The Path to the Broncos' 53: Tracking George Paton and Nathaniel Hackett’s final roster

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The worst few days of the NFL season have arrived. By Tuesday, Aug. 30 at 2 p.m. MDT, all NFL teams must cut their rosters down to 53 players.

With most teams sitting at 80 players after the final preseason game, that means nearly 1,000 players will lose their jobs and some will have their football careers end forever. But that’s just business in the NFL.

Here are the moves George Paton and Nathaniel Hackett made to knock the roster down to the final 53 players.

Final round of cuts

The number next to the name indicates how many players are left on the roster

• DL Mike Purcell (53)
• CB Ja’Quan McMillian (54)
• OLB Jonathan Kongbo (55)
• CB Faion Hicks (56)
• TE Eric Tomlinson (57)
• WR Seth Williams (58)
• OG Netane Muti (59)
• WR Brandon Johnson (60)
• S JR Reed (61)
• WR Kendall Hinton (62)
• OL Michael Niese (63)
• LB Kana’i Mauga (64)
• RB Devine Ozigbo (65)
• DL Jonathan Harris (66)
• QB Josh Johnson (67)
• TE Dylan Parham (68)
• OL Quinn Bailey (69)
• WR Darrius Shepherd (70)
• Traded OLB Malik Reed to the Steelers (71)
• OL Zack Johnson (72)
• DL McTelvin Agim (73)
• CB Donnie Lewis Jr. (74)
• OL Sebastian Gutierrez (75)
• ILB Jeremiah Gemmel (76)
• RB JaQuan Hardy (77)
• CB Bless Austin (78)
• P Sam Martin (79)

Second round of cuts

Here are the moves Denver made in the second round of cuts on Aug. 23.

• WR Trey Quinn
  • No. 84 led the Broncos in receiving in the second preseason game, hauling in five passes for 47 yards. But he fumbled a kick return. In a deep receiver group, he wasn’t able to separate himself.
• LB Joe Schobert
  • The former Pro Bowl linebacker only spent one week on the team before being cut. He struggled against the Bills.
• RB Stevie Scott
  • The second-year back led the team in rushing against the Bills, but only racked up 13 yards on five carries.
• OT Casey Tucker
  • The team waived/injured Tucker after he suffered a dislocated toe in the second preseason game.

• *Placed Tom Compton on reserve/PUP

First round of cuts

Here are the moves Denver made in the first set of cuts on Aug. 16.

• S Jamar Johnson
  • The 2021 fifth-round pick played in three games for the Broncos his rookie season.

• RB Max Borghi
  • The Colorado Native signed with the team on Aug. 3. In the first preseason game, he had four carries for 10 yards.

• WR Kaden Davis
  • The undrafted rookie receiver out of Northwest Missouri State played in the first preseason game, but did not haul in a pass.

• TE Rodney Williams
  • The 6-foot-4, 235-pound tight end made a few impressive catches during training camp, but wasn’t able to rise in the depth chart due to a stacked group of tight ends.

• WR Travis Fulgham
  • The veteran receiver spent the final month of last season with the Broncos.