Wednesday’s practice squad updates:
Atlanta Falcons
Denver Broncos
Las Vegas Raiders
Minnesota Vikings
New England Patriots
New York Giants
Seattle Seahawks
The Broncos are positioned to once again play the role of sellers at the trade deadline. That could lead to a few noteworthy players heading out of the Mile High City, including wideout Jerry Jeudy. 
The former first-rounder has routinely found himself in trade talk in recent years, despite insistence from the Broncos he has never been shopped in a potential deal. Denver was connected to an asking price of a first-round pick for Jeudy during the offseason, and it remains unlikely the team would land a haul that lucrative at this point. The 24-year-old is on the books for the remainder of 2023 as well as next year on the fifth-year option.
The Broncos’ decision to pick up Jeudy’s option – a move which locked him into a guaranteed salary of $12.99MM – appears to be a sticking point in trade talks. Adam Caplan of Pro Football Network reports that interested teams have no issue taking on Jeudy’s remaining compensation for this year (a prorated portion of his $2.68MM base salary), but that his option for next year is serving as a “deterrent.”
The Alabama alum entered the league with considerable expectations as the No. 15 pick in the 2020 draft, but things have not entirely gone according to plan. Jeudy, like several other Broncos wideouts, has battled injuries during his time in Denver, and when healthy he has posted less-than-spectacular numbers. A career high in catches (67), yards (972) and touchdowns (six) offered a glimpse of what he could produce with new head coach Sean Payton at the helm. However, the 2023 campaign has seen him record more than 52 yards in a game only once so far, and he has yet to find the end zone.
Both Jeudy and fellow receiver Courtland Sutton are among the Broncos’ trade chips leading up to the October 31 trade deadline. Denver is prepared to listen to offers on any number of contributors (including, of course, those whose arrival predates that of Payton and general manager George Paton). The willingness of contending teams to make a commitment not only for the rest of this year but also 2024 in Jeudy’s case will be worth watching in the coming days and weeks.
OCTOBER 13: Unlike the Gregory last call, no trade partner emerged here. The Broncos are officially releasing Clark on Friday, NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero tweets. With the trade deadline still nearly three weeks away, Clark’s vested-veteran status will send him straight to free agency. Inactive for Thursday night’s game, the ninth-year veteran closes his Denver tenure with 36 defensive snaps.
OCTOBER 12: The Broncos opened the season with two 2015 second-rounders residing as their highest-profile edge rushers. By Week 7, both are likely to be out of the picture. After the Broncos dealt Randy Gregory to the 49ers, they are eyeing a separation from Frank Clark.
Rumored to be a trade candidate, Clark will not face the Chiefs tonight due to what the Broncos’ injury report classifies as an illness. The Broncos, however, are preparing to move on from Clark — via trade or release — in the near future, Field Yates of ESPN.com reports.
Clark, 30, restructured his one-year, $5MM contract recently, per Yates, giving up $1.69MM in guaranteed salary. The move trims Clark’s $3.5MM base salary to the prorated veteran minimum ($841K), NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo adds. This restructure will make Clark’s contract easier to move. Clark returned to action last week against the Jets, coming back after sustaining a groin injury in practice. Holding him out of tonight’s game will protect against a reinjury.
The former Seahawks and Chiefs edge rusher has generated some trade interest, and after the Gregory move, had been viewed as available. While Clark notched two double-digit sack seasons in Seattle and made memorable contributions during Kansas City’s playoff runs, he does not have a sack or a QB hit in his limited Denver run.
Although Clark will become an interesting hired gun of sorts moving forward, he spent several weeks in free agency waiting for other edge dominoes to fall. Leonard Floyd‘s one-year, $7MM Bills pact led to the Broncos giving Clark a one-year, $5MM deal shortly after they made Brandon McManus a post-June 1 cut. On that note, the Broncos should not expect too much in trade compensation here. Though, reducing Clark’s salary to the minimum will certainly help on that front. Denver collected a 2024 sixth-rounder from San Francisco for Gregory, whom the team was prepared to cut.
After calling out Gregory for poor effort in a 70-20 demolition at the Dolphins’ hands in Week 3, the Broncos benched him and moved 2022 second-round pick Nik Bonitto into the lineup. Bonitto is on a tear as a starter, combining for 4.5 sacks over the past two games. The Broncos have used 2021 seventh-round pick Jonathon Cooper (three sacks) as a starter since Week 1, with Clark coming off the bench in the team’s opener. Baron Browning, a 2021 third-rounder whom the team converted from inside linebacker last year, remains on the reserve/PUP list and will not play tonight. But Browning is likely on track to debut in Week 7, Denver7’s Troy Renck adds.
