Broncos Rumors

Injury Notes: Clark, Dulcich, Eagles

Frank Clark will be sidelined for a few weeks. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Broncos defensive end will miss “a couple weeks” after suffering a hip injury during yesterday’s practice.

Fortunately, it doesn’t sound like this is a long-term issue, and there’s been no indication that Clark will land on injured reserve. Per Rapoport, the veteran is considered week-to-week.

The former Pro Bowler was cut by the Broncos back in March before eventually landing in Denver. As Troy Renck of Denver7 notes, Clark has struggled to establish a role in Denver, with the 30-year-old serving as a situational pass rusher during the season opener. Clark finished that contest with a pair of tackles while appearing in 25 defensive snaps.

This comes with Baron Browning sitting on PUP, so Clark’s role could be made even more uncertain when his teammate returns. A few weeks off the field probably won’t help his case for a significant role in Denver.

2022 ended Clark’s three-year stretch of earning Pro Bowl nods, but he was still productive with the Chiefs. In 15 games, the pass rusher compiled 39 tackles and five sacks. He showed up during Kansas City’s run to a Super Bowl championship, collecting another seven tackles and 2.5 sacks in three games.

More injury notes from around the NFL…

  • Greg Dulcich is once again dealing with a hamstring injury. After missing seven games for the Broncos during the 2022 season, the tight end will once again miss multiple weeks while dealing with a hamstring injury in the same leg, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The organization intends to take it slow with Dulcich, meaning it could be a bit before he returns to the field. The 2022 third-round pick finished his rookie campaign with 33 catches for 411 yards and two touchdowns.
  • A trio of Eagles players were ruled out early for Thursday Night Football. NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reported yesterday that running back Kenneth Gainwell (ribs), cornerback James Bradberry (concussion), and safety Reed Blankenship (ribs) would all be sidelined for Philly’s Week 2 matchup against the Vikings. The Eagles did get some good news, however, with defensive tackle Fletcher Cox being declared active for tonight’s game after being listed as questionable with a rib injury.
  • Rams wideout Puka Nacua didn’t practice today thanks to an oblique injury, according to Schefter. The rookie fifth-round pick was a standout during his NFL debut, garnering 15 targets from Matthew Stafford. Nacua ultimately finished the contest with 10 catches for 119 yards. With Cooper Kupp sidelined, the Rams may need to dig into their wide receiver depth against the 49ers.
  • Patriots cornerback Jack Jones landed on injured reserve before the season opener, keeping him off the field for at least the first month of the season. Per Albert Breer of TheMMQB, the 2022 fourth-round pick has an injury split in his contract, meaning the organization can lower Jones’ base salary from $870K to $475K as long as he sits on IR. That ends up being a loss of $22K per week for Jones.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/13/23

Today’s taxi squad moves around the league:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons 

Carolina Panthers

  • Signed: WR Michael Strachan

Denver Broncos

Houston Texans

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

New England Patriots

  • Signed: QB Ian Book, DB William Hooper

New Orleans Saints

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/13/23

Wednesday’s minor moves:

Carolina Panthers

  • Signed (off Raiders’ practice squad): CB Sam Webb

Denver Broncos

Houston Texans

Jacksonville Jaguars

Los Angeles Rams

New Orleans Saints

Taylor was placed on IR by the Jaguars in July, guaranteeing that he would not see the field during the 2023 campaign. He has also been suspended for the first two games of next season, though, PHNX’s Howard Balzer notes. The 24-year-old has yet to see regular season NFL game action in his career.

Bennett has been dealing with a shoulder injury, but the NFI designation is used for injuries (or, in this case, illnesses) which arise separate from football-related activities. When asked for specifics about the fourth-round rookie’s circumstances, head coach Sean McVay said, via The Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue, “out of respect for him and the situation, I’m going to leave all of those specifics and particulars in-house” (subscription required). The Rams will move forward with Matthew Stafford as their starter under center, and Brett Rypien available as an option to be elevated from the practice squad.

