Badie, McLaughlin battling for one roster spot

Badie was again the team’s RB3 behind JK Dobbins and RJ Harvey. Harvey led the backfield with ten catches on ten targets while Dobbins had a team-leading 11 carries. Badie would be somewhat interesting in deeper leagues if Harvey were to miss more time this season.

Badie saw significant action in this one after JK Dobbins exited the contest with a hamstring injury. RJ Harvey was inactive with his own hamstring issue, leaving Badie in the Harvey role and rookie RB Jonah Coleman as the primary early-down option for OC Davis Webb. If Dobbins and Harvey are sidelined next week against the Rams, Badie would have some usefulness in deeper PPR formats.

He gets the elevation after the Browns place Dylan Sampson on injured reserve. McLaughlin and Raheim Sanders will be behind Quinshon Judkins in Week 2. McLaughlin’s career shows him as a more reliable pure runner than Sanders, but we’re unsure of how the split behind Judkins will go from here.

Badie’s inclusion on the Week 1 inactives list means rookie Jonah Coleman gets the nod as the RB3 behind J.K. Dobbins and RJ Harvey. It remains unlikely Coleman contributes meaningful counting stats in his first professional appearance, but the fact he is now confirmed to be ahead of Badie is meaningful to his longterm upside in what should be one of the top rushing attacks in the league.

Outside of Quinshon Judkins, Dylan Sampson and Raheim Sanders are also in front of McLaughlin. The 25-year-old back has landed in a nice enough spot though considering none of these backs outside of Judkins has proved all that much yet. Also joining the Browns practice squad are: CB Myles Bryant. DE Logan Fano. T KT Leveston. P Wes Pahl. CB D’Angelo Ross. DT Tyreak Sapp. DE Khordae Sydnor. S Zion Washington. LB Nathaniel Watson and WR Kole Wilson.

McLaughlin could return to the Broncos as a practice squad player. The Broncos also waived DT Israel Antwine, CB Brent Austin, wide receiver Michael Bandy, LS Luke Basso, CB Sean Fresch, DB Ricardo Hallman, OT Reid Holskey, TE Justin Joly, WR Kolbe Katsis, WR Dane Key, WR Joseph Manjack, OLB Dasan McCullough, DT Jordan Miller, OT Tyler Miller, LB Red Murdock, OL Gavin Ortega, S Parker Robertson, WR Cameron Ross, WR Kyrese Rowan, RB Cody Schrader, S Miles Scott, OLB Ron Stone Jr., CB Reese Taylor, OLB Johnny Walker Jr., DT Kristian Williams and LB Taurean York. The Broncos waived LB Drew Sanders with an injury designation. The Broncos released LS Mitchell Fraboni, TE Lucas Krull, FB Adam Prentice, OT Foster Sarell, C Lecitus Smith and OG Calvin Throckmorton. The Broncos placed DT Frank Crum and TE Caleb Lohner on injured reserve with a designation to return, and OG Nick Gargiulo on the reserve/physically unable to perform list. Those three players must miss at least four games.

Weeks after opting not to tender an offer to McLaughlin, the 25-year-old back will return to the Broncos on a one-year deal with a chance to battle for a roster spot. McLaughlin will enter camp as the RB3 behind J.K. Dobbins and R.J. Harvey, but his familiarity with Sean Payton’s offense should give him the inside edge on winning a camp battle. McLaughlin made the Broncos as a rookie UDFA in 2023 and has totaled 226-1,093-3 on the ground while adding another 59-263-4 through the air. He’s a solid depth piece but is unlikely to carry any immediate fantasy value in 2026.

That will make at least one more season of Badie cutting into RJ Harvey’s workload on third down. Badie played on 223 snaps in 2025 and the Broncos passed on 207 of them. Expect some catches, is what we’re saying.

It’ll make him a free agent. Entering his age-26 season, McLaughlin has averaged 4.8 yards per rush and caught 59-of-69 targets for 263 yards over three years in the league. McLaughlin is built like a third-down back and will likely resurface elsewhere to attempt to snag that role for a new team.

Dobbins is not yet ready to resume playing. He remained limited throughout all three practices this week after the Broncos opened his 21-day practice window on Monday. With Dobbins out, rookie RB RJ Harvey will again lead the backfield. He totaled 11 touches last week. Broncos RB Jaleel McLaughlin handled four and RB Tyler Badie had one.