Greg Dulcich’s Broncos tenure has arrived at an unceremonious end.
The Broncos waived the third-year tight end Monday. Dulcich, a third-round pick in 2022, had been a healthy scratch since Week 5 after a slow start to the regular season.
Dulcich showed much promise as a rookie, catching 33 passes for 411 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He began and ended the season with hamstring injuries, though, and those persisted into his second year.
In fact, multiple right hamstring injuries kept Dulcich from finishing a game healthy.
He had confidence that his work this offseason would pay off and he’d get back to being a play-maker and in training camp showed signs of a potential bounceback.
“Each day you’re seeing a glimpse and you are seeing plays,” head coach Sean Payton said July 29. “Most importantly for the player, you’re seeing his confidence. … That’s really player growth. You can’t wish for that. It can’t be false confidence. It’s generally earned and it’s from accomplishing something. I think we’re seeing that with Greg.”
The next step, however, never really materialized.
Dulcich was active the first four games of the season but caught just five passes (12 targets) for 28 yards. Then he was bumped from the gameday dress list in favor of Lucas Krull.
Krull hasn’t wowed, but he, Adam Trautman and Nate Adkins have settled into a regular rotation and at least have provided a bit of stability, if not big-time production, at the tight end spot. The Broncos also have veteran pass-catcher and red zone target Donald Parham on the practice squad.
Any team will have a chance to claim Dulcich on waivers and take on the final year-plus of his rookie contract. If he clears the waiver process Tuesday, he’ll be free to sign with any team he wants.
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The 24-year-old overall in his Broncos career caught 41 passes for 464 yards and two touchdowns.
Denver has imminent roster decisions to make that may have precipitated the decision to waive Dulcich. The Broncos must either return linebacker Drew Sanders (Achilles) to the 53-man roster before Wednesday or see him revert to the physically unable to perform list for the rest of the season. Sanders is reaching the end of his 21-day practice window.
The Broncos must make a similar decision on activating receiver Josh Reynolds (finger) from injured reserve by Dec. 4. Either move would require a 53-man roster spot to be open. Now Denver has one.
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