The Denver Broncos on Monday morning informed safety Caden Sterns they plan to release him, a source with knowledge of the move confirmed.
Sterns, a 2021 fifth-round pick, spent much of the offseason rehabbing the patellar tendon injury that forced him to miss all but one game in 2023. He returned to practice last week, but was back to working on a side field during Denver’s most recent practice on Saturday.
Sterns showed flashes as a rookie in 2021, when he played in 15 games and had two interceptions to go along with five passes defensed, two sacks and 28 tackles. But he has played in only six total games across the last two seasons due to the knee injury and a hip injury suffered in 2022. Sterns was the Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year at Texas in 2018, but injuries limited his production across the next two seasons.
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The plan to release Sterns continues a shifting at the safety position for Denver, which began late last season when the team released veteran Kareem Jackson. In March, the Broncos released Pro Bowl safety Justin Simmons, the team’s longest-tenured player, ahead of the final year of his contract. They then signed former Miami Dolphin Brandon Jones to a three-year, $20-million contract in free agency and re-signed P.J. Locke to a one-year deal. Jones is currently dealing with a hamstring injury suffered during the first week of training camp, but he’s expected to be ready for the start of the season.
Moving on from Sterns could be seen as an endorsement of second-year safety JL Skinner, a sixth-round pick out of Boise State in 2023 who has shown considerable progress during training camp. Skinner’s size — 6-foot-4, 220 pounds — stands out, and he has improved his play recognition in coverage.
“I do think he has good instincts,” coach Sean Payton said of Skinner, who played only 10 total snaps (nine of those on special teams) during his rookie season. “I’d say the second half of last season, even when he was running scout team, we noticed on offense quite a bit, ‘Man, this guy all of the sudden was jumping routes.’ He was someone that stood out on the tape. I think he’ll want to build on that.”
The Broncos signed undrafted free agent Omar Brown out of Nebraska in the spring and also have second-year player Devon Key in the safety room, but depth is a question mark as the regular season nears. Delarrin Turner-Yell, a 2022 fifth-round pick, has played in 30 career games, including two as a starting safety last season, but he is recovering from an ACL injury he suffered late last season, and it’s unclear when he’ll be able to return to the field.
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Simmons remains a free agent, but it’s unclear whether the Broncos would have any interest in a reunion with the 30-year-old, whose 30 interceptions are the most in the NFL since 2016. For now, the Broncos are throwing a handful of young players into a critical audition at the position.
(Top photo: Ryan Kang / Getty Images)
