Last week, the Denver Broncos cut veteran wide receiver Josh Reynolds just before his deadline to return from injured reserve. It was a somewhat surprising decision, but if the Broncos did

From a roster management standpoint with Josh, it just became a numbers game," Payton said Monday as Denver emerged from its bye. "He's do

Reynolds has been out since Week 5 with a finger injury, though he was also the victim of a shooting while he was on Denver’s I.R. The Broncos had to release Reynolds by Wednesday or else he would have finished the season on the I.R.

Reynolds was placed on IR after he underwent finger surgery last month. Reynolds was later shot twice after leaving a nightclub in the Denver area on Oct. 18. Reynolds has since recovered from his wounds and three people have been arrested in connection to the shooting.

Reynolds signed a two-year, $9 million deal this spring that came with a $2 million signing bonus and $4.25 million in total guarantees. Waiving him will clear $4.5 million in space on the Broncos’ 2025 salary cap and leave a $1 million dead cap charge for 2025.

The Denver Broncos made the surprising decision to cut wide receiver Josh Reynolds, and head coach Sean Payton explained exactly why.