After setting an initial 53-man roster on Tuesday afternoon, NFL teams will then turn their attention to the waiver wire.
Players with fewer than four accrued seasons in the NFL who are cut this week are subject to the waiver wire. If, for example, a rookie is waived, all 32 teams will have an opportunity to place a “claim” on that player. Of the teams that place a claim, whichever club ranks highest in the waiver order is awarded the player.
The Denver Broncos rank 12th in the waiver wire order this year and coach Sean Payton will be paying attention to who becomes available.
“[We study] projected cuts from each team,” Payton said after Denver’s preseason finale. “I think paying attention to that wire is important, and we have historically had success. That is where we found Taysom Hill. It was midnight or 1:30 in the morning, whatever time it was. We are looking at one player, and you start looking at something [and find a player].
“So hopefully we have got a good area or good foundation relative to who it is that comes available. And there are a handful positions we might have more of an interest in if they were to unfold that way. So that is a lot in a short period of time. I understand that, but if we are doing our homework correctly, we should be on top of that.”
It would not be surprising to see the Broncos claim a player or two off waivers on Wednesday after setting an initial 53-man roster on Tuesday. That means a player who makes the team initially could be cut to make room for a waiver claim one day later. Such is the brutal nature of NFL roster cuts.
There’s no guarantee Denver will find the next Taysom Hill this year, but the Broncos can find contributors at positions of need this week. We will track all of Denver’s roster moves this week on Broncos Wire.