Broncos S Caden Sterns Likely Out For Season

SE[TEMBER 13: Payton confirmed on Wednesday (via Denver7’s Troy Renck) that Sterns, who has been placed on IR, is not expected to return this season. The news marks another injury blow to the Broncos on the injury front, and will leave the team’s secondary without a promising young playmaker.

SEPTEMBER 11: The Broncos’ secondary suffered a blow when safety Caden Sterns exited their Week 1 contest. It was initially feared that the third-year safety had encountered a serious injury, and further testing has confirmed that is indeed the case.

Sterns is dealing with a torn patellar tendon and is expected to miss the remainder of the season as a result, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. The news marks a notable loss for Denver’s defense and an interruption to what appeared to be another season of signficant playing time for the former fifth-rounder. Sterns logged an 84% snap share last season, and he was poised to operate as a starter alongside Justin Simmons at the safety spot this year.

Those plans were halted when the 23-year-old was carted off the field during the Broncos’ loss to the Raiders. That signalled a major injury to his knee, though 9News’ Mike Klis reported after the game that the team believed Sterns’ ACL was intact. Even with that being the case, an indefinite absence will commence.

Sterns flashed potential as a rookie in 2021 with a pair of interceptions and five pass breakups. The Texas alum played well when inserted into the starting lineup in place of an injured Kareem Jackson last year, but a hip injury limited his campaign to just five games. Expectations were high heading into his return to the field, but Sterns now faces another lengthy recovery process.

In his absence, Denver will move forward with Simmons and Jackson (who re-signed in May on a low-cost deal) as first-teamers at the safety position. As the Broncos continue the beginning of the Sean Payton era on offense, the team’s defense will remain a unit counted on heavily to deliver success. Their ability to do so has been impacted by Sterns’ injury, though the Simmons-Jackson tandem has considerable experience, having played alongside each other since the 2019 season.

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/11/23

Here are today’s minor moves following the first NFL Sunday of the season, including a gameday elevation for the first Monday Night Football game of the year:

Atlanta Falcons

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Denver Broncos

New York Jets

Washington Commanders

2023 Offseason In Review Series

Quarterback acquisitions generated top headlines this offseason, while the slew of developments affecting the running back market moved that position’s value to a precarious point. On that note, our latest Offseason In Review series is in the books. Here are the PFR staff’s looks at how teams assembled their 2023 rosters:

AFC East

AFC North

AFC South

AFC West

NFC East

NFC North

NFC South

NFC West

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/9/23

We have our first flood of pregame transactions of the season today as teams across the league with games tomorrow utilize their two permitted practice squad elevations:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Chicago Bears

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

  • Promoted from practice squad: LB Brevin Allen

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

  • Promoted from practice squad: RB Myles Gaskin, OLB Benton Whitley

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

NFL Restructures: 49ers, Humphrey, Barrett, Teller

The NFL has an offseason rule called the Top 51 rule. The Top 51 rule dictates that, from the start of the new NFL league year until the beginning of the regular season, only the top 51 contracts (in terms of salary cap hit) count against a team’s salary cap. With the 2023 regular season starting tomorrow, the Top 51 rule expired at 4pm today.

This means that each team in the NFL was forced to add two more contracts to their salary cap totals. If a team was flirting with the ceiling of the salary cap, the addition of two more contracts may push them above the limit. While that may not have been the case for all of the following teams, these front offices decided to take advantage of the timing to clear up some cap space, according to ESPN’s Field Yates:

