ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — With right tackle Billy Turner going on injured reserve Tuesday, it’s now official: The Broncos by all quantitative measures are the most injury-riddled team in the NFL.
Turner, who aggravated his surgically repaired left knee in the Broncos’ 17-10 loss, becomes Denver’s 14th current player on injured reserve, tying the Arizona Cardinals for most players currently sidelined for at least four weeks.
But the Broncos are alone at No. 1 by a decent margin in current cap dollars, cap percentage and total cash that are essentially going to waste on IR.
According to Spotrac, the Broncos’ 14 players on IR combine for $55.31 million in cap payroll. That’s 26.57 percent of the team’s $207.4 million salary cap. The Chargers are next with $49.39 million – 12 percent less than the Broncos’ payroll damage – for 23.39 percent of their cap.
The Cardinals’ 14 players, by the way, account for $31.19 million in cap dollars on IR, or 15.28 percent of their cap. While those figures rank in the league’s top 5, they are still well below the Broncos’ IR figures.
As for straight 2022 cash payouts, the Broncos are again No. 1 in devastation with $17.57 million worth of salaries on IR. The Commanders are second with $14.04 million in 2022 cash dollars on IR.
Turner missed the first 5 games of this season to recover from offseason surgery on his left knee. He returned to play in 3 ½ games before he went down late in the first half of the Broncos’ 17-10 loss Sunday at Tennessee. Turner will now miss another four games at minimum.
He figures to be replaced at right tackle by either Cam Fleming or Tom Compton depending on who recovers from their injuries first. Fleming missed the past two games with a quad injury although he did return to practice on a limited basis last week. Compton has been out since undergoing back surgery in late-July but returned to practice last week and was activated from the physically unable to perform (PUP) list Tuesday.
Compton is a well-traveled, 10-year NFL tackle/guard who has been a part-time starter for most of his career.
The Broncos also have offensive tackle Quinn Bailey on their practice squad. Bailey replaced Turner in the game against the Titans and played the final 2 ½ quarters at right tackle.
Cleveland waived
After 2 ½ seasons, the Broncos waived oft-injured receiver/special teamer Tyrie Cleveland on Tuesday. His 53-man roster spot was filled by defensive tackle Jonathan Harris, who was promoted from the practice squad.
A 7th-round pick out of Florida in the 2020 draft, Cleveland always had great potential because of his terrific speed but he had just 8 catches for 91 yards. When healthy, he was a core special teamer.
2 players work out, one signs
The Broncos worked out two players Tuesday – long snapper Tucker Addington and receiver Victor Bolden Jr. The team signed Bolden to their practice squad. Undrafted out of Oregon State in 2017, Bolden has bounced between the 49ers (where he had one catch for 10 yards), the Bills, Lions, USFL Birmingham Stallions and most recently the Arizona Cardinals.
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