Deteriorating fits notwithstanding, a suddenly woeful Broncos defense could probably use Gregory and Clark — at least while Browning is out. These separations signal more moves are likely coming for a 1-4 team. While Sean Payton stopped short of saying the Broncos were shopping veterans, other clubs believe they are open for business ahead of the Oct. 31 deadline. Trade-rumor mainstays Jerry Jeudy and Courtland Sutton are likely returning to the news cycle, with Renck adding Justin Simmons and Kareem Jackson are two other names to monitor.
Clark sits behind only Willie McGinest and Bruce Smith in postseason sacks, with 13.5, but he did not live up to the five-year, $104MM deal the Chiefs gave him following a 2019 tag-and-trade transaction. Clark topped out at eight sacks in a season and has not tallied more than six in a single campaign since 2019. Two arrests on gun charges in 2021 led to a two-game suspension last year, and the Chiefs cut him this offseason. Still, Clark figures to land in a contending team’s pass-rushing rotation soon.
The Broncos picked up the pieces after John Elway‘s 1999 retirement far more quickly than they have post-Peyton Manning, and the years since the latter’s 2016 exit led to Denver becoming this period’s most prolific deadline seller. After dealing Demaryius Thomas, Emmanuel Sanders, Von Miller and Bradley Chubb over the past five years, it appears the Broncos will keep going as Payton attempts to build for the future. Jeudy and Simmons are signed through 2024, with Jeudy’s fifth-year option ($12.99MM) fully guaranteed. Sutton’s four-year, $60MM deal runs through 2025; Jackson is on a one-year contract.
Today’s minor transactions:
Arizona Cardinals
Dallas Cowboys
Denver Broncos
Philadelphia Eagles
Peyton Hendershot will miss at least the next four games while he continues to recover from an ankle injury. The tight end already missed a pair of contests thanks to the injury, with the second-year player hauling in a single catch before that. Sean McKeon will be taking the open spot on the roster. The 25-year-old has spent the past three-plus seasons in Dallas, hauling in six catches in 38 games.
OCTOBER 12: Dulcich’s ramp-up period will be short. The Broncos are expected to activate the second-year tight end for tonight’s Week 6 matchup against the Chiefs, ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler tweets. While a full workload should not be expected, the 2022 third-round pick represents another weapon coming back for the 1-4 squad. Dulcich’s return timetable resembles his 2022 debut, when he came off IR — after a hamstring injury — in Week 6 against the Chargers, a game in which the UCLA product scored a touchdown.
OCTOBER 10: The Broncos welcomed back a key offensive piece today. The team announced that tight end Greg Dulcich was a limited participant at Tuesday’s walkthrough. Dulcich’s return to practice means the Broncos now have 21 days to activate the player from injured reserve.
Dulcich suffered a hamstring injury in Week 1 that ultimately led to his placement on IR. As Mike Klis of 9News in Denver points out, the Broncos opened Dulcich’s 21-day window for only a single practice. This could be an indication that the Broncos believe he’s ready to go for Thursday’s game against the Chiefs.
“He’s out here moving around,” coach Sean Payton said today when asked about the tight end’s status for Week 6 (via the team’s website). “… I don’t want to guess relative to this week’s game, but he’s close.”
The 2022 third-round pick had a productive rookie season, hauling in 33 catches for 411 yards and two touchdowns. There was optimism that he could take another step forward in 2022, and he hauled in a pair of catches before exiting the season opener.
Adam Trautman has received the majority of the snaps at tight end this season, hauling in nine catches for 60 yards and one touchdown (although all of that production came in two of his five games). Chris Manhertz has soaked up the rest of the snaps at the position but has mostly served as a blocker, with the 31-year-old hauling in a single catch.
On the whole, the Broncos’ offense has submitted far more competent work compared to a perplexing 2022 season. After finishing last in scoring last season, Denver is 10th through five games. But the defense — a reliable facet for most of the franchise’s post-Peyton Manning years — has faceplanted, ranking last across the board and leading the way in a 1-4 start. Naturally, teams are monitoring the Broncos ahead of the trade deadline.
