ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Justin Hollins, a fifth-round pick out of Oregon a year ago who played in 15 games as a rookie, was among the 25 players the Broncos moved off their roster Saturday.
Denver has set its roster at the maximum 53 players, although another move or two could be made Sunday once they scour the waiver wire. It's not something general manager John Elway anticipates happening, though.
"No, we don't,'' Elway said. "I think that we feel pretty good about our football team. Obviously, we're going to look at everything and look at all possibilities and see if there's a chance that somebody would be out there to help our football team. I think we feel pretty good about where we are, kind of excited about the football team we have."
Hollins and defensive back De’Vante Bausby were perhaps the biggest surprises among the Broncos cuts. The team also waived/injured tight end Troy Fumagalli, who played in 11 games last year.
Hollins has switched between outside and inside linebacker with the Broncos unable to settle on his best position. They hope he clears waivers Sunday and joins their 16-man practice squad.
“We ended up just keeping four there,'' said head coach Vic Fangio. "As it stands right now, he was the odd man out at this time. ... He’s a good football player, and if he doesn’t get claimed today, he’s a guy we’ll have interest in (for practice squad).”
The veteran Bausby had been in contention for the No. 3 cornerback spot, but a leg strain that forced him to miss a week of camp cost him.
The Broncos instead kept undrafted rookie Essang Bassey and third-year player Duke Dawson Jr.
“Versatility is part of the equation,'' Fangio said. "They both can play the nickel position which is important. They both are good contributors in the special teams area which is important. Those were some of the deciding factors.”
The also decided not to carry three quarterbacks on their 53-man roster and waived Brett Rypien with hopes he clears the waiver wire on Sunday and can be re-signed to their practice squad.
“I think obviously with the practice squad’s as large as they are, we’ve been looking at different options of what we can do at the quarterback position,'' Elway said. "It really is in case we were to have an outbreak at that position, trying to solve that before we got there. I’m sure there’s—like many teams out there—we’re still looking for different options to try and avoid any catastrophe.”
The 25 players moved off the Broncos’ roster Saturday:
WR: Kendall Hinton, Fred Brown, Juwann Winfree, Cody White, Trinity Benson
QB: Brett Rypien
RB: LeVante Bellamy, Jeremy Cox
OL: Patrick Morris, Jake Rodgers, Tyler Jones, Darrin Paulo, Quinn Bailey, Hunter Watts
TE: Troy Fumagalli, Austin Fort
LB: Malik Carney, Josh Watson
S: Alijah Holder, Douglas Coleman III, P.J. Locke
CB: De’Vante Bausby
OLB: Justin Hollins, Derrek Tuszka
DL: DeShawn Williams
The Broncos hope to bring several of those players back on their 16-man practice squad on Sunday.
The flip side of players who were cut are others who were on the roster bubble but won jobs, most notably tight end Jake Butt, defensive back Duke Dawson Jr., 7th-round rookie receiver Tyrie Cleveland, offensive tackle Calvin Anderson, undrafted rookie cornerback Essang Bassey and special teams linebacker Joe Jones.
Butt was the feel-good make as he's battled three ACL tears since his college days and has played in just 3 games through his first three years with the Broncos. Did Elway believe a month ago that Butt would make it?
"I was kind of hopeful,'' Elway said. "Like you said, with everything he's been through I was hopeful because he's such a great kid and it means so much to him. The good thing is this is probably the first time that he's really come back to camp 100 percent with having the surgeries on both knees and where he was. I'm excited about Jake. It's something that he really wanted. Hopefully it continues to get even better from here."
Counting returner Diontae Spencer, the Broncos are heavy at receiver with 7 but they like the potential of the 7th-round Cleveland.
"First of all, Tyrie, he's a big guy that can really run,'' Elway said. "I think that his willingness, his toughness, he put his nose down in the running game in practice, but also what he can do on special teams. He's a guy that wants -- he knows that for him to make this football team he has to really show a lot on special teams. He did that. He also showed that he's a very capable wideout. He's obviously very young and has a long way to go, but he proved that he's big and he's physical and he can catch the football.''
A look at the Broncos’ 53-man roster:
OFFENSE (25)
QB (2): Drew Lock, Jeff Driskel
RB (3): Melvin Gordon, Phillip Lindsay, Royce Freeman
FB/TE (1): Andrew Beck
TE (4): Noah Fant, Nick Vannett, Albert Okwuegbunam, Jake Butt
WR (6): Courtland Sutton, Jerry Jeudy, KJ Hamler, DaeSean Hamilton, Tim Patrick, Tyrie Cleveland
OL (9): Garett Bolles, Dalton Risner, Lloyd Cushenberry III, Graham Glasgow, Elijah Wilkinson, Austin Schlottmann, Demar Dotson, Netane Muti, Calvin Anderson
DEFENSE (24)
DL (6): Jurrell Casey, Shelby Harris, Mike Purcell, Dre’Mont Jones, DeMarcus Walker, McTelvin Agim
ILB (5): Alexander Johnson, Josey Jewell, Mark Barron, Austin Calitro, Joe Jones
OLB (4): Von Miller, Bradley Chubb, Jeremiah Attaochu, Malik Reed
CB (5): A.J. Bouye, Bryce Callahan, Davontae Harris, Michael Ojemudia, Essang Bassey
CB/S (1): Duke Dawson Jr.
S (3): Kareem Jackson, Justin Simmons, Trey Marshall
SPECIALISTS (4)
K: Brandon McManus
P: Sam Martin
Ret: Diontae Spencer
LS: Jacob Bobenmoyer
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