Report: Broncos Awarded RB Nate McCrary & CB Mike Ford Off Waivers
For those, say, last five players to make the Denver Broncos' initial 53-man roster, the ensuing 48-to-72 hours can be a bit unnerving. After upwards of 864 players are cut across the league, NFL teams pore over the waiver wire, looking for guys who might offer a modest upgrade over the last one or two roster spots on the initial 53-man squad.
Such was the case for the Broncos on Wednesday morning as the team was awarded two players off of waivers. The Broncos landed running back Nate McCrary (6-foot, 213 pounds) from the Baltimore Ravens and cornerback Mike Ford (6-foot, 198 pounds) from the Detroit Lions, which necessitated the waiving of two players who made the initial 53-man roster.
The casualties? According to Ian Rapoport, running back Royce Freeman and defensive lineman Jonathan Harris.
Denver waived Freeman and Harris to make room for McCrary and Ford. First-year GM George Paton said adios to Freeman — the Broncos' 2018 third-round pick. Harris was a futures-type player Vic Fangio knew from Chicago who missed all of last season.
Freeman gets handed his walking papers but he will land on his feet. Emerging from the college ranks as the Oregon Ducks' all-time leading rusher, he won the starting job in Denver as a rookie before suffering a high-ankle sprain that gave rise to the emergence of Phillip Lindsay.
From there, Freeman never was able to regain his footing as the lead back in Denver but he hung around because of the reliability and versatility he offered the offense. Not only can he pound the rock but he can also catch passes proficiently and is an above-average third-down pass blocker.
The Broncos said goodbye to Lindsay earlier this spring. Alas, with Melvin Gordon playing the final year of his lucrative deal, and the arrival of second-rounder Javonte Williams, to go along with free-agent acquisition Mike Boone, Freeman's value to the team was as the fourth guy on the depth chart, making him easy pickings for the first guy to go after the waiver wire resolved.
Happy trails to Freeman, who leaves the Mile High City with eight career starts, 297 carries for 1,187 yards, and eight touchdowns, to go along with 69 receptions for 409 yards and another score. We'll have a breakdown coming soon on McCrary and Ford so Broncos fans know what these two bring to the table.
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