ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — In his first roster moves as an NFL general manager, George Paton dove into the tougher side of the job Tuesday as he cut five players, including second-year defensive back Alijah Holder.
Joining Holder on the waiver wire Tuesday afternoon were receiver Fred Brown, offensive tackle Darrin Paulo, tight end Jordan Leggett and veteran defensive end Joel Heath. The Broncos are down to 79 players on their roster.
Holder was the biggest surprise as he played in eight games for the Broncos last season, often as a COVID-19 call-up to the game-day roster. Undrafted as a cornerback two years ago out of Stanford, Holder was shifted to safety late in his rookie season. He played special teams and dime safety/linebacker for the Broncos last year. He is a good, smart player but he is challenged at the NFL level as someone who some evaluators may consider a tad slow for corner and a bit small at 188 pounds for safety. Doesn't mean he can't play. Just means he won't play for the Broncos in 2021.
Brown played in 13 games for the Broncos in 2019 as a special teams player and No. 5 receiver. He had two catches for 21 yards that year, but spent most of 2020 on the Broncos’ practice squad. He was called up for one game.
Paulo was signed after training camp and spent the entire season on the Broncos’ practice squad. Leggett was signed to the Broncos’ practice squad for the final seven weeks of the season.
Heath has made several appearance on the transaction wire the past 13 months but none on the field. After playing parts of four seasons with the Texans, he was claimed off waivers by the Broncos on Dec. 31, 2019. He was not tendered as a restricted free agent, which released him to free agency, then signed back with the Broncos in late March. Before padding up for practice, Heath was cut on July 29 as all teams were forced to trim their training camp rosters from 90 to 80.
A couple weeks later, Heath opted out for COVID-19 reasons, which retroactively placed him back on the Broncos’ roster. So the Broncos acquired Heath three times, cut him three times, and because of the COVID shutdown and other reasons he may not have stepped foot in their locker room.
