08-26-25 Hour 1 of Broncos Country Tonight

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to it. Broncos Country Tonight Short Show, post Rockies edition,

(00:04):
post Cutdown Day edition, Benjamon Albright here with you, and
we got a flurry of stuff to get to. As
far as the Broncos original fifty three, it's not the
final fifty three, but it's the original fifty three as
they try to you know, it says they got under
where they needed to get to prior to cut down time. Today.

(00:34):
Not a whole lot of surprises. One or two I
think surprises on there, and we'll go around and get
to and get to all that. I don't think. I
think from my end, the biggest surprises for me would
have been keeping seven defensive linemen and probably keeping tackle

(00:58):
Frank Crum, who to me is offensive tackle five on
this roster. So that's you know, that certainly says something
that you know you can you can usually pass into
lineman through waivers, but I guess they continue to be
worried that somebody will snapped Frank Crumb up, and so uh,

(01:20):
they kept him on the roster. So we'll go through,
we'll go through all those. I want to go through
the entire roster with you, so of case, you guys
haven't heard you know, we can get we can get
you caught up on on each and each and every one.
Appreciate you guys being along with the ride. Tomorrow. I'll
be back on ko Sports Zach doing the post Rockies

(01:43):
PCT on Thursday, full live show with me and Nick
uh And then Friday, Nick and I will be on
KOA Sports and Zach will handle the UH the short
show post Rockies edition. So that's your your catch up
right there in terms of programming notes for the week.

(02:05):
Also on Friday, when Nick and ire in studio, Ryan
is going to be down there at Course Field. It's
KOA Day at the Rockies game, and so he will
be Ryan will be down there. He'll be throwing out
the ceremonial first pitch. It's his second time throwing out
a first pitch out there, So a lot of fun
there and that'll be that'll be good, that'll be cool.
But KOA Day down down at the Rockies taken on

(02:27):
the Cubs on Friday, so you guys want to get
down there for that. The Broncos cut to fifty three
and the roster is as follows. They kept two quarterbacks
and that's Bone Nix and Jared's did them. Sam Ailinger
they did not keep. He will either be brought back
on the practice squad or find his way elsewhere. They
did keep the four running backs JK. Dobbins, R. J. Harvey,

(02:49):
Tyner Bedey and Julia McLoughlin. They did keep five receivers Sutton,
Marvin Mims, Trent Sherfield, Troy Franklin and Pat Bryant. And
they did keep the four tight end slash h backs
and that is Evan Ingram out of Trout and Lucaskroll
and Nate Atkins. Atkins is injured, but they're not putting

(03:12):
him on. I are the ir guys. They put on
Drew Sanders and Mike Burton the fullback. They'll probably syn
Ad Apprentice back to the practice squad for call ups,
and Atkins they expect to be healthy after a couple
of weeks into the season, so they didn't want to
burn an EYR spot on him. On the offensive line,
we kept nine, I believe, and that would be Garrett

(03:36):
Bowles and Mike McGlinchey at the tackles, Quinn Miners and
Ben Powers the guards, Luke Wattenberg at center, and then
Alix Forsyth Matt Pert, Alex Polshewski and Frank Crum Crumb
being a bit of a surprise, not a shocker, but
at least a bit of a surprise. As you know,
keeping five offensive tackles was sort of eyebrow raising. The

(04:00):
other thing that would be eyebrow raising on the defensive line. Uh,
you know you got a three man front. You kept
seven guys Zach Allen, d J. Jones, John Franklin Myers, thinker.
But I new that, Savion Jones, Malcolm Roach if I
knew that. And then in the battle between Waso Rique
and Jordan Jackson, they kept him both. So uh that
that a little bit of a surprise to some people.

