The Denver Broncos apparently weren’t ready to let Cody Schrader get very far.
One day after Denver waived the running back while setting its initial 53-man roster, the Broncos are bringing Schrader back on the practice squad, according to 9NEWS’ Mike Klis.
Schrader had just put together probably his best night since joining Denver, finishing with 132 yards from scrimmage in the Broncos’ 34-6 preseason win over the Minnesota Vikings. He rushed for 42 yards and added another 90 through the air, including a touchdown.
It was enough to be labeled the “preseason star” by MileHighReport, yet wasn’t enough to make the 53.
Apparently, it was enough to make sure Denver wanted him back.
Cody Schrader Made One Last Push Before Broncos Cut
Schrader spent most of the summer fairly buried in one of Denver’s deeper position groups.
The Broncos entered camp with J.K. Dobbins, RJ Harvey, Jonah Coleman, Tyler Badie and Jaleel McLaughlin all in the running back mix. Schrader needed something loud late in August just to make the decision uncomfortable.
He got it against Minnesota.
The 5-foot-9 back was useful as both a runner and receiver and wound up looking like one of Denver’s best offensive players in the finale. Mile High Report wondered afterward whether Schrader had done enough to earn a roster spot, noting that he had entered the night as essentially Denver’s sixth running back.
But there’s only so much one preseason game can change.
General manager George Paton said after roster cuts that Denver had been mostly settled before the finale. The really difficult running back decision came further up the depth chart, where the Broncos chose Badie as their fourth back and waived both McLaughlin and Schrader.
“Really all three of those runners, they’re all really good runners, they’re all different,” Paton told reporters, referring to Badie, McLaughlin and Schrader. He also pointed to special teams and third-down ability as factors in the decision.
That explains how Schrader could play that well Friday and still be gone Sunday.
Roster decisions aren’t always a box-score contest.
Schrader Gives Broncos a Familiar Option Behind Their 53-Man Group
This is also not Schrader’s first trip around the Broncos’ practice squad.
Denver initially claimed him late in the 2025 season, later brought him back to the practice squad and then signed him to a futures contract in January.
So there’s some familiarity here already.
The Broncos can keep developing Schrader without dedicating a spot on the active roster to a fifth running back, and they have somebody in the building who already knows the offense if injuries start changing the numbers.
And those numbers matter now.
Denver is moving out of evaluation mode and toward its September 14 opener against the Kansas City Chiefs on “Monday Night Football.” The active running back group is currently built around Dobbins, Harvey, Coleman and Badie.
Schrader sits a layer beneath them.
That probably wasn’t where he hoped to land after the Minnesota game. But considering Denver had to expose him to waivers first, it’s still a decent outcome for a player who was fighting from the back half of the depth chart all summer.
He got cut.
He also made himself hard enough to forget that the Broncos brought him right back.