The Denver Broncos have a crowded running back depth chart going into the summer.
Now healthy again, Javonte Williams is entering his fourth year and looking to bounce back in a contract year. Samaje Perine is also returning as the team’s top receiving and blocking back, and Jaleel McLaughlin returned after impressing as an undrafted rookie last fall.
Tyler Badie is also back after spending last season on the practice squad and the Broncos added two more RBs this spring. Denver first used a fifth-round pick to draft Notre Dame’s Audric Estimé in April, then the team signed Memphis product Blake Watson as an undrafted free agent.
“All these guys, they’re all competing for different roles, spots, roster,” coach Sean Payton said on May 11. “But there are two guys who are under contract right now that we added. I think that we never put a cap on what they’re competing for.
“I want to see it, and then we’ll go by what we see. That was the case with Jaleel a year ago. He sat here as an undrafted free agent that was going through the workouts, and then pretty soon you began to see it. So who knows what we’re going to get? … we’ll see where it goes.”
Denver will have some tough decisions to make at running back this summer, especially if the team only carries three RBs on the active roster. Williams and McLaughlin seem to be locks and Perine is the team’s best third-down option, but the team could save $3 million if Perine is cut.
If the Broncos end up bringing back all three RBs from last year, they’d have to carry a fourth RB on the active roster or hope they could slide Estimé down to the practice squad. Watson is a dark horse candidate to watch as well, but he seems likely to be a practice squad candidate as a rookie.
While fans and pundits focus on the quarterback competition, Denver will also have an intriguing competition at running back this summer.
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