(04:21):
You know, myself included an eyebrow raised there as we
talked about that, that battle being one of the prime
battles there. Outside linebackers, no surprise here. Five kept Nick Benito,
John Cooper, Jonah Ellis, Dendrea Tillman, and Ke Robinson Is
at the edge rushers. Uh, the inside backers, this was
probably the biggest surprise to everyone. Uh green Law Singleton's

(04:44):
or not. Everybody knew that was coming. But the fourth
inside backer was not in fact, Lavel Bailey Uh. But
Karen Reid, Karan Reid, excuse me, and uh because it's
not pronounced Karen, even though it spelled Karen, it's Karan
Reid is somebody that Darren Rizzy jumped up and down

(05:06):
on the table for. You know, he's a very good
special teams player and despite Bailey maybe out playing him
at times on the field, you know, Reid was a
guy that Darren Rizzi put his mark on. And that's
another one that you know he put in the Rizzy column.
And and we'll see. But in the end, Reid stays

(05:27):
and Bailey hits waivers. We'll see if he comes back
to the practice squad. Amongst corners, Patzertan, Riley Moss, Jatte Baron,
ja Qui McMillan, and Chris Abrams strain no surprises there
only keeping five corners instead of the traditional six. Would
not be surprised to see a corner come back on
the practice squad At safety we kept five as we

(05:49):
had projected. Hufanga and Brandon Jones, Lock and Key and
Jail Skinner are the five. Skinner getting the nod over
Sam Franklin and the money that they ponied up to
bring him in. Initially was was maybe a little bit
of an eyebrow raise, but you know, Skinner's had more
time in the system, had been around, and another guy
that was sort of jumped up and down on the table.

(06:11):
Four on special teams, and speaking of the special teams,
Jeremy Crawshaw will LUTs Mitchell FERBONI, I don't think anybody,
uh surprised by that. I'm interested to know, you know,
kind of what you guys' thoughts are on it. As
I look at this, I don't see I don't see
any real head scratchers. I mean, Reid for Bailey is
sort of a sort of a surprise, h Frank Crumb

(06:33):
sort of a surprise. But beyond that, I mean, most
of these things are things we talked about. They're probably
gonna bring a couple receivers back on the practice squad,
uh keep five active and brings them back on the
practice squad. We talked about the Nate Atkins and and
Sean Payton even talked about that. You know that they
believe he'll be healthy in the first couple of weeks,
so they didn't want to put him on IR. So
that burns a spot. Only keeping two quarterbacks this year

(06:55):
not a surprise there maybe maybe the four running backs
and and Mike Mike question, I guess as we delve
into this, because you're keeping Dobbins, Harvey, bedet in McLoughlin,
is what is McLoughlin's role, Because what is McLoughlin bringing
that you don't already have in R J Harvey. R J.
Harvey is a bigger version of McLoughlin, faster, long or

(07:18):
more long speed anyway, uh than McLoughlin. Mclafflin might be
a little quicker. Harvey is a better receiver than McLoughlin,
and neither one of the guys or any good at
pass pro at this point. Harvey is a guy who
they didn't even give pass pro reps to in preseason games.
So I wonder what role Julia McLoughlin has at this point,
because Dobbins and Beday are guys that clearly give you

(07:44):
more in terms of receiving the ball and pass blocking,
uh and obviously running a little a little tougher, and
and Harvey is probably going to vulture up all the
McLoughlin work. Uh. Anyway, So I don't I don't know how,
I don't know where he fits in. They kept him,
and congratulations to him on the birth of his child
and all that kind of stuff. He's got a happy,

(08:05):
healthy baby daughter. But I don't know, I'm not sure
where he fits in now because his skill set has redundant.
I guess if R. J. Harvey gets hurt or is
he in effective early? You know, maybe you've got a
guy who knows the offense and can fill into that role,
but you drafted Harvey on that premise, uh, and and
he covers kind of everything that Jaliel does. So that's

(08:30):
one that as I look at this, uh going forward,
I wonder exactly what he's going to be doing here
and if he even makes it through the season. You know, here,
if R. J. Harvey is everything that everybody wants him
to be, what's the point, you know, is he even
going to be active? So that that's that's something to

(08:51):
sort of keep your eye on as we go forward.
The you know, the quarterbacks obviously no surprise there. Running
backs that that surprise. Receivers no surprises here. And you're
gonna you're gonna have some guys on the practice squad.
It'll be a T. Perry and uh, maybe Bandy Courney Jackson.
I think, you know, could probably keep three receivers on
the practice squad and that'll that'll probably be them. We'll see,
maybe you get your one Newton back. I don't know,

(09:13):
but I you know, I don't know that they're gonna
go that direction. And and you see the skill sets
we all saw by the way little George Humphrey get
released today by the Giants. I don't think they're bringing
him back, but never say never, especially with Veley traded.
Now you know there's a possibility that Sean Payton could
reach for his bnkie and bring bring little Jordan back

