Denver’s veteran players report to training camp Tuesday and the first of 12 open practices is Friday.
The roster will be sliced and diced and analyzed in all sorts of ways between now and the cutdown from 90 players to 53 on Aug. 29.
Today, a look at five Broncos facing a career crossroads in 2023.
QB Russell Wilson
The veteran quarterback can’t be left off this list. Wilson turned in the worst season of his career in 2022 and has no lack of doubters entering 2023. He’ll turn 35 in October and is playing under a new coach for the second straight season since being traded to Denver in March 2022. Sean Payton has the gravitas and trust from ownership to ultimately make the decision on what Wilson has left, though Wilson can make the more difficult side of that conversation moot with a strong 2023. The Broncos could cut bait after the season if he struggles again, though that would come with massive salary cap ramifications. Better for all parties if Wilson shows he’s got at least a couple of productive seasons remaining.
OLB Randy Gregory
Gregory and the other veterans listed from this point on are here because, though they each have multiple years remaining on their contracts, they become much less painful to part with financially after 2023. The Broncos have 11 players under contract for 2024 with cap numbers of $12.987 million or bigger. Extensions, renegotiations, conversions and, yes, departures, will be inbound. What does that mean for Gregory? He’s got to be healthy and available. When he is, he’s a real impact player. But he hasn’t been often enough. In Gregory’s first year with the Broncos, he missed 10 weeks with a knee injury. He said he feels pressure to have a good year to prove general manager George Paton and others right in signing him to a big deal last year in free agency. Can he do it?
LT Garett Bolles
The Broncos’ left tackle returns after missing all but five games with a lower leg fracture. He and Mike McGlinchey think they can be one of the best tackle duos in football. There’s also this reality: Bolles turned 31 in May and has a $20 million cap hit and no guaranteed money in 2024, according to Over The Cap. If he returns to form in 2023, there are plenty of options for improving the cap situation and keeping him anchored on the left side. If it’s a struggle, the Broncos could move on with only modest cap ramifications, though they don’t have an heir apparent presently.
C Lloyd Cushenberry
Cushenberry’s in a different situation but an interesting one nonetheless as he enters the final year of his rookie contract. A good year under new offensive line coach Zach Strief and he could establish himself as the Broncos’ long-term solution at center. Wilson speaks highly of him and he’s universally regarded as an intelligent player. He was healthy enough to play down the stretch in 2022 but Denver kept him on injured reserve in favor of Graham Glasgow. Payton and the Broncos also drafted center Alex Forsyth in the seventh round this spring.
WR Courtland Sutton
The sixth-year wide receiver spent almost the entirety of the offseason hearing his name come up in trade rumors. He said during the offseason program that he’s glad to be back and considers Denver home. Sutton’s never quite recaptured the form he showed in 2019 before an ACL injury in 2020. He caught 64 passes for 829 yards last year but has just four touchdowns in 32 games over the past two seasons and has big cap numbers (and no guaranteed money) in 2024 and ’25. Denver’s receiver room is among the NFL’s most expensive this year. One way or another, that’s likely to change next year.
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