ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Greg Dulcich went from the Broncos' future to their past far quicker than either could have anticipated.
The Broncos waived their once promising tight end Monday, less than three years after he was the team's third-round draft pick out of UCLA.
The impetus for the move is the Broncos have two players on their injury lists who are ready to return. The deadline for activating outside linebacker Drew Sanders from the physically unable to perform list is Wednesday.
Sanders was a third-round draft pick last year out of Arkansas. He has been out since blowing out his Achilles at the start of the team's offseason conditioning program in mid-April. Even if Sanders is not deemed up to speed to help on game day for a few more weeks, he is the type of promising prospect who would benefit from continued practice time.
The Broncos also have veteran receiver Josh Reynolds on injured reserve with a fractured finger. Reynolds was initially thought to have a four-week injury, but it's now been seven weeks. His return was delayed first by the fact he was a victim in a drive-by shooting on Oct. 18 (he suffered minor physical injuries) and then the continued emergence of rookie receivers Devaughn Vele and Troy Franklin.
Dulcich's stay with the Broncos was doomed at the start by what became a chronic hamstring injury. He missed the first five games of his rookie 2022 season because of the hamstring issue, then made a spectacular NFL debut in game six when he caught a 39-yard touchdown pass from Russell Wilson in a 19-16 loss at the Los Angeles Chargers.
Dulcich had 33 catches for 411 yards and two touchdowns in 10 games his rookie season, missing the final two games because of the recurring hamstring issue. Dulcich had a fantastic offseason in 2023 for new head coach Sean Payton, who thought he had his guy for the "Joker" position. But Dulcich popped the hamstring again in the Broncos' season opener, sat out the next four games, then suffered another injury to his hammy again upon his return.
Built like a Greek God with long, flowing curly hair, Dulcich was instructed to change his running gait prior to this year as the thought was his toe-heel pronate running style could have put stress on his hamstring. Dulcich did seem to put the hamstring issue behind him and was the Broncos' "receiving" tight end to start the season, catching five passes for 28 yards.
All that missed time, though, crimped the quick-twitch athleticism that made him such a promising prospect. He dropped two passes in game three against Tampa Bay, played one more game, then was benched and replaced by Lucas Krull.
Dulcich had been inactive since after the Broncos' game four win against the New York Jets. The Broncos tried to trade Dulcich during the NFL trading deadline period last month but found no takers. That doesn't mean he won't draw interest on the waiver wire where teams can put in a claim without compensation to the Broncos. Dulcich has $390,424 remaining on his contract this year and a non-guaranteed $1.673 million next year,
If he clears waivers at 2 p.m. Tuesday he will become a free agent.
