Tag: blake watson

Broncos added 3 players after last year’s East-West Shrine Bowl

The Broncos signed three players who participated in last year’s East-West Shrine Bowl, including LB Levelle Bailey and RB Blake Watson.

The 2025 East-West Shrine Bowl will be played in Arlington, Texas tonight and the Denver Broncos will undoubtedly have scouts in attendance.

Last year’s all-star game included an impressive group of running backs headlined by Jonathon Brooks, Tyrone Tracy, Isaac Guerendo, Carson Steele, Frank Gore Jr. and Blake Watson.

Following the 2024 NFL draft, Denver signed Watson as a college free agent. He ended up dressing for two games as a rookie and rushed four times for 10 yards and two first downs.

The Broncos also signed linebacker Levelle Bailey after the draft. Bailey led the West team with four tackles in last year’s East-West Shrine Bowl. He also broke up a pass. Bailey dressed for 10 games last fall and totaled five tackles while also playing 52% of the snaps on special teams.

Additionally, Denver signed safety Omar Brown last spring after he recorded two tackles in the East-West Shrine Bowl. Brown ended up not making the Broncos’ roster in a crowded safety room, but he now plays for the Green Bay Packers.

To view the rosters for the 2025 East-West Shrine Bowl, click here.

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Don’t misunderstand the Broncos’ 2025 plan for running back

Sean Payton uses a running back committee, but that doesn’t mean the Broncos won’t make a splash at the position in 2025.

During his end-of-season press conference earlier this week, Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton was asked if the team needed a bell-cow running back.

Payton rejected the notion of an every-down workhorse running back, noting that he — and most teams — use multiple backs.

“I understand the committee,” Payton said. “I’m used to having two. We’re going to have more than just one back. We’re going to stack that position group. It’s too hard in our league to play with just one, rarely does a team do it. Occasionally it happens. Certainly, we’ll have a chance to evaluate when we get to the offseason evaluation process where we feel like we are at with each position, certainly that’s an important position.

“I’m not ready to today give you our must-needs and wants. We’re two weeks away, and even two weeks from now, I’m still not going to give them to you. We’ll go through that process, and we’ll look closely at what we think we still need, what we have to have and then what we want to have. That only comes after evaluating our own roster. We’re just not there yet.”

Some fans and pundits have interpreted Payton’s comments as a sign that Denver won’t target a big-name running back in 2025. That interpretation seems flawed, as Markus Boggs of theBPAshow pointed out on Twitter/X:

Payton has utilized multiple running backs throughout his career, but that doesn’t rule out the possibility of also having a star RB1, such as Alvin Kamara.

The Broncos have four running backs under contract for 2025 — Jaleel McLaughlin, Audric Estime, Tyler Badie and Blake Watson. None of them are clearly RB1 caliber, so the team will likely add to the position this spring.

Despite Payton’s comments about using a committee approach, it would not be surprising to see Denver go after a top RB in the NFL draft, perhaps even Ashton Jeanty. Fans should not misunderstand the Broncos’ approach. Using multiple RBs does not rule out the possibility of making a big RB splash in 2025.

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Broncos begin offseason moves, sign 13 reserve/future players

The Broncos have started signing players to reserve/future contracts. We are tracking the deals on this page.

The Denver Broncos have made their first 13 roster moves following the conclusion of their 2024 season.

The Broncos are starting to sign players to reserve/future contracts with reports of deals beginning today. We will be tracking the team’s signings below.

Players that are not on an active roster at the end of the season are eligible to sign reserve/future deals. After signing these reserve contracts, the players are now set to officially join Denver’s 90-man offseason roster when the new league year begins in March.

Broncos sign players to reserve/future contracts

  1. WR A.T. Perry (team)
  2. TE Thomas Yassmin (source)
  3. OL Nick Garguilo (source)
  4. OL Will Sherman (source)
  5. OL Calvin Throckmorton (team)
  6. DL Matt Henningsen (source)
  7. DT Jordan Miller (team)
  8. LB K.J. Cloyd (team)
  9. OLB Andrew Farmer (team)
  10. DB Quinton Newsome (source)
  11. DB Keidron Smith (source)
  12. DB Tanner McCalister (team)
  13. CB Reese Taylor (team)

Practice squad players not yet reported as signed

  1. WR Michael Bandy
  2. WR David Sills
  3. TE Donald Parham
  4. OT Cam Fleming

The Broncos signed 14 players to reserve/future deals last year, including running back Tyler Badie.

