Broncos Waive WR Zimari Manning, Designate Two Players on Injured Lists
On Tuesday, with the roster sitting at 81 players, the Denver Broncos were expected to waive or cut one more player ahead of the 2 pm deadline. The team began the day at 82 players, after the Broncos had waived seven and released one on Monday, but fifth-year DL Kyle Peko notified the team that he would be opting out of the 2020 season due to coronavirus concerns.
That left Denver at 81 players, which meant one more cut had to be made. The team announced that it has waived WR Zimari Manning, bringing the roster to 80 players.
Manning is an undrafted rookie out of Tarleton State. Not much is known about him other than the fact that he appeared in 24 collegiate games and recorded 112 receptions for 2,409 yards (21.5 avg.) with 34 touchdowns in two seasons.
On Tuesday, as the Broncos veterans reported for training camp to begin their two-stage testing process for coronavirus, GM John Elway was made available to media questions via Zoom conference. Elway talked about how the elimination of on-field OTAs and the canceling of all preseason games will inordinately affect undrafted rookies.
“What it does is it really creates less of an opportunity for those guys to make our football team," Elway said on Tuesday. "We’re going to have to find guys with the expanded practice squad, which we have spots for four veterans. We’re going to have to find the right guys to be able to expand the practice squad with. It definitely hurts the opportunities of those CFAs (college free agents) to get out there and really show us what they have—even more so without preseason games.”
On Monday, the Broncos waived seven players, including QB Riley Neal (UDFA), LB Tre' Crawford, WR Kelvin McKnight, RB Khalfani Muhammad, S Kahani Smith, CB Shakial Taylor, and C Nico Falah, while releasing NT Joel Heath. Counting Peko being placed on the Reserve/Higher-Risk Opt-Out list, the roster now sits at 80 players.
The Broncos also announced that OL Elijah Wilkinson, who had a lower-leg surgery during the offseason, has been placed on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list, while rookie sixth-round OG Netane Muti has been placed on the Non-Football Injury (NFI) list.
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