Broncos’ Su’a Cravens To Undergo Surgery
Su’a Cravens missed most of the Broncos’ training camp before returning for their final preseason game. A setback in that game led to the safety being placed on IR.
Vance Joseph said (via ESPN.com’s Jeff Legwold) Cravens will need arthroscopic surgery on his knee, making the IR designation logical. Joseph hopes Cravens, who was still experiencing knee pain the day after his Denver debut, will be back after the required two-month absence.
This is the same knee he Cravens underwent surgery on last year, Nicki Jhabvala of The Athletic notes (subscription required), adding Cravens is expected to be one of Denver’s IR-return players. However, Cravens barely suited up for the Broncos during the preseason. Joseph was nonetheless pleased with Cravens’ lone game work last week.
Four safeties — Darian Stewart, Justin Simmons, Will Parks and Dymonte Thomas — remain on the Broncos’ active roster. While the team is is obviously hoping Cravens can help its defense later this season, he has not played in a game since December 2016.
The Broncos have lost two members of their projected Week 1 safety contingent, with second-year cog Jamal Carter out for the season. Acquired for a fifth-round pick, Cravens will not be able to return until Week 9. This latest setback continues the former second-round pick’s availability struggles as an NFLer.
Sunday NFL Transactions: AFC West
Listed below are the Sunday roster moves for the four AFC West teams. Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline yesterday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters, claiming players off waivers or signing guys who clear waivers. Those transactions for the Broncos, Chiefs, Chargers, and Raiders are noted below.
Additionally, as of 12:00pm CT today, teams can begin constructing their 10-man practice squads. You can check out our glossary entry on practice squads to brush up on those changes, as well as all the other guidelines that govern the 10-man units, whose players practice with the team but aren’t eligible to suit up on Sundays.
Here are Sunday’s AFC West transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day:
Denver Broncos
Placed on injured reserve:
Re-signed:
Claimed:
- QB Kevin Hogan
Cut:
- QB Paxton Lynch
Practice squad:
- RB David Williams
- TE Brian Parker
- OL Austin Schlottmann
- OL Avery Gennesy
- WR River Cracraft
- WR Carlos Henderson*
- OLB Jeff Holland
- CB Brendan Langley
- DL DeShawn Williams
- DT Kyle Peko
- S Trey Marshall
Kansas City Chiefs
Claimed:
Placed on injured reserve:
Cut:
- QB Matt McGloin
Practice squad:
- WR Josh Crockett
- WR Gehrig Dieter
- T Ryan Hunter
- DT Dee Liner
- QB Chase Litton
- LB Rob McCray
- S Leon McQuay
- C Jimmy Murray
- DB Arrion Springs
- DB D’Montre Wade
Los Angeles Chargers
Claimed:
- LB Emmanuel Ellerbee
- DT T.Y. McGill
Cut:
- QB Cardale Jones
- LB Hayes Pullard
Practice squad:
- DE Patrick Afriyie
- WR Dylan Cantrell
- S A.J. Hendy
- LB D’Juan Hines
- WR Andre Patton
- DL Steven Richardson
- OL Trent Scott
Oakland Raiders
Claimed:
- OT T.J. Clemmings
- OT Justin Murray
Cut:
Signed to practice squad:
- WR Marcell Ateman
- WR Saeed Blacknell
- TE Paul Butler
- LB Jason Cabinda
- S Dallin Leavitt
- DT Gabe Wright
- FB Ryan Yurachek
* = suspended
Broncos To Cut Paxton Lynch
The Broncos’ Sunday-morning claim of Kevin Hogan will lead to a higher-profile quarterback’s exit. Paxton Lynch survived Denver’s initial cutdown day, but the Broncos are planning to cut him, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets.
Lynch will go to waivers, and the Broncos’ quarterback depth chart now goes Case Keenum, Chad Kelly and Hogan. The latter is a 2016 fifth-round pick. Lynch went off that year’s board at No. 26 overall but failed to make much of an impression in Denver.
While the Broncos only gave him four starts in two seasons, the former Memphis standout consistently looked shaky in preseason games and could not beat out Trevor Siemian in the 2017 offseason. Injuries largely limited Lynch last year, leading to the Broncos’ Brock Osweiler signing, but he had a road map to becoming Keenum’s backup this offseason only to see Kelly — Mr. Irrelevant in 2017 — beat him out.
It might benefit Lynch to receive a fresh start, and a team potentially claiming him would get two more years of club control. And, while unlikely at this point, Lynch has a fifth-year option that covers the 2020 season as well. The 24-year-old quarterback has only thrown 128 career passes, completing 79 of them, in five games across his two-year career. He’s averaged just 6.2 yards per attempt.
It will cost the Broncos more than $4MM in dead money to waive Lynch. They are already eating more than $5MM in dead-money charges upon parting with Menelik Watson last month. It’s telling that Hogan (60 of 101 passing in eight career games with the Browns) will take Lynch’s spot, perhaps indicating the Broncos could not get any team to take their first-round bust off their hands.
Broncos Claim Kevin Hogan Off Waivers
The Broncos have claimed quarterback Kevin Hogan off waivers, as Albert Breer of The MMQB tweets. Hogan was dropped from the Redskins’ roster on Saturday as they made moves towards a 53-man roster.
The Redskins moved down 17 spots in the sixth round to acquire Hogan from the Browns back in April. The 25-year-old (26 in October) was unable to join the Redskins’ QB room as a backup to Alex Smith, but it sounds like he’ll be stationed behind Case Keenum in Denver.