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Broncos’ updated 17-player practice squad with new OL

After adding OL Will Sherman, the Broncos have updated their 17-player practice squad.

The Denver Broncos made one addition to their practice squad this week.

After promoting running back Blake Watson from the practice squad to the 53-man roster and waiving cornerback Levi Wallace in late December, the Broncos had room to add another player to the practice squad.

Wallace cleared waivers, but he did not re-sign with Denver, so the team instead signed offensive lineman Will Sherman to the practice squad this week.

The NFL’s standard practice squad size limit is 16 players, but there’s an exception that allows an extra international player to not count against the limit. For Denver, Australian tight end Thomas Yassmin is an exception, giving the Broncos a 17-player practice squad.

So here’s the full list of 17 players on the squad after the recent moves.

Broncos 17-player practice squad

  1. WR Michael Bandy
  2. WR David Sills
  3. WR A.T. Perry
  4. TE Donald Parham
  5. TE Thomas Yassmin
  6. OT Cam Fleming
  7. OL Nick Garguilo
  8. OL Calvin Throckmorton
  9. OL Will Sherman
  10. DT Jordan Miller
  11. DL Matt Henningsen
  12. OLB Andrew Farmer
  13. LB K.J. Cloyd
  14. CB Reese Taylor
  15. DB Quinton Newsome
  16. DB Tanner McCalister
  17. DB Keidron Smith 

Two players can be elevated from the practice squad to the game-day roster each week.

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Broncos sign offensive lineman to practice squad

The Broncos have signed offensive lineman Will Sherman to their practice squad.

The Denver Broncos signed offensive lineman Will Sherman to their practice squad on Monday, according to the NFL’s transaction wire.

The Broncos had an open spot on the practice squad after promoting running back Blake Watson to the active roster on Christmas Eve to prevent him from being poached by another team.

To make room for Watson on the 53-man roster, Denver waived veteran cornerback Levi Wallace. Broncos coach Sean Payton indicated that the team wanted to re-sign Wallace to the practice squad, but after clearing waivers, Wallace did not return to the team (he remains a free agent).

With Wallace apparently not returning, Denver has now filled the practice squad spot by bringing back Sherman, who started the 2024 season on their practice squad. After suffering an injury, Sherman reached an injury settlement with the Broncos and his contract was terminated in October.

The 25-year-old lineman is now healthy and back in Denver.

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3 Broncos players fined for infractions vs. Chargers on ‘TNF’

Three Broncos players were fined for infractions against the Chargers on ‘Thursday Night Football’ last week.

A trio of Denver Broncos players were fined for infractions against the Los Angeles Chargers on Thursday Night Football in Week 16.

Broncos outside linebacker Jonathon Cooper was fined $12,668 for a horse collar tackle, defensive lineman Malcolm Roach was fined $11,255 for taunting and running back Blake Watson was fined $4,463 for illegal use of his helmet, according to the Denver Post‘s Park Gabriel.

Any potential fines from the Broncos’ game against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 17 will be announced next week.

Roach ($36,579) has been the team’s most-fined player this season, followed by safety Brandon Jones ($28,138), safety P.J. Locke ($27,944), pass rusher Nik Bonitto ($17,582), Cooper ($12,668), cornerback Pat Surtain ($11,255), fullback Mike Burton ($7,653), center Luke Wattenberg ($5,872), tight end Lucas Krull ($5,083), Watson ($4,463) and safety Devon Key ($4,417).

The money the league receives from fines is “donated to the Professional Athletes Foundation to support Legends in need and the NFL Foundation to further support the health, safety and wellness of athletes across all levels,” per the NFL.

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Recapping the roster moves Broncos made ahead of Bengals game

The Broncos did some roster shuffling ahead of their game against the Bengals.

Story update: After this post was published, the Broncos ruled out RB Tyler Badie (back) for Week 17 and elevated wide receiver David Sills from the practice squad to the game-day roster. See our original post below.

