The Broncos continued tinkering with their offensive line mix Friday by signing center Sam Mustipher from the Los Angeles Chargers’ practice squad.
To clear a spot on the 53-man roster, Denver waived offensive lineman Calvin Throckmorton. If Throckmorton clears waivers, he is in line to return to the Broncos’ practice squad.
The move is interesting for multiple reasons.
First, Mustipher spent 2024 training camp with the Broncos before being waived at the roster cutdown deadline. He’s a veteran player and one who is familiar to the Broncos.
Also: Mustipher played 12 games last year for the Chargers and has been on Jim Harbaugh’s practice squad for a chunk of this season, too. Denver plays what is sure to be a meaningful game and still could end up a titanic one in Week 18 at home against the Chargers.
Throckmorton served as the No. 2 center for Denver on Thursday night at Kansas City as Alex Forsyth stepped into the starting lineup.
He replaced Luke Wattenberg, who was placed on injured reserve Thursday with a shoulder injury. Head coach Sean Payton said the IR placement for Wattenberg, who just signed a four-year, $48 million extension in November, came down to roster management.
“He’s right at that (four-week) mark,” Payton said of Wattenberg.
Wattenberg is first eligible to return if the Broncos make the AFC Championship Game.
Assuming Denver gets Throckmorton back to the practice squad, it will have four experienced interior options as depth: Throckmorton, Mustipher, Geron Christian and whoever doesn’t start at left guard between Alex Palczewski and Ben Powers.
Schrader clears waivers. Running back Cody Schrader has been on and off several rosters in the past few weeks. Denver waived the back on Thursday, and he cleared waivers on Friday, meaning he’s free to sign with any team.
The Broncos have three practice squad spots open before any additions. Throckmorton and Schrader could end up filling two of them.
A potential Week 15 injury nightmare for these Broncos appears to be more just a bad dream.
Denver is not planning to place linebacker Dre Greenlaw on injured reserve, multiple sources told The Denver Post on Tuesday. Greenlaw suffered a non-contact hamstring injury late in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s 34-20 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, and has been listed as an estimated DNP on Denver’s injury reports Monday and Tuesday.
With 2:07 left in a game that was already decided, Greenlaw chased Jaguars running back Travis Etienne at the back-end of an 11-yard run and came up hopping over to the sidelines on his right leg, clearly unable to put much weight on his left. The Broncos quickly ruled Greenlaw out with a hamstring injury, a somber development for Denver’s late-season push for an AFC West divisional title and No. 1 seed.
The Broncos, though, clearly don’t view Greenlaw’s injury as season-ending. If they did opt to place him on injured reserve, the soonest Greenlaw could return — if Denver locks up the one-seed in the AFC — would be for a potential conference championship game. It’s likely, then, that Greenlaw is back at some point for the Broncos’ playoff run.
Denver’s linebacker room has been a game-by-game carousel this season, with Greenlaw and starting linebacker Alex Singleton just starting to develop some synergy before Greenlaw’s latest ailment. The offseason signee was hampered for much of the start of 2025 with a lingering quad injury, and then served a one-game suspension in Week 8.
Singleton then missed a game three weeks later after undergoing surgery to remove a testicular tumor. And LB3 Justin Strnad didn’t play Sunday against the Jaguars with a foot injury, with rookie Karene Reid already on injured reserve since November.
The Broncos should have reinforcements in any extended Greenlaw absence, as Strnad was a full participant in Tuesday’s walkthrough and looks set to start next to Singleton in Greenlaw’s place against the Chiefs on Christmas Day. Denver, too, could elevate Reid this week off IR after opening his 21-day window to return last week.
Center shakeup
Broncos starting center Luke Wattenberg wasn’t present for Tuesday’s walkthrough with a shoulder injury, indicating Wattenberg’s highly doubtful to play Thursday against the Chiefs on Christmas Day. It’d be Wattenberg’s first missed game of the year, after starting 15 straight and earning a midseason extension in his second year as Denver’s man in the middle.
Backup Alex Forsyth would almost certainly be the next man up in Wattenberg’s absence. Forsyth filled in capably for four games in 2024 when Wattenberg was placed on injured reserve with an ankle injury, and has plenty of cohesion with quarterback Bo Nix dating back to a shared 2022 season playing for Oregon.
