Netane Muti is out and Freddie Swain is in after a busy day for George Paton

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — George Paton was busy on Tuesday.

The Broncos made a handful of roster move on Tuesday, which included a couple of tweaks to the active roster. Here’s what went down:

• The Broncos signed wide receiver Freddie Swain from the Dolphins’ practice squad.
  
• The Raiders signed guard Netane Muti from the Broncos’ practice squad.
  
• The Broncos placed running back Mike Boone on injured reserve.
  
• The Broncos released defensive lineman McTelvin Agim from their practice squad.
  
• Denver currently has a full active roster and three open spots on its practice squad.

---

The Broncos finally looked outside the building for receiving help.

Denver signed wide receiver Freddie Swain off the Dolphins’ practice squad on Tuesday. The 24-year-old is in his third NFL season after entering the NFL as a sixth-round pick out of Florida.

The big tie to the Broncos is obvious: Swain played with Russell Wilson for two seasons in Seattle, starting with his rookie season in 2020. He picked up 502 yards and six touchdowns on 38 catches.

Denver is desperate for wide receivers, with three of their top four options injured and out of the picture. KJ Hamler and Tim Patrick won’t be back this season and Courtland Sutton’s hamstring leaves him up in the air.

Jerry Jeudy led the way last week against the Chiefs, but the Broncos’ second option was Kendall Hinton and the third option was undrafted rookie Brandon Johnson, who didn’t catch a pass.

The Broncos’ backs are against the wall, so Swain could step into a significant role right away. He’s coming from Miami, which runs a similar West Coast system to Denver. Running back Chase Edmonds noted that the transition was fairly simple when he made the same switch at the trade deadline.

The Broncos moved running back Mike Boone, who appeared to sustain an ankle injury against the Chiefs, to injured reserve on Tuesday. This will be Boone’s second stint on injured reserve this season, the final year of his contract. The move cleared the roster spot needed to sign Swain. The Broncos now have a full 53-man roster.

---

With four starters out of five missing from the Broncos’ offensive line, they were desperate for help last week.

Rookie Luke Wattenberg was the final piece of the puzzle, fitting in at left guard for his first career start. Things quickly went south for Wattenberg, who was then replaced by Quinn Bailey. Apparently the coaches weren’t thrilled with him either, so they eventually turned to Netane Muti as a last resort.

And Muti played well. The 23-year-old earned a “B” grade from DNVR, the second-best of any Broncos’ offensive lineman this week.

Then, on Tuesday, the Raiders signed Muti from the Broncos’ practice squad. Denver had the option to sign Muti to the active roster earlier this week after seeing his performance, but did not. They likely would have released Wattenberg or Bailey, who has spent most of the season on the practice squad, to make the numbers work.

Maybe the Broncos didn’t grade Muti out as highly as I did (and Pro Football Focus, too, for whatever that’s worth) but that would be a surprise.

Muti was a sixth-round pick out of Fresno State in 2021. Sunday was his 20th game seeing the field with the Broncos. He competed for the starting right guard job during training camp but was beaten injured his knee and slipped onto the practice squad before the season.

---

The Broncos also release McTelvin Agim from their practice squad on Tuesday. The move came as a surprise, since the Broncos already had two open spots on their practice squad. Denver can now sign three players to its practice squad.

Agim, 25, was a third-round draft pick of the Broncos in 2020. He appeared in 17 games in his first two season, but didn’t appear in a game this year while he served only on the practice squad. He leaves Denver with 12 tackles and 1.5 sacks.