Broncos Waive OL Drew Himmelman & Zack Johnson, TE Shaun Beyer, OLB Andre Mintze
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Roughly two weeks after the 2022 Draft concluded, the Denver Broncos made official the addition of 13 college free agents, which exceeded its 90-man offseason roster limit.
To create roster space, Denver waived offensive tackle Drew Himmelman, offensive guard Zack Johnson, tight end Shaun Beyer, and outside linebacker Andre Mintze, the team announced Thursday.
Himmelman joined the Broncos as an undrafted free agent in May 2021. The Illinois State product, who did not appear in a regular-season game, inked a reserve/futures contract with the club in January.
Ditto for Johnson, who was originally signed to Denver's practice squad last November. The 2020 UDFA was a career 46-game starter at North Dakota State but failed to see the field with the Broncos.
The Broncos are entrenched along their offensive line; Garett Bolles and Billy Turner are starting at the tackle spots with Calvin Anderson and Tom Compton serving as the primary backups. At guard, Dalton Risner and Quinn Meinerz are presumably penciled in ahead of Graham Glasgow and Netane Muti.
Beyer arrived in the Mile High City as a 2021 UDFA out of Iowa. He spent the season on Denver's taxi squad before signing a futures deal in January. A blocking specialist, the writing was on the wall for Beyer after the Broncos brought aboard TEs Eric Tomlinson and Eric Saubert in March and May, respectively.
Mintze also went undrafted in 2021, though, to his credit, the ex-Vanderbilt 'backer cracked the Broncos' final roster and played in six games, logging four combined tackles across 64 defensive snaps and 69 special-teams reps. His departure slightly untangles a packed OLB corps led by Bradley Chubb, Randy Gregory, Malik Reed, Jonathon Cooper, and second-round rookie Nik Bonitto.
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