Denver has made a habit of selling at recent deadlines, unloading Demaryius Thomas (2018), Emmanuel Sanders (2019), Von Miller (2021) and Bradley Chubb (2022). They have already cut bait on Randy Gregory, dealing him to the 49ers. Reports ahead of Week 5 indicated the Broncos were not preparing to be early sellers and that offensive players were not in line to be moved, but after the team dropped another home game, it appears potential buyers believe the retooling squad will be prepared to move assets.
Teams believe Denver will be “open for business” in trades, per Dan Graziano of ESPN.com, who indicates the team is prepared to listen to offers. While recent reports pointed to the Broncos not being ready to unload key offensive pieces, Graziano adds the team is expected to once again listen to offers for Jerry Jeudy and Courtland Sutton along with talent on defense. The Broncos are not interested in trading Patrick Surtain, per Graziano, as the franchise naturally views the All-Pro cornerback as a building block. But Denver supporting-casters are likely to come up frequently in rumors, especially if the team’s losing streak against the Chiefs continues Thursday night.
“We’re not looking to do business with any of our players. That doesn’t prevent teams from calling at times, so we just — you pick the phone up, that’s kind of where it’s at,” Sean Payton said, via ESPN.com’s Jeff Legwold. “We’ve got a good handle on this current roster and our vision for the roster a year from now, that’s the part about improving and getting better.”
GM George Paton was at the controls when the team unloaded Miller (for second- and third-round Rams picks) and Chubb (for Dolphins first- and fourth-rounders, with Chase Edmonds included as salary filler). The third-year GM is almost definitely second in command to Payton this year, and with the longtime Saints coach not present when the most of the team’s trade pieces were initially acquired, it is logical to expect the Broncos to strongly consider moving talent before the Oct. 31 deadline. Players are leery of a potential teardown, NFL.com’s James Palmer notes.
Confirming a weekend report that Frank Clark is likely available, Palmer adds players took notice at the Gregory trade. The Broncos cut an edge rusher who began the season as a starter, agreeing to pay almost all of Gregory’s salary — a tactic they used with Miller to increase trade compensation from the Rams — to convince the 49ers to acquire him. The Broncos accepted a Day 3 pick swap in 2024 for Gregory, who is tied to a five-year, $69.5MM contract. The team will undoubtedly be looking for better returns for other trade chips.
Jeudy and Sutton came up as chips early this offseason, with the Broncos wanting a first-rounder for the former and a second for the latter. The Broncos engaged in “a lot” of conversations about Jeudy and Sutton this offseason, Graziano adds, and the Ravens moved close to acquiring Sutton before their Odell Beckham Jr. signing. Based on the starters’ early-season showings, those asks seem farfetched. Jeudy has totaled 208 receiving yards in four games; Sutton is at 229 in five. Both have submitted better work, but neither has been consistent in Payton’s offense just yet.
Payton’s Saints teams relied on WR1s Marques Colston and Michael Thomas, but his first Broncos squad has spread the ball around. Second-round rookie Marvin Mims leads the team in receiving yards (246), despite being a part-time player on offense. Moving one of the regulars would open the door for Mims, though the Oklahoma-developed deep threat has a clear WR3 window as is. Nevertheless, he has only played 28% of the Broncos’ offensive snaps.
Left tackle Garett Bolles has come up loosely in rumors in the past, including over the weekend, and the Broncos do have swingman Cameron Fleming as insurance. Though, the team experienced rampant O-line health issues last season. Bolles has recovered from the broken leg that ended his 2022 campaign, starting all five games this year. Bolles, 31, is a seventh-year starter who is signed through 2024. Eighth-year safety Justin Simmons turns 30 next month; his $15.25MM-per-year contract runs through 2024. The Pro Bowler is tied to a $14.4MM base salary.
Wednesday’s minor NFL transactions:
Carolina Panthers
Denver Broncos
Detroit Lions
Houston Texans
Indianapolis Colts
Denver releases Humphrey with the intention of adding him back to the team’s practice squad, filling the spot vacated by wide receiver Michael Bandy yesterday. Plus, with young tight end Greg Dulcich expected to return from injured reserve soon, releasing Humphrey opens up a spot on the active roster.
The Colts’ offensive line has been dealing with a couple injuries, so bringing in Boettger will help improve the line’s depth a bit. Boettger, a former undrafted free agent, spent the first five years of his career in Buffalo. He spent much of that time as a backup but did start 17 games in a two-year stretch from 2020-2022. Veteran starting experience is usually an asset worth having on the bench.