(09:34):
on the practice squad and use burn those call ups
you know, as you go, So that that's something that
could play into that as well. On the tight end
full back front, I mean, Mike Burton's on the IR
Nate Adkins starts the season injured, which means you probably
have to sign Adam Prentice to the practice squad early.
You kept uh, you kept Adkins active so you didn't

(09:56):
have to burn up the I R spot U. That
means you're you're keeping it tight with Evan Ingram, Adam
Trout and Lucas Kroll and Caleb Lohner, who was always
a project, will come back to the practice squad as well. Loner,
who had something like seventy five total snaps since the
seventh grade in organized football, was always going to be

(10:16):
a long term project. Him being waived not a surprise
at all. There were some people, I saw some of
the Twitter stuff, people trying to make that out to
be something, But the reality is that it was always
kind of the plan was that he would probably be
on the practice squad as a long term project. And
you know, you had some moments from him, certainly had
some moments from him in camp and in the preseason,

(10:39):
but not not enough to justify rolling him out there
at this point. Give him a year in this offense
and a year to learn it. And I think you're
competing with Lucas Kroll if Lucas doesn't, you know, sort
of put it all together this year. I think you're
competing with Kroll for tight end three next year. And
I think that's that's sort of where they're at with

(11:00):
with that. On the offensive line, keeping Crumb was the
surprise beyond that, not really. You kept Forsyth, you kept Patschowsky,
you kept part Pert's the guy who can kick inside
on the left side if need be so, and and
Forsyth can play you know, center or guard. So you
know you've you've got kind of everything covered. Having the
extra tackle and crumb is sort of odd, but I

(11:24):
guess they they see something in him that they feel
is warranting of development and didn't want to risk him
potentially being claimed by somebody else. When you look at
the kind of players that are usually claimed on waivers
on cutdown day, it's usually corners and tackles. Those are

(11:46):
usually the most commonly claimed guys. Occasionally you see a
running back or receiver that kind of stuff, but it's
usually quarterbacks, excuse me, cornerbacks and offensive tackles, and this
because the league just has a dearth of them, and
so you sort of see, you know, you see teams
invest more in that. That's why you see teams invest

(12:07):
as much as they do in the draft in those positions.
When we talk about sometimes drafting strength on strength or whatever,
you know, you see you see teams make big time
investments in those positions. The never Broncos, for instance, have
spent in the George Payton era, two first round picks
on corners, John Payton used to spend a lot of
picks on corners, defensive and offensive lineman like that was

(12:30):
you know, that was this big thing. And I suspect
the Broncos, who have something like four top hundred picks
in the next draft, I suspect that if you're a
Broncos fan, you might want to start scouting offensive lineman
because I believe they're going to want to get younger,
and I believe there's a couple of positions they want
to get stronger at on this offensive line, and they're

(12:53):
definitely going to have to get cheaper in a couple
of years when it comes time to pay bo Nicks.
So I would suggest that this next draft the Broncos
have is probably going to have more offensive lineman drafted
than we typically see. And the Broncos last time they
drafted a tackle, I'm pretty sure it was Karrett Bowles.

(13:16):
I'm pretty sure it was Garrett Bowles. It's been a
while since they've drafted an offensive tackle. They've drafted a
few offensive linemen, you know here or there, interior offensive lineman.
But you know, they're gonna have to get They're gonna
have to get younger, and they're gonna have to get
more cost effective at that position because they've paid out
the receiver. They've paid out, you know, defensive lineman they
paid out or they're going to pay out rather with

(13:37):
the edge at the edge position. They paid out at
the corner position. And when it comes time to pay
the quarterback in Bonix in a couple of years, they're
going to have to have younger and cheaper. You're gonna
have to be cheap at wide receiver. You're probably gonna
have to be cheap or young on the offensive line,
and maybe you could afford to pay one or two
instead of four, you know, off that second year deal.
So simple roster construction stuff. As you sort of see

(14:01):
on the offensive side. How this goes in terms of
the practice squad again, I don't think they'll bring a
running back to the practice squad since you're keeping four.
I don't think he keep I think you'll bring a
full back and Adam Prentice simply because you'll need that
for the first couple of weeks of the season. Is
Burton's on ir and Atkins is coming back from from
his surgery. But I don't think you're keeping Apprentice long

(14:23):
term on that, Uh, that practice squad necessarily, Yeah, as
the tight end position, you'll bring loaner back. I know
people have been talking about Preest Corn, but I don't
think he's back. We'll see it's a it's a maybe,
you know, I I it's to me, it would. It
just depends on how some of these other things go.

