Caden Sterns’ tenure with the Broncos is over.
The club informed Sterns, a 2021 fifth-round pick out of Texas, that it is releasing him Monday, multiple sources confirmed to The Denver Post.
NFL Network first reported the move.
Sterns could be traded before the move is made official, but either way, he’ll be playing for a different team when the regular season begins.
Sterns played 15 games as a rookie, but injury issues marred his past two seasons. He stepped into the starting lineup for an injured Justin Simmons early in the 2022 season but then after three high-quality starts went on injured reserve with a hip issue that required surgery.
He returned healthy through camp in 2023 but tore his patella tendon in his knee on just his second snap of the season opener against Las Vegas and missed the remainder of the season. Sterns said in January he hoped to return for some of the offseason program, but instead was limited to conditioning work only. He began training camp on the physically unable to perform list but returned to practice last week in a limited capacity.
Head coach Sean Payton has expressed confidence in Denver’s young group of safeties and that set will be tested thoroughly now. Starter Brandon Jones is sidelined currently with a hamstring issue, leaving P.J. Locke and a fleet of young players led by JL Skinner, Devon Key, Tanner McCallister and others.
The release is a continuation of the transformation at the safety position for the Broncos from 2023 to 2024. At this time a year ago, Denver’s top three men at the position were Simmons, Kareem Jackson and Sterns with Locke trying to prove himself as a starting caliber player. Now Locke is back on a two-year deal signed this spring and the rest are no longer with the franchise.
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