Broncos Camp — Aug 31: Cooper to the Exempt List on Cut Day

Outside linebacker Jonathon Cooper was placed on the commissioner's exempt list at Sunday's cutdown, per the team's announcement of its roster moves, written by Aric DiLalla at the team's website. The placement bars Cooper from practicing or playing, and it stems from two arrests in June on domestic violence charges, per Zack Kelberman at Mile High Huddle. Mike Klis of 9NEWS reports a potential suspension in the two-to-six-game range. The arrests themselves have been known since June; what is new is the league acting on cut day, with Denver's opener against the Chiefs in Kansas City set for Monday night, September 14. Those are the reported facts.

The football consequence is concrete. Jonah Elliss moves into the full-time outside linebacker role opposite Nik Bonitto after a strong camp, with second-year man Que Robinson contributing on passing downs, per Kelberman. And the same weekend the ruling came down, Denver waived the next two names on that depth chart — Dasan McCullough and recent veteran signing Ron Stone Jr., per Josh Buckhalter at Heavy.

The full ledger, compressed: the team announced 27 players waived, linebacker Drew Sanders waived/injured, six veterans released, tackle Frank Crum and tight end Caleb Lohner to injured reserve with return designations, and guard Nick Gargiulo to the reserve/physically-unable-to-perform list, all per DiLalla at the team's website. Earlier in the week, Denver cut safety Taylor Rapp on August 26, six days after signing him, per Ian Rapoport, with Payton citing a personal matter — "He needs a little time at home" — per Will Petersen at Denver Sports.

The beat's reaction to the cuts centered on how many of them produced in August. Fifth-round rookie tight end Justin Joly was waived two days after an 88-yard catch-and-run touchdown against the Vikings — "a surprise," per Klis, who noted Joly struggled adjusting in camp but showed obvious talent on that play. Linebacker Red Murdock was "the big shocker" of the cuts, per Chad Jensen at Mile High Huddle — Jensen had him leading the Broncos in preseason tackles, with the backup inside linebacker spots going to Jordan Turner's special-teams value and Karene Reid's preseason play instead. Running back Cody Schrader went out despite 132 scrimmage yards and a touchdown in the finale, with Tyler Badie kept as the fourth back for his blocking and special teams and Jaleel McLaughlin waived too, per Jensen. Lineman Calvin Throckmorton was released after playing well through the line's preseason injuries while Alex Forsyth, who missed the preseason hurt, kept a spot, per Jensen. The 53 also carries no long snapper — Mitchell Fraboni released, rookie Luke Basso waived — per DiLalla. General manager George Paton's summary of the day: "This is a tough day... This year, I think we spent more time on this roster going through a lot of different scenarios with a lot of these players that were released," per Susanna Weir at the team's website.

Now the part of the week where we owe you a correction. Our last episode told you Payton wanted his starters playing until the third quarter of the finale — his own answer to the Green Bay loss, and the item we called the longest and most honest look of the summer. That plan died on Wednesday. "Alright, he probably won't play in this game. Alright. Let's not go through everyone else," Payton said of Bo Nix on August 26, per Petersen, and on Friday night Nix and most of the starters sat. What the finale became instead was a roster audition, and Payton said so: "Today, it was like, 'Hey, make us spin the chair. Make us spin it,'" per DiLalla. Denver won it 34-6 over the Vikings on Friday, August 28.

The chair-spinner was Sam Ehlinger. He went 15-of-20 for 233 yards and three touchdowns, one of them the 88-yarder to Joly, and scrambled for a fourth-down conversion that drew this from Payton: "When you're in a game situation, we don't have to decide whether he was sacked or not," per DiLalla. On Sunday, Klis reported that Ehlinger made the season-opening 53, with Denver keeping three quarterbacks behind Nix and Stidham, per a source — the finale helping "cement the deal." The cleanest battle on the roster's back end resolved on the field.

Two statuses moved. Marvin Mims Jr. finally made his preseason debut Friday and exited on the first drive with a foot injury, limping off after an errant Stidham pass, per Jensen. Payton's postgame read: "With Mims, he's going to be fine. It's a bruise," adding the team was "really more just cautious with him," per Josh Alper at NBC's Pro Football Talk. And Riley Moss's ribs, a status we told you to read first, de-escalated fast — "nothing serious. We're being smart," Payton said August 24, per Petersen, and Moss is on the initial 53 per the team's announcement.

Back in July we previewed Denver as the most precedent-burdened team in football — an 11-and-2 record in one-score games, a decade of history saying teams that live on that coin usually decline, and a case against decline resting on Nix's repaired ankle and an offense good enough to stop needing close finishes. Cut day didn't test the levers — Nix sat precisely because the ankle question was already answered — but it moved the margins that preview worried about. If Klis's suspension range holds, Denver opens the season without a starting edge rusher for somewhere between two and six games, and thin margins are exactly where pass rush shows up. The offense's case held; the roster around it just got a dent.

What to watch next: waiver claims processed today with the practice squad forming behind them, per Weir at the team's website — where the cut names land is the next episode's job. Paton named the risk himself: "You always worry about the guys you want to bring back, that they could get claimed. If they do, like we told them, we're going to give them a hug and wish them the best," per Weir. Beyond that: any league ruling on Cooper's suspension, the long snapper resolution, and Mims's foot as game week begins. We'll check back once the claims and the practice squads are in.

_Data via nflverse._