ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- The Denver Broncos open the 2023 NFL regular season against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sept. 10 at Empower Field at Mile High.
Given the Broncos are in their fourth coaching change since the start of the 2017 season and they traded away five first- or second-round draft picks over the last two years to acquire quarterback Russell Wilson and sign Sean Payton as the head coach, this is a roster in need of depth all over that will likely be in flux all season because of it.
That means the Broncos might be the cruelest team in the league as August turns to September, because there may be several players who make the cut to the 53 on Aug. 29 who are then waived or cut a day or two later as the Broncos scour the waiver wire for replacements. Any projection of what the Broncos' cut to 53 players on cut-down day will look like comes with the enormous caveat it almost certainly will not look that way 48 hours after cut-down.
Payton has said the Broncos will be active if they think they can find help and there is no reason not to believe him because this roster has depth issues almost everywhere across the board.
With that in mind, here is an initial 53-player roster projection:
