KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Lil’Jordan Humphrey will not play in the Broncos’ season opener.
The veteran wide receiver was released by the team Monday, according to the league’s transaction wire. Humphrey, though, is expected to return to the team, a source told The Post. Humphrey is expected to be added back to the 53-man roster as early as Tuesday.
Because Humphrey is a vested veteran, he is not subject to waivers and therefore cannot be claimed by another team.
The Broncos carried Humphrey on their initial 53-man roster and through the week of practice before releasing him, which was likely by design. The base salaries for veteran players are guaranteed if they’re on the roster for the first game of the season. So by cutting Humphrey before the game — a fairly common practice around the NFL — the team retains the flexibility of not having his money guaranteed going forward. As long as Humphrey is on the 53-man roster, though, he’ll continue making his $1.3 million
Denver has depth and talent at receiver. The team had six on its initial 53-man roster, but head coach Sean Payton has said over time that there are really only five spots for active receivers on game day. Of that group, Jaylen Waddle, Courtland Sutton and Pat Bryant are locks as long as they’re healthy. Marvin Mims, Jr. is one of the best return men in football, in addition to being a reliable big play creator on offense, regardless of how much he’s in the game plan.
That meant that either Humphrey or Troy Franklin was likely going to be inactive on game day. When the Broncos arrived at Week 1 healthy and decided Humphrey would be the inactive player, it made sense to cut him and bring him back after the opening game to retain some level of roster flexibility.
Denver did not immediately replace Humphrey on the 53-man roster for Monday’s game against the Chiefs, opting instead to elevate LS Mitchell Fraboni and FB Adam Prentice for the game. Those moves have been essentially set in stone since the initial 53-man roster was set on Aug. 31.
All three players will be with the Broncos going forward.
Sai’Vion Jones gets the nod in the opener
The Broncos had a couple of interesting wrinkles to their game day inactives list. Second-year defensive lineman Sai’Vion Joens is active for the game over fellow defensive linemen Jordan Jackson and rookie Tyler Onyedim.
Jones didn’t have an eye-popping camp, but quietly built some momentum through the preseason.
The rest of Denver’s inactives in addition to Jackson and Onyedim: QB Sam Ehlinger (emergency third QB), TE Dallen Bentley, RB Tyler Badie and OL Kage Casey.
Another notable development: That list means RB Jonah Coleman was the only Denver rookie to be active for the first regular-season game of the year.
