Broncos Update OLB Baron Browning's Status Amid Randy Gregory Rumors
The Denver Broncos are getting out of the Randy Gregory business. After initial reports on Wednesday that the Broncos were releasing Gregory, head coach Sean Payton pumped the brakes, stating that the transaction hasn't been "finalized."
The Broncos are keeping the door open for a potential Gregory trade. That issue will be resolved within the next "24-48 hours," per Payton, but in the meantime, Gregory's departure creates even more questions for a reeling and depleted Broncos rush linebacker corps.
One of the factors that led to the Broncos' decision on Gregory is the relative recovery of third-year rush linebacker Baron Browning, who opened the season on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list. Browning underwent offseason surgery on his knee, which led to him missing training camp and the preseason.
The Broncos are also getting safety P.J. Locke back, who's been on short-term injured reserve. Payton dished on the outlook of both Browning and Locke on Wednesday in the wake of the Gregory news breaking.
“We’ll see. I think P.J. is a little further along than Baron," Payton said. "With Baron, he’s got a 21-day window, and we just want to be smart. These guys have missed a lot of football reps, training camp, et cetera. We’ll go day by day. We have some goals, but I’d rather not get into those.”
Payton is referencing the 21-day window the Broncos have to activate Browning and place him on the 53-man roster. Per NFL rules, once a team opts to "start the clock" on a PUP list player, it has 21 days to determine whether he's healthy enough to actually be placed on the active roster.
After 21 days, if the team doesn't activate said player, he's done for the season and returns to the reserves list. Although Locke is coming off IR and Browning off PUP (so the rules are slightly different), it seems the former is closer to playing.
Getting Locke back should be a massive boon to the Broncos, as the team's secondary has been decimated by injuries. Co-starter Caden Sterns suffered a season-ending injury in Week 1, and All-Pro Justin Simmons has missed the last two games with a hip injury.
The Broncos have relied on a long-in-the-tooth Kareem Jackson and the second-year Delarrin Turner-Yell in the absence of Sterns and Simmons, and the results have been atrocious. At 35, Jackson has slowed considerably, and his reckless play has cost the Broncos with untimely unnecessary roughness penalties, while Turner-Yell has been a straight-up liability in coverage.
Locke isn't exactly an All-Pro, but he is experienced and has tenaciously stuck around Denver due to his special teams acumen and solid production as a safety. He's the type of depth player teams are damn grateful to have in a pinch. That's exactly where Denver finds itself now. He practiced fully on Wednesday.
It might be too much to expect Browning to return to the roster in Week 5, but veteran rush linebacker Frank Clark is trending toward availability. Clark suffered a hip injury himself during practice ahead of Week 2 and has been absent since. Both Clark and Browning were limited participants in Wednesday's practice.
So, the Broncos' timing on the Gregory issue was informed, in part, by the expectation that Clark will be available in Week 5 and Browning shortly thereafter. Clark is a three-time Pro Bowler who won two Super Bowls with the Kansas City Chiefs, whom the Broncos signed to a one-year deal this past spring.
Among rush linebackers who finished the 2022 season on the Broncos' roster, Browning led the team in sacks with five. Before he was traded, Bradley Chubb had totaled 5.5 sacks.
A third-round pick out of Ohio State in 2021, the Broncos initially viewed Browning as an inside linebacker. He shined in the role down the stretch as a rookie, but Denver's regime had a change of heart, opting to move him to outside linebacker in Year 2 where he's remained.
In two years as a pro, Browning has appeared in 28 games with 17 starts (eight as an OLB), with 82 tackles (46 solo), 10 tackles for a loss, five sacks, 13 QB hits, and an interception. As the worst-ranked defense in the NFL, the Broncos can use all the help they can get, even against the New York Jets' 30th-ranked offense.
As it stands, Nik Bonitto leads the team with 3.5 sacks. Jonathon Cooper has three, while the Broncos, as a team, rank 25th in sacks with eight total.
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