Getty Duke Dawson
The Denver Broncos aren’t waiting to reshuffle their roster.
On Friday, a day before the NFL-mandated cutdown deadline, the Broncos traded for New England Patriots cornerback Duke Dawson, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported.
The Broncos sent a 2020 sixth-round choice to the Patriots for Dawson and a 2020 seventh-rounder, per Rapoport.
Dawson entered the league in 2018 as a second-round pick, taken by New England at No. 56 overall. He spent much of his rookie campaign on injured reserve with a hamstring injury before being called up to the active roster last September. He did not appear in a regular season game.
Dawson played in all four of the Patriots’ preseason games this summer, notching three pass deflections and an interception.
He attended college at Florida, where he made 56 solo tackles, 17 pass breakups and six interceptions across four seasons. His NFL.com pre-draft scouting profile compared him to former Falcons CB Brian Poole.
Compact, strong slot corner who can beat up finesse receivers when he’s allowed to crowd and disrupt the route release. Dawson can match and blanket underneath, but hip tightness shows up when he’s forced to turn and run from a backpedal. Dawson can handle himself in man or zone coverage and is ready to work when run support calls. He has some length and speed limitations, but he has the instincts and cover talent to become a starting nickel cornerback.
Dawson will have a spot reserved on Denver’s final 53-man squad when it’s finalized by 2 p.m. MT on Saturday.
Where Dawson Fits in
The Broncos were aggressive in stockpiling cornerbacks this offseason, signing Kareem Jackson and Bryce Callahan and appeasing star Chris Harris Jr. with a pay bump for this season. They also brought in ex-AAF standout De’Vante Bausby.
Dawson should slide in behind Isaac Yiadom as the Broncos’ fifth CB, and contribute on special teams in addition to his defensive duties. His acquisition puts Bausby on the bubble as the team isn’t expected to carry more than five corners, though it’s now possible they move Jackson to safety full-time.
Callahan, whom they signed in the second wave of free agency, is dealing with a nagging foot injury which prematurely ended his final year in Chicago. He’s been limited throughout the offseason program, so Dawson’s acquision represents ideal depth at a crucial position in Vic Fangio’s defense.
Fangio Discusses Final Cuts
It’s the toughest part of the job for any head coach. But especially for a rookie head coach in Fangio, who established a crucial point: the impending releases aren’t necessarily indicative of their ability — or lack thereof.
“For the ones that it won’t be here, you know it’s hard to tell them that,” Fangio said Thursday night. “It doesn’t mean we are right either. Sometimes you make mistakes, but we’re going to try our best to get the right 53 on the team and then the all-important 10-man practice squad because many of the guys that are considered regulars and established players in this league started on the practice squad, so we treat those with a lot of importance.”
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