky, however, and can easily be aggravated, which risks the player missing more time. Sidelining Jeudy for at least four weeks on IR with a return designation would give him that extra time to recover, but it would also be a significant blow to the passing game in the wake of Tim Patrick being lost for the season. 

Only eight players can be designated to return off IR during a season, so that also plays a factor. Would the Broncos want to place four players on injured reserve with the intent to designate them to return right away? That doesn't seem very likely. 

Using half of the team's total designation-to-return eligibility to open the season would severely limit its options later on down the road. For that reason, it's doubtful that Jeudy and Moss find themselves as part of this plan. 

Williams and Locke, however, remain prime candidates. This would give them time to get healthy over the course of the 'softest' stretch of the Broncos' schedule during the first six or so weeks.

But Denver would get them back when the tricky part of the schedule really kicks off. Using two spots and leaving four designated return options for later is doable.