The Denver Broncos faced a tough roster decision last week when defensive back Caden Sterns was ruled out due to injury.
The like-for-like replacement for Sterns on defense is safety P.J. Locke, but Denver needed to create a roster spot for Locke to activated from the Reserve/COVID-19 list as a fill-in for Sterns.
To make room for Locke on the active roster, the Broncos took a risk and waived cornerback 23-year-old Essang Bassey, hoping he would clear waivers. If Bassey went unclaimed, Denver would be able to re-sign him to the practice squad.
Unfortunately, Bassey was claimed off waivers by the division rival Los Angeles Chargers. The second-year cornerback will now reunite with Chargers defensive coordinator Renaldo Hill, who served as the Broncos’ defensive backs coach from 2019-2020.
“It was disappointing,” coach Vic Fangio said Wednesday when asked about losing Bassey on the waiver wire. “As you guys know, we have an overabundance of defensive backs right now. When you have to make a roster move, sometimes at this point season, you have to roll the dice and hope you get the guy back, but we didn’t. Part of the reason we didn’t was [because] there are coaches there that were around him.”
Losing a promising young cornerback is especially disappointing because Kyle Fuller, Bryce Callahan, Nate Hairston and Michael Ford are all scheduled to become free agents in 2022. Denver has great depth at cornerback this season, but the team will undoubtedly need more depth next year.
It’s an unfortunate scenario for the Broncos, but one they knew was possible. The risk didn’t pay off, but Fangio hopes the cornerback goes on to have a good career, with one caveat.
“I wish ‘Bass’ nothing but the best and I’ll be rooting for him — except when he plays against us.”
Denver will play the Chargers in Los Angeles in Week 17 on Jan. 2.
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