The Denver Broncos made a few transactions leading up to Saturday’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

The moves started on Tuesday when the Broncos waived veteran cornerback Levi Wallace from the active roster. That cut was made to make room for running back Blake Watson to be promoted from the practice squad to the 53-man roster.

Elsewhere at running back, Tyler Badie (back) was designated to return from injured reserve on Tuesday. Badie now has a 21-day window to be activated from IR to the 53-man roster.

Wallace has since cleared waivers and is now a free agent. It remains to be seen if he will return on the practice squad.

More moves could be on the way for Denver later this week. The Broncos might not be done shuffling the practice squad, and two practice squad players can be elevated to the game-day roster each week.

With more moves potentially still on the way, here’s the quick list of transactions Denver has made so far ahead of the Bengals game.

Broncos roster moves

  1. Cut CB Levi Wallace from active roster
  2. Promoted RB Blake Watson to active roster
  3. Designated RB Tyler Badie to return from IR

Saturday’s game will be televised on NFL Network. The Broncos need one more win (or tie) to clinch a spot in the NFL playoffs.

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Broncos promoting RB Blake Watson to 53-man roster

The Broncos are promoting running back Blake Watson from the practice squad to the 53-man roster.

The Denver Broncos are promoting running back Blake Watson from the practice squad to the 53-man roster, coach Sean Payton announced Tuesday.

Denver had room for Watson on the active roster after waiving cornerback Levi Wallace on Tuesday. If Wallace clears waivers, he will be a candidate to return on the practice squad.

Watson (5-9, 195 pounds) signed with the Broncos as an undrafted free agent out of Memphis this spring. He made the team’s initial 53-man roster this summer but was a healthy scratch for five of the team’s first six games before being bumped down to the practice squad.

With Jaleel McLaughlin (quad) sidelined last week, Watson was elevated from the practice squad and served as the team’s No. 3 running back behind Audric Estime and Javonte Williams. Watson rushed four times for 10 yards and hauled in one catch for 13 yards against the Los Angeles Chargers last week.

It remains to be seen how the backfield will shake out going forward. One of Williams, Estime, McLaughlin or Watson will likely be inactive on game days. Payton has indicated that he wants to see more of Estime and Watson, so the team might have a surprise scratch at RB in Week 17.

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Broncos waive cornerback Levi Wallace

The Denver Broncos cut veteran cornerback Levi Wallace from the 53-man roster on Tuesday.

The Denver Broncos have waived veteran cornerback Levi Wallace, coach Sean Payton announced Tuesday.

Wallace was cut to make room for running back Blake Watson to be promoted from the practice squad to the 53-man roster. Payton indicated that the team would like to re-sign Wallace to the practice squad.

Wallace (6-0, 179 pounds) signed a one-year contract with the Broncos in April. He started in the place of an injured Riley Moss against the Cleveland Browns in Week 13 and he had, by his own admission, the worst game of his life. Wallace was then inactive for the team’s next two games.

With Kris Abrams-Draine playing well and Moss getting closer to return, Wallace apparently became expendable. If he clears waivers, Wallace could return on the practice squad following Watson’s elevation.

Wallace totaled 28 tackles and two pass breakups in 13 games with the Broncos this season. The 29-year-old cornerback will now hit the waiver wire.

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Broncos elevate 2 players from practice squad to game-day roster

The Broncos are elevating RB Blake Watson and DL Matt Henningsen from the practice squad ahead of TNF.

The Denver Broncos are calling up reinforcements from the practice squad ahead of their Week 16 showdown with the Los Angeles Chargers.

The Broncos elevated running back Blake Watson and defensive lineman Matt Henningsen from the practice squad to the game-day roster, the team announced Thursday. They will revert back to the practice squad on Friday.

Players can be elevated up to three times during the season without having to clear waivers to return to the practice squad. This marks the first elevations of the season for both Watson and Henningsen.

The Broncos are turning to Watson after losing Jaleel McLaughlin to a quad injury. Watson will serve as the team’s No. 3 running back in L.A. behind Javonte Williams and Audric Estime (wide receiver Marvin Mims might get some snaps at running back as well).

Watson dressed for one game earlier this season, playing one snap on offense and one snap on special teams. He was bumped from the active roster down to the practice squad in October.

Thursday’s game will be available to stream on Prime. The Broncos are one win away from clinching a spot in the 2024 NFL playoffs.

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