Denver Broncos waived LB Drew Sanders from their injured reserve

CENTENNIAL, CO - AUGUST 7: Linebacker Drew Sanders (41) of the Denver Broncos stretches before practice on Friday, August. 7, 2026, at Broncos Park in Centennial, Colo.(Photo by Timothy Hurst/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images) | Denver Post via Getty Images

The Denver Broncos have finally given up on the Drew Sanders experiment. The team waived him from their injured reserve on Tuesday.

The Broncos waived Drew Sanders from their IR, per the wire.

Drew's time in Denver is officially over.

- Zac Stevens (@ZacStevens) September 8, 2026

The 2023 third-round pick by Denver never could string together a run without suffering injury after his rookie season. He was injured and unavailable for much of the last three seasons and it appears that the Broncos are moving on.

Broncos daily recap

Payton expects Mahomes, Chiefs to be full strength on MNF

I think we're looking at it and expecting someone who's 100 percent, someone who's moving well based on what limited footage you get," Payton admitted. He's going to be one of those guys that threatens you not only in the pocket, but out of the pocket."

Broncos vs. Chiefs betting odds for Week 1

According to FanDuel, the Broncos are 2.5-point road underdogs on Monday Night Football against the Chiefs in Week 1. The over/under stands at 43.5 for this matchup.

Under the radar

The 2025 Bronco defense led the NFL with 30 sacks on 3rd down, or 44.1% of their total sacks. They were second in terms of sacks on first down with 20 and average in terms of sacks on second down with only 12. pic.twitter.com/dRoQrbQJ2W

- Joe Mahoney (@ndjomo76) September 8, 2026

#Chiefs LT Josh Simmons is unlikely to play Week 1 vs. the Broncos, which means undrafted rookie Khalil Benson would be poised to start.

Simmons has been dealing with a back injury for a matter of weeks. https://t.co/x35Utzf9jspic.twitter.com/M05pKDGJRW

- Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) September 8, 2026

3rd Down Conversions allowed in 2025 pic.twitter.com/6LeKPft39R

- SFdata9ers (@sfdata9ers) September 6, 2026

Success rate and stacked box rate for 2025 runner with 100 or more carries - outliers called out. Data from NFL Nextgen stats. CoPilot helped a little, but most of the work in Excel was mine. Dobbins and Henry in a class by themselves in terms of success vs stacked boxes pic.twitter.com/0SAylluxWW

- Joe Mahoney (@ndjomo76) September 8, 2026

The Feed

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Week 1 kicks off tomorrow. Does anyone else find it odd they would decide to run it back with a Super Bowl rematch for the first game? I wonder if this is now going to be a thing moving forward.

I'm about as excited for that rematch as I was to watch them in the Super Bowl in the first place - which wasn't much. Both franchises are thoroughly unlikeable for this Broncos fan. Even so, I'll be rooting for the NFC team anyway. The New England Patriots deserve a solid regression season.