Today’s practice squad transactions:
Atlanta Falcons
Chicago Bears
Denver Broncos
Detroit Lions
Indianapolis Colts
Las Vegas Raiders
Miami Dolphins
Minnesota Vikings
New York Giants
Pittsburgh Steelers
Anthony Firkser will provide the Lions with some veteran tight end depth. Darrell Daniels has mostly transitioned to a fullback role and James Mitchell is sidelined with a hamstring injury, leaving Sam LaPorta and Brock Wright as the two healthy TEs on the roster. Firkser has seen time in 69 regular season games, hauling in 115 catches for 1,207 yards and five touchdowns. The 28-year-old tight end got into 11 games for the Falcons in 2022, finishing with nine catches for 100 yards.
Yodny Cajuste is back in New York after getting cut by the Jets back in August. The former third-round pick got into 17 games (five starts) for the Patriots between the 2021 and 2022 seasons. He was waived by New England back in May before catching on with the Jets for the preseason.
We heard just last week that the 1-3 Broncos are not planning to be early sellers in advance of the October 31 trade deadline. Naturally, the team’s decision-making will be impacted quite a bit by how it fares over the next several weeks, and as ESPN’s Adam Schefter writes, Denver has received calls about a number of players on the roster and could be an active participant in deadline activity.
Specifically, the Broncos are willing to listen to offers for any defensive player, according to sources around the league. The team just dealt edge defender Randy Gregory to the 49ers for a minimal return, and fellow pass rusher Frank Clark could be next. Per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, Clark has drawn interest from rival teams, and if he performs well in the coming weeks, that interest will only increase.
Clark was released by the Chiefs prior to the opening of free agency in March, and after he lingered for a couple of months on the open market, he and the Broncos agreed to a one-year contract in June. The plan was for Clark and Gregory to spearhead the Denver pass rush, but as has been the case for most aspects of Sean Payton‘s Mile High tenure thus far, things have not gone according to plan.
Gregory played in just six games in 2022, his first season in Denver, and his lack of effort in the club’s historic drubbing at the hands of the Dolphins in Week 3 of the current campaign led to his losing his starting job for the Broncos’ Week 4 tilt with the Bears (although he entered that game in the second defensive series and ultimately played nearly half of the defensive snaps). Pro Football Focus has Gregory graded as a bottom-10 edge defender through the first four games of the year, and the Broncos needed to eat nearly all of his 2023 salary just to coax a late-round pick swap in 2024 out of San Francisco.
Clark, meanwhile, played in the Broncos’ season-opening loss to the Raiders but suffered a partial abductor tear in practice several days later. He is expected to be back on the field for Denver’s bout with the Jets today, which could be an audition of sorts for potential trade partners. Most of Clark’s compensation came in the form of a signing bonus, so an acquiring team would be on the hook for only the remaining portion of his $1.21MM base salary.
Wide receivers Courtland Sutton and Jerry Jeudy have generated trade interest in the past several years, and Schefter expects teams to again inquire on both players as October rolls along. Likewise, Armando Salguero of Outkick.com hears that GM George Paton has fielded calls from clubs that believe Denver could be in sell mode, with those calls focusing on Clark, Sutton, Jeudy, and LT Garett Bolles. Quarterback Russell Wilson has not been the subject of any trade inquiries.
Dianna Russini of The Athletic (subscription required) reports that the Broncos are not looking to move any of their offensive talent at present. As the team currently ranks last in both total defense and points allowed, it makes sense that Paton would be more inclined to move defensive pieces.
OCTOBER 7: Providing final details on the picks swapped in the Gregory trade, which is now official, NBC Sports’ Matt Maiocco notes that the seventh-round selection the 49ers will receive originally belonged to the Rams. San Francisco, meanwhile, will send its own sixth-rounder back to Denver as the latter team aims to move on from a highly disappointing free agent investment.
OCTOBER 6: The Broncos found a taker for Randy Gregory, who is set to head west. The 49ers agreed to acquire Gregory on Friday, according to NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero. Denver had been planning to release the recently demoted edge rusher, but he will catch on in an interesting place.