(14:45):
I don't think he's a priority to bring back. I'll
put it that way, you know. And then you know,
the loaner as the as the the developmental guy kind
of precludes that a little bit. I mean, if you
think about it, if you split the practice squad to
assuming you've got an international guy, you know, it's eight
and eight. If you got an international guy, you can
have a ninth. You know, you can have a seventeenth player.

(15:07):
But that's tough. I mean, if you're keeping three receivers. Uh,
and maybe let's say you keep Ailinger on the practice squad,
well that's four of them right there. You're probably bringing
Throckmorton back on the practice squad. That's five. You're bringing
a loner. That's six. Uh, you had Adam Pretis, that's seven.
So that's one spot left, you know, on the practice squad.

(15:27):
And so that that's sort of you know me, maybe
you bring pre scorn back, but as it sits right now,
I don't think that's the priority, you know, in all
of that. And and again, like we we talked about
with paying people, you know right now with the rough
stuff dropping off, you get that grace here next year
you want to load everything into. But then after that

(15:49):
things start to get prohibitively expensive. If you're at that point,
you're in year four with bo Nicks and you're getting
ready to pay him, uh Sutton, you know, he's probably
has gone by that point, and so you'll need to
have an extra receiver that's on our rookie deal and cheap.
You're probably paying whoever your z is mid tier money
at that so Troy Franklin, Marven Williams, whomever that is

(16:10):
at that point in time. But these are all things
you have to factor in. It's not just the current
state of this, but where you headed, what are you
shaping this thing for the future, and that I think,
you know, I think there's some pretty telling stuff with
the way they did with the way they did some
of this this year. Not again, not a whole lot
of surprises on the offensive side. The frank crumb thing.
Probably the biggest surprise on the offensive side. When we

(16:36):
come back, I want to get into the defensive side
of the ball. We'll kind of break that down a
little bit, and there was the biggest surprise probably on
the defensive side. As we've talked about before. You guys
listened to Broncos Country tonight right here on KOA. We'll
be back right after this. Welcome back to it, Broncos
Country Tonight. Benjamin Albright here with you short show post

(16:58):
Rockies edition. We've been talking about all of the Broncos
roster mechanics as far as all that stuff goes. The
fifty three man roster, talked about all that. You know,
Michael Burton being placed on the IR the season ending IR,
not the short term season ending IR. So what that

(17:18):
means is you've got to bring Prentice back on the
practice squad and you'll use him for call ups and
then when Nate Adkins gets healthy, he will probably fit
in that each back full back role as well as
being the fourth tight end. So something to kind of
keep your eye on there. Maybe that means you bring
pre Scorn back on the practice squad, but it's a

(17:39):
tough fit as you only have sixteen seventeen if you've
got an international player, but sixteen that usually has an
eight and eight split on offensive defense. So it's gotta
be interesting. I want to go over some of the
defensive stuff. As Drew Sanders on the short term, I
are they do expect him back at some point. We'll see,

(18:00):
but you've got that that inside back. Our position probably
had the biggest surprise as they kept Karan Reid and
let Lavel Bailey go, and that's that that was certainly
eye opening for some people. But Red somebody that Darren
Zzie jumped up and down for as his special team's
ability was something that he coveted versus Lavell Bailey, who

(18:21):
didn't quite offer, you know, necessarily as much. There so
something to watch. But for those who don't remember. On
the defensive line, Zach Allen, d J. Jones, John Franklin Myers,
rookie draft pick, Savion Jones, Malcolm Roach. And then they
kept both the waza Rique and Jackson, which you know,
I think was a surprise to a lot of us

(18:42):
in media figuring they only keep six, but they kept seven.
Jordan Jackson and any Waza Rique was a Rique of
course was the guy who was suspended for the gambling
issue previously, but he has worked his way out of
that doghouse and continues to hang around on the Denver
br COO's roster. At the outside linebacker position, absolutely no

(19:04):
surprise here, uh Nick Badio, John Cooper, Jonah Ellis, and
Andrea Tillman as well as rookie q Robinson. Robinson of
course the fourth round draft pick special teamer and really
flashed quite a bit during this preseason. In fact, they
had one of the highest edge passport rush win rates
in the league, so really really flashed up. They could