Still rotating
The Broncos eased left guard Ben Powers back into action slowly against Jacksonville, playing Powers just 23 snaps in his return off injured reserve in a two-possession rotation with Alex Palczewski. Payton said Tuesday that the Powers-Palczewski rotation will continue Thursday night against Kansas City.
“Not bad,” Payton said, asked how he thought Powers looked in his return. “Good. It’s good to have him back out there. I thought we got him the right amount of playing time.”
Banged up
The Broncos will be asking Santa for better health for Christmas.
In addition to Greenlaw and Wattenberg, receiver Pat Bryant is unlikely to play against the Chiefs Thursday after suffering a concussion late in Sunday’s loss to the Jaguars. Bryant was taken to the hospital after a late-game hit, but has avoided “serious” injury, as a source told The Post last Sunday. He wasn’t present at Tuesday’s walkthrough, though.
Tight end Nate Adkins also wasn’t present Tuesday, after hurting his knee against Jacksonville. That’ll present a quandary for head coach Payton if Adkins can’t go on Christmas: practice-squad blocker Marcedes Lewis is out of elevations, and Denver has only two other tight ends — Evan Engram and Adam Trautman — on its active roster.
“We’ll see,” Payton said Tuesday, asked how he’d handle Adkins’ absence. “We’re not going through our lineups today. I appreciate the question.”
The Broncos have locked up another key member of one of the best-performing offensive lines in football.
On Tuesday night, Denver agreed to a four-year extension with center Luke Wattenberg, sources confirmed to The Denver Post. It’s a four-year, $48 million extension for Wattenberg, a source confirmed, with $27 million guaranteed.
The deal ties Wattenberg with the New Orleans Saints’ Erik McCoy as the fifth-highest-paid center in the NFL, with an average value of $12 million yearly.
The move comes just a day after head coach Sean Payton told reporters that he and general manager George Paton had spent time before last week’s bye discussing extensions and initiating conversations with a handful of players.
“The key is not affecting the mojo or how your team’s doing,” Payton said. “I’m always sensitive to that, especially when you’re playing well, because sometimes those can be difficult discussions.”
The Broncos clearly moved quick with Wattenberg, whose rookie deal was set to expire after the 2025 season. The crop of available 2026 free-agent centers was fairly slim, and Wattenberg would’ve likely commanded a hefty sum on the open market. Still, Wattenberg’s extension — if signed as a free agent in the offseason — would’ve made him the third-highest-paid center in 2025 free agency, behind the Bears’ Drew Dalman and the Jaguars’ Patrick Mekari.
The 28-year-old Wattenberg has become an integral part of a Broncos offensive front that currently ranks fourth in the NFL in pass-block win rate and ninth in run-block win rate, according to ESPN. Wattenberg won the starting job prior to the 2024 season in his third year in the league, authoring a strong year in pass protection in front of rookie quarterback Bo Nix.
“I think you’re going to see an ascension,” Payton said of Wattenberg during minicamp. “He’s exceptionally smart. I like his frame. He loves football. So I think that first year full-time starting is going to benefit him greatly.”
Wattenberg has started all 11 games in 2025, surrendering 10 pressures and committing eight penalties. The latter figure is second in the NFL among all centers, according to Pro Football Focus.
The deal continues a trend of Broncos leadership locking down its starting offensive line, as Denver has committed major money to the front in front of Nix. Denver inked All-Pro guard Quinn Meinerz to a four-year, $80 million deal in 2024’s offseason, and followed with an $82 million extension for stalwart left tackle Garett Bolles in December.
The Broncos drafted Wattenberg in the fifth round in 2022, after the center played five years at Washington.
Eventually, they stopped talking about points. Bo Nix, and the rest of the Broncos’ offense around him made clear: they needed to go get six.
They had punted on six straight possessions in Philadelphia. Nix was playing some of his worst football in a topsy-turvy start. He “wasn’t happy,” as he put it postgame.
And then a shining version of Nix unfurled before the hostile Philly crowd, the best version of the second-year quarterback shooting the Eagles down in the fourth quarter in one of the most important performances of his young career.
“We handled it how we handled it,” Nix said after the Broncos’ 21-17 win, “and we went out and won the game.”