A pick-swap trade will complete this process. San Francisco is sending a 2024 sixth-rounder to Denver for Gregory and a 2024 seventh, per Pelissero. The 49ers have shown an ability to coax bounce-back offerings from defensive linemen, with Kris Kocurek a highly regarded position coach. They will try this formula with Gregory, who is in the second season of a five-year, $69.5MM contract.
This trade will involve the Broncos paying a portion of Gregory’s $10.89MM in remaining 2023 salary, 9News’ Mike Klis reports. It turns out, the Broncos will pay almost all of Gregory’s salary. Save for the prorated veteran minimum ($840K) that will be on the 49ers to cover, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio reports the Broncos will be responsible for the rest. The Broncos were ready to eat that money by releasing Gregory, so it makes sense they were fine with making this payment to secure late-round draft compensation.
The team picked up most of Von Miller‘s remaining 2021 salary upon dealing him to the Rams before that year’s deadline. That increased the compensation, with the Rams sending second- and third-round picks for the future Hall of Famer. Signed to help fill the Miller void in Denver months after that trade, Gregory did not live up to expectations. As such, his trade value is much lower.
The 49ers will pick up some flexibility with Gregory, whose contract calls for nonguaranteed salaries from 2024-26. At the time of signing, the Broncos had added the ex-Cowboys second-rounder on a long-term deal that checked in outside the top 20 for edge rusher AAV. Now, the 49ers will take a chance on Gregory. It will be interesting to see if the 49ers view Gregory as a non-rental, seeing as they just signed off on Nick Bosa‘s record-shattering extension, but the team does have an intriguing Bosa sidekick en route.
Gregory, 30, has flashed promising talent. He posted six-sack seasons with the Cowboys in 2018 and 2021, combining for 32 QB hits in those years, but injuries and suspensions have interrupted much of his prime. After a four-suspension run in Dallas — albeit under a CBA that featured harsher penalties for substance abuse — Gregory signed with Denver in 2022. The Cowboys were close to re-signing a player they had stood by despite his rampant unavailability, but contract language led to a snafu, changing both Dallas and Denver’s edge rusher plans. Gregory had been in talks with the Broncos last March but had said he would return to the Cowboys if they matched the terms. The Denver deal went through. Much has changed for the AFC West franchise since the Gregory deal came to pass, however, and the fit did not work out.
Needing shoulder surgery in 2022, Gregory was sidelined until Week 1. The Broncos did see some positive early returns from Gregory last season, when he played opposite Bradley Chubb. But a knee injury led Gregory to IR after Week 4. He did not return until late December and was not in top form upon coming back. Sean Payton hired ex-Broncos HC Vance Joseph as his defensive coordinator, and Gregory ended up benched by Week 4. Calling out Gregory for poor effort in the team’s 70-20 thrashing in Miami, the Broncos used Nik Bonitto and Jonathon Cooper as their starting edge rushers in Chicago.
This pair will hold down the fort for the time being, but the Broncos have free agency pickup Frank Clark and converted ILB Baron Browning nearing returns. The team designated Browning for return from the PUP list Wednesday, and Clark is aiming to come back by Week 5. The pair have rehabbed knee and groin injuries, respectively.
A Bonitto-Cooper-Clark-Browning foursome brings some intrigue for the Broncos, but the team has seen its OLB situation change since Gregory’s injury and the Chubb trade transpired in 2022. Joseph’s return to Denver has not gone smoothly, either; the Broncos rank last in total defense and points allowed. And the Gregory signing will go down as a clear miss for Broncos GM George Paton.
The 49ers let both Samson Ebukam and Charles Omenihu walk in free agency, saving up for the Bosa extension. The team has used ex-Raiders top-five pick Clelin Ferrell as the starter opposite Bosa, but 2022 second-rounder Drake Jackson is tied for the team lead with three sacks. Gregory joining the 49ers opens the door to a stacked defensive line. Although it is uncertain if the 4-0 team will want Gregory starting or in place as a rotational backup, the prospect of a Bosa-Gregory-Arik Armstead–Javon Hargrave quartet is now in play.
Kocurek and Bosa led the way in helping Ebukam, Omenihu and Arden Key generate plus work upon arriving in San Francisco. Gregory flashed better pre-Bay Area form compared to that trio, and the Super Bowl contenders will bank on their infrastructure once again. With the Broncos on the hook for most of Gregory’s 2023 money, this qualifies as a flier. The 49ers will gauge the fit before determining Gregory’s post-2023 future.