The move could have serious implications for the Broncos as they weigh their options under center. Former Mr. Irrelevant Chad Kelly appears to have cemented his spot on the roster, so the arrival of Hogan could lead to a trade of former first-rounder Paxton Lynch. Lynch was a hot commodity in 2016, but the Broncos may have to settle for a late draft pick if they trade him now.
Broncos Still Interested In Veteran QBs; Jeff Holland Unlikely To Make It Through Waivers
- Embattled QB Paxton Lynch is still on the Broncos‘ roster for now, but he may not be around for long. As James Palmer of the NFL Network tweets, Denver GM John Elway said he spoke with several free agent quarterbacks, but the QBs he was interested in did not have any interest in joining the Broncos. Elway did not name names, but it is clear that Denver could still move on from Lynch if the club can make an upgrade through free agency or the waiver wire.
- The Broncos waived impressive rookie OLB Jeff Holland yesterday and likely hope that he will go unclaimed so they can put him on the practice squad. Nicki Jhabvala of The Athletic, however, tweets that she does not expected Holland to make it through waivers, as teams were expressing interest in him even before he was cut.
Broncos Make Roster Moves
The Broncos have trimmed their roster to 53 players by making the following moves:
Waived:
- LB Zaire Anderson
- WR Bryce Bobo
- WR Mark Chapman
- WR River Cracraft
- WR John Diarse
- WR Carlos Henderson
- T Austin Fleer
- RB De’Angelo Henderson
- OLB Jeff Holland
- CB Michael Hunter
- T Leon Johnson
- CB Brendan Langley
- WR Jordan Leslie
- DT Cashaud Lyons
- S Trey Marshall
- WR Isaiah McKenzie
- DE DeQuinton Osborne
- TE Brian Parker
- NT Kyle Peko
- G Jeremiah Poutasi
- OLB Marcus Rush
- OL Austin Schlottmann
- OLB Antonio Simmons
- CB C.J. Smith
- TE Austin Traylor
- WR DeAndrew White
- DE DeShawn Williams
- RB Dave Williams
Waived/injured:
- G J.J. Dielman
- T Andreas Knappe
- S Jordan Moore
- CB Marcus Rios
Released:
Placed on injured reserve:
Placed on PUP:
Broncos To Keep QB Paxton Lynch
Maligned after another shaky training camp and a mostly unimpressive preseason, Paxton Lynch was considered a possibility to be cut prior to what would be his third season in Denver.
The Broncos, however, will not sever ties with their 2016 first-round pick just yet. Although the team will look at other quarterbacks being jettisoned this weekend, they plan to keep Lynch on their 53-man roster, Mike Klis of 9News tweets.
Lynch played well in the Broncos’ fourth preseason game, but he was quickly demoted to the No. 3 QB job this preseason. Chad Kelly remains the Broncos’ backup, and this points to the team being satisfied enough with the 2017 seventh-rounder’s play to place him as Case Keenum‘s primary backup this season.
It would have cost the Broncos more than $4MM to waive Lynch.
Broncos To Release Clinton McDonald
Despite being one of the Broncos’ first free agent additions this offseason, Clinton McDonald will not be part of the Broncos’ 53-man roster.
They’ve released the former Seahawks and Buccaneers defensive lineman, Nicki Jhabvala of The Athletic tweets.
McDonald signed a two-year, $7MM deal with Denver but restructured it because of an injury he was recovering from at the time. By converting $3MM in salary into per-game bonuses, McDonald did not receive any guaranteed money. It won’t cost the Broncos anything in dead money to part with the veteran defender.
Denver has slowly built some depth on its defensive line, with players like Shelby Harris and Zach Kerr in line to see time as second-stringers ahead of McDonald. The 31-year-old interior defender started for the 2014 NFC champion Seahawks and 2016 Buccaneers but otherwise has mostly functioned as an NFL reserve.
The Raiders, who have signed an NFL-high number of players in their 30s this offseason, were previously interested in McDonald, Mike Klis of 9News notes (on Twitter).
Broncos Lose Rookie LB
- Broncos linebacker Jerrol Garcia-Williams will undergo season-ending surgery after suffering a torn ACL, per Mike Klis of 9News (Twitter link). Garcia-Williams appeared in 11 games for Denver last season after going undrafted out of Hawaii, but was primarily limited to special teams duty (he saw only 23 defensive snaps). Speculatively, Garcia-Williams’ injury could open the door for the Broncos to reunite with fellow linebacker Corey Nelson, who was released by the Eagles on Sunday.
Elvis Dumervil Retires From NFL
Elvis Dumervil is calling it a career. On Thursday, the veteran defensive end took to Twitter to announce his retirement from the NFL. 
“After spending a great deal of time talking to my family and prayerfully considering what’s next in my career, I have made the difficult decision to step away from the NFL at this time,” Dumervil wrote. “Its been an incredible 12-year run.”
Dumervil, 34, ranked third among active players in career sacks with 105.5. And, last year, he led the 49ers with 6.5 sacks. Dumervil clearly still has some football in the tank – and he said his body “feels great” in his retirement announcement – but he has opted to spent more time with his family and focus on his other business ventures going forward.
Dumervil entered the league as a fourth-round pick of the Broncos in the 2006 draft and the Louisville product went on to become a pillar of the Broncos’ D. In 2009, he broke through as a defensive star with a league-leading 17 sacks. Interestingly, the Broncos have watched former stars Dumervil, Eric Decker, and Julius Thomas all retire in a matter of days.
In 2013, Dumervil hooked on with the Ravens and he continued to terrorize opposing quarterbacks. In 2014, he even matched his personal high of 17 sacks.
After 12 seasons in the league (eleven, if you exclude his lost 2010 season), Dumervil acquired five Pro Bowl nods and two First-Team All-Pro selections. He probably has some sacks left in him, but he already accomplished plenty on the field.