Welcome back to The Denver Post’s Bo Nix Index, reviewing every drop-back from Nix’s performance the previous week. For Week 5, let’s focus specifically on the factors that contributed to the quarterback’s star-making final frame: 9-of-10 passing, 127 yards, a touchdown. Plenty of reps both explained Nix’s erratic play early and his steadiness down the stretch. Here are four key themes.
1. Nix favors tempo. It worked against Eagles
Last week, head coach Sean Payton noted that Nix “likes tempo” to start a game — a kind of fast-paced offense that incorporates no-huddle and motion to wear defenses down. Within that, too, Payton hinted his staff has adapted to reduce verbiage in play calls so Nix can get to the line quicker.
“He’ll have input like, ‘Hey, this is a play I really like, can we get that in?’” Lombardi said of Nix. “And nine times out of 10, we do it.”
Denver went straight to tempo in their first drive against the Eagles. Nix clapped his hands in an early no-huddle third-down look, smoothly one-handing a high snap, pivoting, and firing a quick comebacker to Courtland Sutton for a first down. The Broncos went no-huddle three times across that first drive, and Nix moved them into Philadelphia territory before a sack by Cooper DeJean stalled the drive.
After veering away from tempo in the third quarter, Nix got rolling in Denver’s early fourth-quarter drive with some faster looks. He hit Sutton again on a quick play-action back-shoulder ball for a first down to push the Broncos into Eagles territory. His eventual game-tying touchdown pass came off tempo, as Nix cycled through his reads while rolling out and found Evan Engram for a score.
Nix has a 108.8 quarterback rating this season on play-action passes, and a 101.5 QB rating when taking less than 2.5 seconds to throw, according to Next Gen Stats. Generally, he appears to make quicker decisions when Payton speeds up opposing defenses.
As has been pointed out in previous Bo Nix Indexes, the QB is better when he actually sets his feet to throw — and more importantly, doesn’t drift. But Nix also has a particular mechanical quirk at the opposite end of the spectrum. At times, on quick-hits, he’ll take a snap and fire with only a tiny tap of his front foot, generating little lower-body momentum.
Sometimes, it works out fine — like a second-quarter strike to Trent Sherfield, when Nix fired quickly to expose an opening in the middle of the Eagles’ zone. But it can also backfire.
On a late Broncos third-quarter drive that stalled out, Nix had receiver Marvin Mims Jr. open on a short flare on third-and-2. He turned his body in Mims’ direction toward the right sideline. But instead of shuffling his feet again to point parallel at Mims, Nix planted near-horizontally and fired a sidearm throw. The ball sailed and tipped off an outstretched Mims’ fingertips for an ugly incompletion.
Nix’s feet went topsy-turvy at times throughout the fourth quarter, as he’s wont to do. But each of his most visible strikes — a 10-yard hit to Troy Franklin, an 18-yard crosser to Engram, a pivotal 34-yard connection with Sutton — came with drive off his back foot. He switched off statue mode, and the Broncos were better for it.
3. Nix deciphered and felt out pressure much more quickly in fourth quarter
Broncos third-string running back Tyler Badie got more snaps on Sunday than rookie RJ Harvey, in large part because Denver trusts him more in pass protection (and two-minute situations). Badie absolutely wiped out Eagles inside linebacker Zack Baun on an early third-down ILB blitz.
Tyler Badie got a ton of work yesterday on third-down/two-min situations for #Broncos. This is why Sean Payton trusts him in pass pro.
Badie wipes out Zach Baun one-on-one on 3rd-and-6 here, Bo Nix hits Courtland Sutton for a first pic.twitter.com/bat8cIRaVA
That play knocked the Broncos out of field-goal range and an early opportunity to put points on the board. But it wasn’t all on Harvey. Nix had a few puzzling moments where he got himself into trouble against the Eagles by not feeling pressure off the edge.
Harvey wasn’t even blocking DeJean on Nix’s blind side, and the quarterback had ample room to step up or even escape the pocket on that third down. This played out again in the second quarter, when Azeez Ojulari got an angle on Broncos left tackle Garett Bolles and hit Nix for an incompletion when he didn’t step up.
In the fourth quarter, though, Nix dissected every single look Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio threw at him. On that crucial 34-yard strike to Sutton, he motioned Badie over to pick up Philadelphia outside linebacker Za’Darius Smith and was rewarded with a clean pocket. And on second-and-14 in Eagles territory with the clock under three minutes, he felt Philadelphia inside linebacker Jihaad Campbell breathing down his neck and hit Sutton for a 12-yard pickup. Nix’s blitz recognition was vital Sunday.
