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

Englewood, Colorado — After a highly competitive training camp and preseason, the Broncos have named their preliminary 53-man roster for the 2024 season.

Denver’s initial roster includes 53 players, including 25 attackers, 25 defensemen and three specialists.

The initial roster also includes six of the Broncos’ seven 2024 NFL Draft picks and three undrafted rookies. Denver has now had at least one undrafted rookie on the initial 53-man roster in 20 of the last 21 seasons. In the past two seasons, seven undrafted free agents have made Denver’s initial 53-man roster.

The key word, of course, is beginning. Denver can now file for waivers and draft its coaching staff.

“I think there’s 1,400 players, if I’m not mistaken, waiting for the game tonight,” general manager George Patton said Tuesday. “So we’re going to look at it. It’s going to take half the night, and then we’re going to watch those guys. And we’re going to do whatever we can to upgrade our team. We feel like we’re stronger in certain areas of our team, maybe a little weaker.” [in others]“If we can develop the weaker areas, we will. We are looking in all areas for any way to develop our team.”

However, before any additional moves, we’ll take a look at each position on the Broncos’ preliminary roster.

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

Defensive back (3): Bo Nix, Jarrett Steedhome, Zach Wilson

Head coach Sean Payton said Sunday that the Broncos plan to keep all three quarterbacks on the roster, and Denver made the move Tuesday. Throughout the postseason, Payton has spoken positively about Denver’s quarterback room, which includes Bo Nix as a starter. On Tuesday, Payton echoed those thoughts.

“We value the quarterback room very much,” Patton said. “I really liked the process. I thought the competition brought out the best in every quarterback. All these guys support each other, compete and work well together. We looked at last year, [and] I think about half the league has kept three quarterbacks. And with the rule changes, we think that number will increase. We’re happy to have all three. As far as Bo is concerned, he’s earned the opportunity to be the starter. We’ve talked about that a number of times. Just the composure he’s shown and the maturity and the efficiency he’s shown offensively has been impressive. We know that like every rookie, he’s going to have his ups and downs, but we’re going to support him through it. We’re confident in Bo and we’re just looking 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 he’s smart. [has] “All the intangibles. Obviously he played well and moved the team, and Steady did that too. We love our group.”

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

A pair of new players joined Denver’s running back room, with fifth-round pick Audrick Estemi and undrafted free agent Blake Watson both making the initial 53. Veteran linebacker Mike Burton and linebacker Samaje Perine were among the players cut.

With Samaji, [he’s] “He’s another great professional player and he’ll go somewhere else and do well there,” Patton said. [That is] Another room packed and not just because they’re young, [but] “We love the talent. They’re young and talented, the whole group. Javonte, Jaleel, Esteem, and then this kid Watson is really talented. … We love the room. We love having Samaji here. He’s won games with us. We wish him all the best.”

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

Denver has three new players from last year, with veteran Josh Reynolds joining the team from Detroit, and Troy Franklin and Devon Feely also being selected. Feely was a seventh-round pick who stood out during training camp. Veteran Tim Patrick was among the players who parted ways with Denver on Tuesday.

“It’s clearly not easy, and on behalf of everyone in our organization, [we] I can’t say enough great things about the type of player and person Tim has been while with the Broncos over the past seven seasons. We have a lot of respect for Tim. [with] Flexibility, work ethic and perseverance [with] The last two years [and] “Tim came back from injury and played like he did. We wish him the best. There were a number of things that went into it. We really like our depth at receiver, we liked the depth at other positions on our team. We wanted to keep some other guys at other positions. Special teams comes into play. Obviously you have a new element in kickoffs and kickoff returns. There will be another 200-plus plays. So it wasn’t just one thing. Tim did a lot of really good things. We wish him the best and we will miss him.”

Narrow end (4): Nate Adkins, Greg Dolcic, Lucas Kroll, Adam Trotman

Denver returns its key contributors at tight end from the 2023 season and will certainly hope Greg Dolcic continues his strong performance in training camp once the regular season arrives.

Offensive line (9): Garrett Pulis, Frank Crum, Alex Forsyth, Mike McGlinchey, Quinn Meiners, Alex Palczewski, Matt Burt, Ben Powers, Luke Wattenberg

In addition to the Broncos’ expected starters, Frank Croom, Alex Forsyth, Alex Palczewski and Matt Burt also earned starting spots. Croom, a Wyoming native, joined the roster as an undrafted free agent.

“Karam, don’t get much [6-foot-7] “He’s a great guy or anyone who can bend like he does and have the power he has, he’s still raw,” Patton said. “You can see it in the passes. [protection]“I know he’s been beaten a few times, but for a kid who played at Wyoming and is a rookie in his first year in the NFL, he did some of the things he did in practice and against Green Bay. He played well in Indy, of course. I thought he played well for most of the game. He had some breakdowns, but he’s really talented. I really like the upside of Krum.”