The Broncos finished their preseason finale against Minnesota on Friday night with too many decisions still open and too little time to spare. By Sunday at 4 p.m., Sean Payton and George Paton must cut the roster from 90 players to 53, and they are expected to go straight from the game to the final list.
That makes the next 40 hours the most important on Denver’s calendar. Bo Nix was not playing in the finale, leaving the focus on the players who still had to earn spots, survive numbers, or wait on the practice squad after 11 a.m. Monday, when the Broncos can finalize a 16-man group.
Some of the hardest calls are clustered in the same places. Denver kept seven defensive linemen on the 53-man roster a year ago, but it may not need that many again, especially with Tyler Onyedim in the mix as a rookie third-rounder and John Franklin-Myers already gone from the conversation. Jordan Jackson has made the Broncos roster cleanly the past two years, which gives him a better base than most, while Sai’Vion Jones has not cracked the rotation yet after Denver traded up into the third round to draft him in 2025.
The offensive line is just as unsettled. Alex Forsyth has been unavailable on and off for the previous two weeks, Frank Crum has been unavailable during the current week, and Calvin Throckmorton and Matt Peart could be asked to work as key reserves or spend the start of the season on the practice squad. Those are not small choices for a team that has been described as deep and talented; they are the kind that tell you how much of that depth is real on opening week and how much is still theoretical.
There is also a separate layer to the cutdown beyond the 53-man roster itself. The Broncos can place up to two players on injured reserve with designations to return on Sunday, and they are still awaiting clarity on Jonathon Cooper’s status with the NFL ahead of a Monday arraignment on a felony assault charge and other lesser charges. At inside linebacker and tight end, the same question hangs over the room: who stays, who waits, and who is only safe until the practice squad is finalized?
That is why this deadline matters more than a routine preseason finish. The Broncos do not just need to trim numbers; they need to decide which veterans can be trusted, which young players still have a path, and whether the final shape of the roster is going to favor proven depth or the upside of keeping another developmental piece like Justin Joly in the building. By Sunday afternoon, the answer will be on paper.