  • The 49ers did double-duty, restructuring the contracts of tight end George Kittle and offensive tackle Trent Williams. For Kittle, the team converted $10.57MM of his 2023 base salary into a signing bonus while adding an additional void year to the end of the deal, clearing up $8.46MM of cap space. For Williams, San Francisco converted $18.24MM of the left tackle’s 2023 base salary into a signing bonus, also adding a single void year to the end of the deal. Williams’ adjustment cleared $14.59MM of cap space. The $23.04MM of cap space cleared in the restructures likely had less to do with the Top 51 rule and much more to do with star pass rusher Nick Bosa‘s record-setting extension.
  • The Ravens used the opportunity to adjust star cornerback Marlon Humphrey‘s contract. Baltimore converted $9.42MM of Humphrey’s 2023 base salary into a signing bonus and added a single void year to the end of the deal. The adjustment created $7.54MM of cap space for the Ravens.
  • The Seahawks decided to create space by restructuring safety Jamal Adams‘ contract. Seattle converted $9.92MM of Adams’ 2023 base salary into a signing bonus, creating $6.61MM of cap space for the team.
  • The Buccaneers also targeted the contract of a defensive veteran, adjusting the numbers of pass rusher Shaquil Barrett. For Barrett, Tampa Bay converted $13.09MM of his 2023 base salary into a signing bonus while adding an additional void year to the end of the contract. The restructure clears up $10.47MM of cap space for the Buccaneers.
  • The Titans also addressed the contract of a pass rusher, restructuring Harold Landry‘s current deal. Tennessee converted $11MM of Landry’s 2023 base salary into a signing bonus, clearing up $8.25MM of cap space for the team.
  • The Broncos continue to miss the contributions of wide receiver Tim Patrick, who will once again miss the entire season, but Denver still found some value for him in a contract restructure. The team converted $6MM of Patrick’s 2023 base salary into a signing bonus to clear up $3MM of cap space.
  • The Browns created some cap space by restructuring the deal of veteran offensive guard Wyatt Teller. Cleveland converted $11.42MM of Teller’s 2023 base salary into a signing bonus while adding an additional void year to the end his deal in order to create $9.14MM of cap space for the team.

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/4/23

Here are Monday’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Denver Broncos

  • Released from IR via injury settlement: OLB Christopher Allen

Jacksonville Jaguars

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Rams

  • Released from IR: S Rashad Torrence

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

The injury settlements will sever ties between these players and their respective teams. While IR designations ahead of roster-cutdown day make these players ineligible for in-season activations, these settlements open the door to the players playing elsewhere this season. Young heading to IR in-season means he will be sidelined for at least four games. The Seahawks can use one of their eight allotted activations to bring the 2022 seventh-round pick off IR this season.

Brewer has been the Cardinals’ long snapper since 2016. He re-signed with the team in June. The Cardinals placed another long snapper, Matt Hembrough, on IR before cutdown day. Although Brewer was left off Arizona’s 53-man roster, teams often make this move with marginal vested veterans, who do not have to pass through waivers. This allows clubs to protect younger players from the waiver wire. Only left tackle D.J. Humphries has been with the team longer than Brewer, who is going into his age-33 season.

Broncos Likely To Limit RB Javonte Williams’ Workload Upon Return

The Broncos’ offense will have a new play-caller in the form of head coach Sean Payton as well as new faces up front. One of the most signficant factors in the team’s ability to rebound from last season’s struggles, though, will be the play of lead running back Javonte Williams.

The 23-year-old’s second season in Denver was limited to just four games due to an ACL tear. The timing of the injury led to questions about his Week 1 availability for 2023, but he was able to take part in training camp, as both he and the team had hoped. That suggests Williams could be available to handle a full starter’s workload when the Broncos’ season kicks off next week.

However, ESPN’s Dan Graziano notes that Denver is expected to take a cautious approach with the North Carolina alum as he returns to game action. Players coming off ACL injuries typically experience a period of game time at less-than-normal production before truly reaching 100% health. It was thus come as little surprise if Williams were to be used sparingly in the first few games of the campaign.

Presuming that takes place, Samaje Perine would be in line to handle a larger workload. The 27-year-old signed a two-year, $7.5MM deal in free agency to serve as Denver’s pass-catching backup behind Williams. Perine has averaged a modest 4.0 yards per carry in his career, but he has 736 yards (7.3 per reception) and six touchdowns through the air, leading to expectations for continued production in the latter capacity.

Perine’s 175 carries as a rookie represent by far the most he has received in a single season in his career. He should not come near that mark if Williams is able to serve as a workhorse relatively soon, but the former will have an opportunity to earn extra playing time down the road if he delivers a strong performance early in the campaign.