(19:26):
have a could have a budding superstar on their hands
there as his He and and Jonah Ellis have really
made it difficult to take them off the field and
then probably figured a factor of the rotation. And Andrea
Tilman of course, who's we we've all seen as well
as the inside backer position green Law Alex Singleton being
the starter is not a surprise there. Justin Sternad back

(19:49):
again and with the injury to Drew Sanders, uh uh
Karan Reid is the one that is captain instead of
Lavelle Bailey. I think Jordan Turner and and Lavelle Bailey
are people that I thought played pretty well. Read of
course the linebacker out of Utah, and he would be

(20:09):
the undrafted player that the Broncos kept on the roster
this year, for those of you who keep track of
such things. So that's that's your that's your undrafted player
to make the to make the roster this year at
the corner position. UH and again corner and safety in

(20:31):
the dB rooms. Not a lot of surprise here, and
I think a lot of that is because of the
UH strong drafts that George Payton has had over the years.
But as you look at this, I mean it's it's
pretty sad. I mean, you've got UH, Patzertan and Riley
Moss as your starters, Jade Barron, jake Y McMillan, UH

(20:52):
and Chris Abrams drain who's had himself a pretty good
UH camp this year, And and those are the five
you're keeping. The they waved to Maury matth that's not
a surprise. They'd been shopping him for weeks. Couldn't find
a bier there. Jayden Robinson somebody who might be back
on the practice squad. But other than that, I mean,
Reese Taylor, might be back on the practice squad, and

(21:14):
then you know a Quintin Newson was released as well.
I think you'll probably bring a corner back on the
practice squad simply because having five is not very deep.
So the possibility exists that you bring one, maybe two
corners back, and Jade Robinson Reecee Taylor would be the
guys that you would that you would bring back there.
And we'll know most of the practice squad tomorrow. You know,

(21:36):
as far as that stuff goes, it's safety. We talked
about this. Typically you want to keep four, but they're
keeping five because of special teams, and we said there
was either was that fight for that last spot. We
knew Whufanga and Jones by virtus of the money that
they make, we're going to be the starters, Lock and
Key as the backups. And then you had J. L.

(21:57):
Skinner who won the battle, fighting with Keidrin Smith, Sam
Franklin Junior who got a decent amount of guaranteed money,
and Dlaren Turnery Yell the fifth round pick from a
couple of years ago, all fighting it out for the
last spot. But I think Skinner's you know, special teams,
versatility and his ability to be sort of that that
inside dinebacker in a pinch gave him the edge, and

(22:20):
and so Skinner winds up being the fifth safety retained
on the fifty three. Again, not a lot of surprises
on this defensive side. I think the big shaker was
the Kuran Reid over Lavel Bailey thing. But otherwise, not
a ton of shock on the defense here. All this
has been stuff that we sort of talked about. And

(22:40):
then your three specialist Jeremy Crosshaw, the punter who was
drafted in the sixth round, Will Lutz, Mitchell Fermoni, the
long snapper, the three that are kept there by the
Broncos as well. So not you know, again, not a
ton of surprise there. The biggest shock is probably, as
we pointed out, the the inside backer that you know

(23:05):
is I think most people, because Leavell Bailey been so
talked about, I think the Kuran Reid thing is a
little bit more surprising. But the reality is we's played
well and special teams coaches jumping up and down for
you that that tends to keep you, you know. Sean
Payton had some had some quotes today and he said

(23:27):
that during the six hour meeting that they had last
night that. You know, one thing that was noticeable was
it very evident that they are deeper than when he
first got there. Credit to George Payton and the staff
or you know, being able to uh continue to draft
and and make this team stronger and stronger and continue
to build uh this roster out as as they go along.