4. Sutton Over Everything isn’t always smartest approach
Death, taxes and Sutton on third downs. Nix rarely looks for anyone other than his No. 1 wideout in clutch situations. Their connection is stronger than ever. Sometimes to the detriment of Denver’s offense.
At the end of the third quarter, the Broncos set up for a run-pass option look, with receivers bunched on the left side of the formation and J.K. Dobbins angling on a handoff to the right. Nix yanked the ball back from Dobbins and whipped a short 6-yard completion to Sutton. But Dobbins had just two Eagles defenders in front of him, with both center Luke Wattenberg and guard Quinn Meinerz pulling free to the right side to block, and 40 yards of green grass.
Dobbins, seeing the missed opportunity, pointed at the hole he could’ve hit and threw his head back in dismay.
Nix, of course, rode Sutton heavily in the fourth quarter, with four completions for 76 yards. But he also expanded beyond tunnel vision. On that tying touchdown to Engram, Sutton and Franklin were both blanketed crossing across the field. So Nix readjusted and hit Engram across his body for a catch-and-run score. There is a world beyond the Court, after all.
A few seconds of silence passed on ESPN’s broadcast Monday night, announcer Joe Buck waiting for the inevitable after a replay of a blindside-block flag on the Broncos’ Alex Palczewski.
Eventually, color commentator Troy Aikman let loose.
“I’m not gonna keep my mouth shut,” Aikman chuckled. “That’s a good call. It’s just not a necessary call, you know?”
The Broncos, too, came away from Monday night’s 28-3 win over the Bengals with a few offensive-line flags they didn’t particularly agree with. Center Luke Wattenberg drew five penalties over the course of 60 minutes against the Bengals — a rough day on paper. But Wattenberg was whistled for two particularly questionable holding calls that Payton lambasted.
“I’m gonna come to his defense, because there was a handful of — we never send anything to the league, but there were a few of ‘em that, if you guys watch the tape…” Payton said, trailing off. “He’s been playing well.”
After Monday, the 28-year-old Wattenberg now leads all NFL centers in penalties (six) through Week 4, according to Pro Football Focus. Still, Payton and left tackle Garett Bolles expressed clear faith in the Broncos’ starting center moving forward.
“I mean, some of those penalties were ticky-tacky,” Bolles told The Denver Post in the locker room Thursday. “It is what it is. You can’t focus on what you did. You gotta focus on what you’re going to do to continue to get better.
“And I trust Luke,” Bolles continued. “We all love Luke. He leads us up front. He identifies the stuff we need to identify. And without him, we wouldn’t be where we’re at today. So, we love him.”
Wattenberg, for his part, told The Post he was in a lot of one-on-one blocks Monday, playing at the point of attack in a Broncos run game that rolled between the tackles against the Bengals. And the center said he had to “let go a little sooner.”
“Like, obviously, I don’t agree with the holding calls,” Wattenberg said. “But they were called, and so we gotta roll with them. And I’ve gotta adjust in-game to be able to deal with that.”
Still, he was also whistled twice for drifting ineligible downfield on a pass. And Wattenberg affirmed he needed to “clean up my screen game.”
“I mean, you can’t get comfortable, ever, in your job,” Wattenberg responded when asked about the responsibility he carries in his role. “And, to be able to be considered a leader among your teammates is a great honor, and it’s a big responsibility to play center. So I don’t take it lightly.”
Did not practice: Physically Unable to Perform list — S Caden Sterns (knee), S Delarrin Turner-Yell (knee) and LB Drew Sanders (Achilles). Non-Football Injury list — RB Blake Watson (muscle strain). Out — OLB Nik Bonitto, OL Nick Gargiulo. Dropped out — S Brandon Jones (hamstring)
Payton told reporters after practice that Jones “tweaked” his hamstring and was being evaluated. He also expects Bonitto to be back to practice work Saturday.
QB Race Today
Zach Wilson did, indeed, get all the No. 1 reps during practice Friday, continuing the rotation that began earlier this week with Jarrett Stidham on Wednesday and Bo Nix on Thursday.
