The Denver Broncos are making their first camp housekeeping moves, but the bigger picture hasn’t changed much. Veterans report Tuesday, July 28, and the team has already placed offensive guard Nick Gargiulo on Active/Physically Unable to Perform and linebacker Jordan Turner on Active/Non-Football Injury, according to the NFL wire.
Both players still count against Denver’s 90-man offseason roster, and both can jump back onto the practice field once they’re cleared medically.
Gargiulo’s situation is the more familiar one. The 2024 seventh-round pick had been turning heads last summer before an ACL injury in the Broncos’ second preseason game shut him down. With Ben Powers and All-Pro Quinn Meinerz locked in as the starting guards, Gargiulo had been in the mix to emerge as Denver’s top swing guard, even if the coaching staff generally prefers its backup linemen to stay on one side.
That matters because the Broncos have already had to live through the kind of injury shuffle that forces exceptions. If Gargiulo had stayed healthy, he likely would have backed up the right side. Instead, when Powers suffered a biceps injury in Week 5, Denver eventually had to make the uncomfortable move of sliding Alex Palczewski - Mike McGlinchey’s top backup at tackle - over to left guard.
This time, the line room is even more crowded. Matt Peart is back, and rookie fourth-round pick Kage Casey is now in the picture as well.
The Broncos see Casey as a left-side backup guard this season, even though he played left tackle at Boise State. Peart will have a chance to compete, but his path to a roster spot looks very thin.
For Gargiulo, the hope is a quick return once camp gets rolling. He flashed last summer, at least in camp and preseason work, and Denver would love to get him back on the field early.
Turner’s designation is a little murkier. The Broncos haven’t said what the injury is or how it happened, only that it did not come during any official team football activity, which is why he landed on NFI. Because he’s Active/NFI, there’s at least a chance this doesn’t turn into a long absence once camp opens.
Turner arrived as an undrafted free agent out of Michigan State last year and made enough of an impression in camp and the preseason to stick around the organization. He didn’t make the initial 53-man roster, but Denver brought him back on the practice squad and eventually used him during the season, starting in Week 8 against the Dallas Cowboys.
He was officially added to the active roster on his birthday before the Broncos’ Week 15 matchup with the Green Bay Packers. Including his practice squad elevations, he played in seven games as a rookie.
At 6-foot-1 and 231 pounds, Turner fits the mold of a classic stack linebacker, the kind who can take on blocks, work free, and finish plays at the ball. Denver likes him, but the competition around him is real. The Broncos also drafted Red Murdock and have several other former undrafted free agents fighting for the No. 3 and No. 4 linebacker jobs on the 53-man roster, including two who have already made a 53-man roster before.
Turner has a shot, but like Gargiulo, his health will matter. If either player lingers too long on the sideline, the depth battles on the offensive line and at linebacker could start to tilt without them.
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