The Broncos have already traded one veteran player this season, but coach Sean Payton says the team isn’t in a big rush to part with more.
Speculation around trade targets is only going to increase in the three weeks between now and the Oct. 31 trade deadline in the NFL, but Payton on Tuesday said that he and general manager George Paton aren’t shopping anybody.
“George and I talk every day. Three or four times a day,” the first-year Denver head coach said. “We’re not looking to do business with any of our players. That doesn’t prevent teams from calling at times. You pick the phone up, but that’s kind of where it’s at.”
Teams called for most of the offseason, too, particularly about wide receivers Jerry Jeudy and Courtland Sutton. Payton and Paton didn’t get a deal they liked for either one and held the line. At 1-4, though, and with a rugged schedule ahead, the math is different at the trade deadline than it is in the summer when nobody’s lost a game yet.
In the coming weeks they could field inquiries about a number of veteran players, including safety Justin Simmons, left tackle Garett Bolles, inside linebacker Josey Jewell, outside linebacker Frank Clark or defensive tackle D.J. Jones. Jewell and Clark are impending free agents, but none of them have guaranteed money on their contracts after this season.
Payton said working through short-week installs until 3 a.m. and getting ready to play Kansas City on Thursday night has taken up all of his attention rather than Oct. 31 creeping closer.
“We’ve got a good handle on this current roster and our vision for the roster a year from now,” Payton said. “That’s the part about improving and getting better. But until you just said it, I wouldn’t have known it was three weeks away. Three weeks seems like an eternity.”
An eternity likely to feature plenty of picking up the phone.
Dulcich returns to practice. The Broncos are close to getting tight end Greg Dulcich back from a hamstring injury that’s cost him the past four games.
The second-year tight end returned to practice Tuesday as a limited participant, opening a 21-day window for him to be activated off injured reserve. He’s eligible to return as early as Thursday night against Kansas City.
“He’s out here moving around,” Payton said as Dulcich did extra work on the practice field after Denver finished up a helmet-less practice Tuesday. “Hopefully the sooner the better. He’s been working his tail off and I know they’re going through a bunch of stuff now, explosive drills, making sure there’s not a setback.
“I don’t want to guess relative to this week’s game, but man, he’s close.”
Dulcich injured his right hamstring just before halftime in Denver’s season-opening loss to Las Vegas and hasn’t played since. The Broncos put him on injured reserve ahead of their Week 2 game in part because this is the third time Dulcich has injured the muscle since he got drafted in the spring of 2022.
Hamstring injuries cost him much of his first offseason last summer — five games at the beginning of the year and two at the end of the season.
Roster movement. The Broncos cleared a spot on the 16-man practice squad by waiving wide receiver Michael Bandy.
That could be the start of a string of Wednesday moves that opens a spot on the active roster for Baron Browning (knee) or Dulcich to return.
Injury updates. Veteran outside linebacker Frank Clark didn’t practice Tuesday due to an illness. Defensive tackle D.J. Jones (knee) was the only other player who didn’t participate at all Tuesday.
Running back Javonte Williams (hip flexor) was upgraded to a full participant after he nearly got the green light to play Sunday vs. the Jets.
“Had that been a playoff game or we felt like we had to have him, he could have gone,” Payton said of his starter. “But at the risk of possibly having a set-back. And we just thought that was too much.”
The rest of the injury report: ILB Justin Strnad (back) was added to the report Tuesday as a limited participant. Browning (knee), S Justin Simmons (hip/groin), DT Mike Purcell (ribs), C Lloyd Cushenberry (quad) all remained limited.
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