The Broncos didn’t waste any time, getting a 7-on-7 period and three team periods in during their first full-length camp practice of the summer. Head coach Sean Payton said afterward that the team put a heavy emphasis on third-down situations.
None of the three quarterbacks turned the ball over in team settings Friday, though Wilson and Nix were each almost picked by corners Riley Moss and Reese Taylor, respectively.
“There’s things you have to evaluate sometimes,” Payton said. “In other words, the pocket, was it broken down? There’s certain things that can take place that can affect their execution. So when you’re evaluating and breaking down the reps, you have to take all of that into account. I like the way they’re protecting the ball and I think they’re working through their progressions. … They’re getting a lot of looks.”
Top Play
On a Friday devoid of big, spectacular plays, beauty was in the eye of the beholder. Maybe you preferred a pretty looking toss play to the left for Jaleel McLaughlin? Or a couple of nice plays on the ball by Moss, the second-year corner? Or the continued, consistent pressure that the defensive line generated? All come with caveats: It’s early and more to the point they’re not wearing pads yet.
Thumbs Up
Reynolds’ all-around addition: Wide receiver Josh Reynolds made a couple of plays Friday and is already showing the kind of versatility Denver coveted in free agency. He’s a tall, long receiver, a smooth runner and a willing blocker.
“He’s flexible, he’s smart,” Payton said. “(Passing game coordinator) Johnny Morton worked with him in Detroit so we had a little bit more knowledge of the player. He loves playing. … He’s been a good addition.”
Welcome, Bo: Not surprisingly, the rookie quarterback got a big cheer from the crowd on hand Friday. With fans in attendance for the first time since Nix was selected No. 12 overall in April’s draft, it’s no surprise he got a warm welcome considering it’s the highest Denver’s drafted a quarterback since Jay Cutler went No. 11 in 2006.
Thumbs Down
Safety net?: The Broncos’ depth at safety is already a question mark with Sterns on PUP. If Jones ends up missing substantial time with the hamstring issue, Payton and company will have to take a realistic look at whether they’ve got enough depth on the roster.
Dink and dunk: The NFL’s not much of a home-run league these days. Not only that, but Payton talked about the situation-heavy work Friday, the still-early installation schedule and more that is all reality this time of year. Still, the Broncos’ trio of quarterbacks at some point is going to have to show the ability to attack down the field with the ball. That hasn’t shown up much yet this offseason.
Odds and Ends
• The evaluation changes dramatically for everyone when pads come on, but some positions more than others. One of the most interesting players to watch: Rookie RB Audric Estime. He’s a load and has looked good so far this week.
• Early means early — and it’s early — but so far the center battle has not seen as much rotation as the quarterbacks. Luke Wattenberg so far has seen most of the top-group work. We’ll see as time goes along if he’s truly leading or if Alex Forsyth or Sam Mustipher makes a move.
• Country megastar Kenny Chesney was on hand for practice Friday ahead of his Saturday night show at Empower Field. Chesney got a workout in in the morning and then had a chance to catch up with Payton, a longtime friend, before practice.
• Payton continues to like the youthful energy of his team and sounds like a coach who’s interested to see who grabs the bull by the horns at several different positions. “I think young and hungry can be very dangerous,” he said. “And I’ve told them that. I think that can be very successful.”
• Garett Bolles is excited to watch the quarterback battle play out, saying Friday, “They all can play, otherwise they wouldn’t be here. That’s how Coach Payton rolls. He’s not going to bring someone in here he doesn’t think he can play and run his scheme and run his offense. He’s had one great quarterback in Drew Brees and he has a certain way of doing things. He knows all three of these quarterbacks can be special for us. … All those guys I love dearly and it’s just my job to keep their jersey fresh. It doesn’t matter who’s back there as a left tackle.”
• One thing that does jump out about the trio of Denver quarterbacks is that each has mobility. Stidham might not have the same flat-out wheels that Nix or Wilson have, but they each do feel comfortable moving around. Another element of their games to watch as camp progresses. Who can use that to his advantage and who maybe over-relies on it?
Saturday schedule
The Broncos are back at it for the NFL’s Back Together Weekend. Parking lots open at 8 a.m., gates at 9 a.m., and practice begins at 10 a.m. Then Sunday is off before a six-day workweek next week.