(23:50):
So Sean, you know, Coach Payton also said that the
final preseason game it helped the team with the practice squad,
maybe even more than the fifty three man roster. They
got to see guys that they confirmed that they needed

(24:11):
to keep them on the practice squad rather than the
fifty three And so there's you know, there's I think,
you know, there's value to these games we talk about
all the time and the final score doesn't matter, but
the snaps do. And I think you're seeing coach certainly
out there, you know, agreeing to that. So it's, you know,

(24:36):
there's it's it's a tough day for a lot of
guys because almost half these guys are finding out there
getting cut and then some of them are hoping to
be brought back to the practice squad, but for others,
the dream dies. The dream dies right there, and you know,
I saw an account on Twitter. I think it was
yesterday when tomorrow mathis when the announcement came through and

(24:59):
long expected but still and the answer came through and
they were making fun of him, saying that he was
rapping under the name Little Trash and you know, Walking
Papers was the album that he was putting out or
something like that. And I don't know, man, it's just
like not funny, you know. First of all, I mean, like,
if you're gonna make a joke, at least make it funny.

(25:20):
And second of all, like what a what a crappy
thing to do? Like what level of sociopathy does it
does it take for people to take joy in other
people's misery? You know, Like I don't know. I just
I never understood the concept of making fun of somebody
on the way out the door, you know. Like, and
I love a good roast joke. You know, everybody knows

(25:41):
that I love that culture. I love to be roasted personally.
I you know, there's a bunch of people that think
I take it personally, and no, if you know anything
about me, I love a good roast joke and I
love especially the good ones that I see on Twitter,
Like if you got a good one, you know, go
for it. If it's just mean spirited, is not funny,
then that's different. And there's a lot of people that
think they're funny than aren't. But you know, I loved it,

(26:04):
but I hated it. I hate seeing that. I hate
seeing people, you know, making fun of of of a
guy who came out here and gave it his best to,
you know, to try to live out his dream and
just didn't have enough to to do what it takes.
And I hope that for all of you listening, I
hope that on your worst day, uh, people aren't using
that as fodder for entertainment, you know, to try to

(26:24):
make fun of you because you you couldn't achieve the
heights of what you hoped that you could you wanted
to achieve, or because you did something something dumb that
people aren't out here, you know, using that as comedic
fodder for their own to try to get, you know,
clicks or views on Twitter or whatever. I just I
thought that was I thought that was classless. One of

(26:45):
the stories I wanted to talk to you about, not
a Broncos story, but cowboy story. Parry On Winfrey had
assumed that he was being cut, and he went to
Brian Schottenheimer's office to uh to get the message. Formerly
Will McClay was was president as well, and and shot
he sort of leaned into his they thought that he

(27:07):
might be getting cut before telling him that he's incorrect
and he'd actually made the Cowboys fifty three man roster
win for he got teary eyed, and it kind of
caused Shotty and McLay to get a little teary eyed
as well, and they said they wanted to see his reaction.
He didn't disappointed, just a special guy, and so you know,

(27:29):
it was there there. I mean, this is emotional stuff
for these guys. I mean you sat there and you
bled and you sweat, you know, for this and and
and you really put a lot into it, more than
some critic on Twitter who's you know, trying to dunk
on you for views or whatever. Uh. And in these guys,
I mean some of this is the difference between life

(27:50):
changing money for their families and not. And so you know, again,
I I just that whole idea that we're gonna make
fun of somebody not not being able to live out
their dream. I hate that. And like I said, I
saw that on Twitter, and I just I don't know.
I immediately, you know, knew I would never follow that
account because just just gross. But that's that's how that

(28:13):
stuff goes a lot of other interesting cuts around the
league today. I thought that Hunter Renfro trying to make
a comeback with the Carolina Panthers. They let him go,
and that may be a situation where that proposed Adam

(28:34):
Thielen trade where the Panthers are trying to move feel
into the Vikings back to the Vikings that may have
that may have that falling through or that not having
been done may have precipitated Renfro not having a slot
at least on the initial fifty three for the Carolina Panthers.
But you know, Hunter Renfro trying to work his way
back after one of those idiot aggregator accounts falsely reported

(28:55):
I think it was NFL RUMs, which they may just
make stuff up all the time, that account. Don't if
you're following that account, uh why, but they were they
were saying that Renfro was going to retire, and then
Renfro had to come out and be like, no, I'm
trying to make a comeback, you know, And so watching
you know, his comeback come up short. You know, kind

(29:19):
of sad, you kind of hope that guys are able
to do that. Tony Jefferson, a guy had been out
the league and you know it came back with the
Chargers and the fanfare and really played well this preseason.
You know, Jefferson was cut by the Chargers and he
may find a home somewhere else just based on just

