DENVER — The Denver Broncos have depth at the skill positions and are attempting to trade from it ahead of Tuesday’s roster cutdown deadline.

Denver is exploring trade conversations around both running back Samaje Perine and wide receiver Tim Patrick, sources told The Denver Post on Monday afternoon. Sources indicated that both players were drawing interest from around the league.

Patrick is the bigger surprise of the two. He returned after missing the past two seasons to injuries and had a solid training camp, showing a budding connection with rookie quarterback Bo Nix and a penchant for getting open in the middle of the field. Earlier in the spring, he took a pay cut down to the veteran minimum to help lower his salary cap number.

Still, the competition has been stiff at receiver all of camp. The Broncos have Courtland Sutton at the top of the room and will also feature free-agent addition Josh Reynolds and second-year man Marvin Mims Jr. Beyond that trio, the Broncos are excited about seventh-round rookie Devaughn Vele, who jumped out from the first day of rookie minicamp in May and has done nothing but impress since. Fourth-round rookie Troy Franklin is also a safe bet to make the roster despite an up-and-down training camp. Head coach Sean Payton said the club had him graded as a second-round talent in the draft and the Broncos traded up to get him.

Even after that, there are several options for a sixth roster spot, including Lil’Jordan Humphrey, Brandon Johnson, David Sills V, Jalen Virgil and others. Any of those four could make it at the cutdown and any of them end up on the practice squad, too.

Payton said earlier this month that he thought the team had among the best depth at receiver that he could remember on a team. He reiterated his sentiment Sunday after beating the Cardinals.

“We knew it at the start of training camp that the position group was deep,” Payton said. “I think you all got to see actually how deep it was. There are some tough decisions there.”

As it happens, one of those tough decisions is Patrick. The former Utah standout missed the 2022 season due to a torn ACL and then last year due to a torn Achilles tendon. Among the considerations in moving on: Most of the younger receivers handle at least some special teams work, while Denver didn’t project Patrick that way.

Still, moving on from Patrick in the coming days will leave a mark in the locker room. The 31-year-old is a universally respected figure and just more than a week ago was mobbed by teammates after catching a touchdown from Nix in a preseason win against the Packers.

“I was just so happy to see him be able to get in the end zone. He’s been working his butt off,” Sutton said of his long-time teammate after that game.

Perine, meanwhile, has looked like a potential odd man out for weeks in Broncos camp. Denver has seen Javonte Williams round into form in his second year after a gruesome October 2022 knee injury. Jaleel McLaughlin is poised to build on a promising rookie season and Denver also drafted Audric Estime out of Notre Dame in the fifth round.

While none of them has proven at the NFL level to be the kind of reliable third-down or two-minute back Perine was last year, it’s clear Denver has confidence the trio can handle those duties and more.

Perine finished 2023 with just 53 carries for 238 yards but added 50 catches on 56 targets for 455 yards and turned 23 of those receptions into first downs.

One interesting element here: Patrick and Perine are each the type of player who can make life easier for a rookie quarterback like Nix. They are reliable if not particularly dangerous. Moving on from both of them is a sign of the move toward a younger team both practically speaking — Perine turns 29 next month and Patrick is 31 — and in the sense that they had clear-cut roles forming that less experienced players will now be asked to fill.

Perine’s eventual departure will save $3 million in 2024 salary cap space for Denver and leave $1.5 million in dead cap charges. Patrick’s departure will save the veteran minimum of $1.12 million and leave $6.07 million in dead cap charges.

Cuts begin: Elsewhere in the march down to 53 for their initial regular-season roster, the Broncos made eight moves official on Monday.

They released veterans DL Angelo Blackson, WR Phillip Dorsett and ILB Andre Smith Jr. and they waived S Omar Brown, CBs Art Green and Kaleb Hayes, OL Oliver Jervis and ILB Alec Mock.

Denver also informed punter Trenton Gill that he is set to be waived on Tuesday, meaning incumbent Riley Dixon won the team’s punting competition.

In the march to 53 players, then, the Broncos are functionally at 77 with their eight official moves, the impending departures of Patrick, Perine and Gill and the expected news that LB Drew Sanders (Achilles) and S Delarrin Turner-Yell (knee) will start the regular season on the physically unable to perform list. That means they’ll be out at least the first four games, though mid-season has always been a more realistic target for each.

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