The Denver Broncos opened Monday by cutting wide receiver Lil’Jordan Humphrey, a move that looks more dramatic on a transaction wire than it is in the locker room.
Reporter Mike Klis reported that the club also elevated linebacker Mitchell Fraboni and fullback Adam Prentice to the active roster, and that Humphrey is expected to be signed again as soon as Tuesday.
In other words, Denver is using a familiar roster shuffle to create a 53-man opening for one night, not walking away from a player head coach Sean Payton has repeatedly brought back.
That pattern has defined Humphrey’s career. The 6-foot-4, 225-pound Texas product went undrafted in 2019 and signed with New Orleans, where Payton was then coaching.
He spent his first three seasons bouncing between the Saints’ practice squad and active roster, flashing enough in 2021 with 13 catches for 249 yards and two touchdowns to stay employed. A brief, unproductive stop in New England followed in 2022. Then Payton landed in Denver, and Humphrey followed.
From 2023 through early 2025 he became one of the coach’s preferred complementary pieces: a willing blocker, a special-teams contributor, and an occasional red-zone target.
In 41 games, with the Broncos across those years he has 53 receptions for 556 yards and five touchdowns. His most productive regular season came in 2024, when he caught 31 passes for 293 yards.
Last fall, he started with the Giants, appeared in three games, and was claimed off their practice squad in November.
He finished 2025 with nine catches for 101 yards and a score in seven games for Denver, plus a 29-yard touchdown in the playoff win over Buffalo.
Denver re-signed him in March to a one-year veteran-minimum deal. At 28, Humphrey is not going to supplant Courtland Sutton or Jaylen Waddle. He is the kind of veteran Payton trusts when the offense needs a body who already knows the language. Monday’s release is the price of that flexibility.
NFL clubs routinely cut and re-sign depth players around game weeks to activate specialists or fill injury holes. Humphrey has lived that cycle since he entered the league.
If the Broncos follow through on Tuesday, he will simply continue a career built on being available when a coach who knows him well needs another reliable pair of hands.