(29:43):
based on how well he performed in the preseason. But yeah,
Tony Jefferson, another guy, you know, just trying to to
hang on, I guess at all costs. And you know,
and then there's then there's guys who haven't been signed yet,
and guys like I get the question I get asked
about a lot of is Justin Simmons, and I think
he'll be signed after we one, just because they know,
you know, he has so many years in the league
that he's uh the way he is a veteran, would

(30:06):
guarantee his salary for the year if you sign him.
And so what you see is a lot of his
teams cut some of these guys, these veterans that they
plan on bringing back in Week two as a procedural
move so that their salaries are weak to week rather
than fully guaranteed for the entire season and a de
facto franchise tag or whatever. And so that's you know

(30:28):
that that that's I think something if you're curious about
Justin Simmons has something new to keep your eye on.
Some of the other questions I got to ask about
Sam Ellinger. I believe he's going to be back on
the practice squad if he doesn't get claimed by somebody
or whatever. But the Broncos want him back, so you know,
we'll see if if he gets back, uh it makes

(30:52):
it back to the practice squad, we'll we'll see, but
they definitely they want him back on the practice squad.
It's just not a guy you could carry on the
fifty three at this point. And I think after after
the Raiders went out and got Kenny Pickett via trade,
I think it became easier because the Raiders wanted a
quarterback a little mobility who had started before. Ailinger had
three starts, not Pickt obviously started for a season, so

(31:14):
he's that a guy's got more reps. But they wanted
somebody with reps who had started before. And so you know,
that's that's why that Ailinger was not why they held
him for a minute and made him one of the
last cuts that they did. There was I'm trying to

(31:39):
think what else. John Payton said today there was some
interest in Karan Reid and that was a part of
a factor why he made the fifty three interest for
some other teams. Darren Zzi obviously banged the table for
him too, So you know that those are those are things.
John Payton also said that three teams had called the

(32:01):
Broncos about Frank Crumb, and so we again we talked
about that. The tackles and corners. You know that that's
the reason that you know, kind of a bit of
a surprise that you hang on to five tackles is
just because the league has a dearth of tackles and corners.
Teams try to trade for him. Now I say that,

(32:23):
and of course, you guys, your first thought it's going
to be the tomorrow Mathis thing. But you know Mathis
had had multiple years on tape and and somebody will
pick him up. But I don't think anybody wanted to
trade a draft pick for him, whereas is Crumb you
could probably get a late pick for if you did
deal him other things that Sean Payton said today reaffirmed
and reiterated that Jeremy Crosshaw is the Broncos punter. You know,

(32:48):
there's been some chatter about sort of his weak performances
in preseason games, and it's funny because in practice the
guy looks like a monster. I mean, I mean, just
just blasting the football. Maybe a little nervis in some
of these games, I don't know, And that's a part
of the reason. I think why they haven't even brought
competition is to try to pump the confidence, build the
confidence back up, because you see it in practice, right,

(33:09):
You see it in practice. So I think maybe that's
that's sort of the the reason that you're not putting
pressure on him is just like, look, it's such a
mental game. Let's build his kids confidence up. We'll continue
to build up what we see in practice and that'll
translate to games eventually. But yeah, Sean Payton reiterated that
today that he is the Broncos ponner. They're gonna keep
working and developing him and say, I think the quote was,

(33:29):
I think we're going to be happy with him and
his ability talked about uh, and then he struggles a
little with his first punt in games, but then seems
to get better as the game goes along. So maybe
it is you know, a little early nerves as far
as that kind of stuff goes. So they're gonna try
to put him in some situations in practice to try
to try to help him and help shake some of

(33:50):
that stuff out, you know, And that's that's their plan,
is to try to to work with that, to make it,
to make it work in a way that he can
sort of get over that and into games. So that's,
you know, wherever you're at with that. He also said

(34:10):
that even though they released estimate that you know, after
he met with him, his career is not over reiterated
that that they felt like, you know, that he's going
to have a lengthy career ahead of him as far
as that kind of stuff goes. So initial fifty three set,
I still think there's going to be some roster chum,
some things are going to be doing here over the
next couple of days. And so I don't think that

(34:36):
that you've seen the last is in the final fifty three.
So but we'll see, we'll see how that goes. I
appreciate you guys sticking it out for tonight. Look forward
to Kai Sports tomorrow, Brockles Country Night here on Ka