Broncos release CB Drayton Florence; Caleb Hanie stays Mike Klis The Denver Post August 31, 2012 Go ahead, dwell on how Drayton Florence, Ryan Harris, Jeremiah Johnson, Adam Weber, Sealver Siliga and Mike Mohamed didn't make it. The highlight to the Broncos cutting down to their 53-man roster Friday? How about for the first time, there is a quarterback named Peyton Manning on it. "He made it," said John Elway, the Broncos' executive vice president of football operations. "Surprise." Manning is the one player among the 53 who allows the Broncos to realistically believe that after not winning the Super Bowl since Elway retired as a player following the 1998 season, they can reach the NFL's ultimate game at the end of the 2012 season. In a perverse twist, Manning is a Bronco because he missed all of last season with a neck injury. The missed season forced the Indianapolis Colts to give up on him and provide the Broncos the opportunity to land the NFL's only four-time MVP. In his final preseason tune-up, Manning was 10 of 12 with two touchdowns and a 148.6 passer rating. Now it's up to Manning and the Broncos to take it from there. "The expectations of what we heard from the doctors and where he would be at this point in time, if anything he's exceed that," Elway said. "So is it surprising to me? No. Through all the hype we've been through since Peyton has been here, it's time now to start playing football, which is the fun part." To reach their 53-man limit Friday, the Broncos had to make 22 roster moves. Easily the most surprising was the outright release of veteran cornerback Drayton Florence. It was an expensive cut as the Broncos had already paid Florence a $1.5 million signing bonus. But the Broncos signed Florence before they drafted cornerback Omar Bolden in the fourth round. Before he suffered a knee injury prior to his senior season at Arizona State, Bolden had a late-first, early-second-round grade inside the scouting community. The Broncos gave Florence his $1.5 million assurance before Chris Harris showed marked improvement as a nickelback in his second year. And the money was spent before Florence was beaten out during the preseason by fourth-year cornerback Tony Carter. This was a move where it's both fair to criticize the Broncos for wasting $1.5 million and credit them for not letting money affect their decision-making. Carter is 26; Florence is 31. "Played better," Elway said of keeping Carter instead of Florence. Other notable cuts were Ryan Harris, a terrific right tackle in 2008 but who has been beset by injuries since and had not returned to form during this preseason; Siliga, who was a starting defensive tackle during the offseason, but had fallen to third-string in the preseason; Mohamed, a middle linebacker who was a fifth-round draft pick last year; Johnson, who ran well in the preseason but lost his job when Knowshon Moreno proved sufficiently healed from his knee surgery in late-November; and Weber, who still has a chance to return on the practice squad. For now, the Broncos have kept three quarterbacks. Besides Manning and second-round rookie Brock Osweiler, the team decided to keep veteran Caleb Hanie. However, the Broncos are scouring the pile of players cut from the 31 other teams. There's a decent chance the Broncos may pick up another offensive lineman, or receiver and cut one of the current players on their current 53-man roster. Also waived off the Broncos' roster: defensive end Jamie Blatnick, safety Rafael Bush, linebacker Jerry Franklin, defensive tackle Ben Garland, guard Tony Hills, strong safety Duke Ihenacho, cornerback Syd'Quan Thompson, receivers Greg Orton, Jason Hill and Gerell Robinson, tight end Cornelius Ingram, and guard Wayne Tribue. The Broncos also placed defensive end Jeremy Beal on season-ending injured reserve and placed tight end Virgil Green and linebacker D.J. Williams on suspended reserve. Green will serve a four-game suspension; Williams six for violating the league's performance-enhancement policy. Beal spent his rookie season of 2011 on the Broncos' practice squad and was having an impressive preseason until he suffered a knee injury Thursday at Arizona. Besides Tony Carter, the biggest surprise inclusion was linebacker Steven Johnson. Although he was an undrafted rookie from Kansas, Johnson had played extremely well in the past two preseason games against San Francisco and Arizona. The Broncos also found room for 15th-year linebacker Keith Brooking, even though he didn't perform in the preseason because of a late signing date and then a hamstring injury. Jim Leonhard, a veteran safety and punt returner, also made the team despite coming from knee surgery that didn't allow him to play until Thursday at Arizona. Some of the players cut will return to the Broncos today as part of their eight-man practice squad. Siliga, Garland, Weber, Orton, Robinson and Mohamed are among the players with practice-squad eligibility. Broncos place Jeremy Beal on injured reserve with knee injury Mike Klis The Denver Post August 31, 2012 One of the Broncos' first roster moves Friday was to place defensive end Jeremy Beal on season-ending injured reserve. Beal, a terrific player at the University of Oklahoma who spent his rookie season of 2011 on the Broncos' practice squad, was having an impressive preseason. However, he suffered what coach John Fox called a knee sprain in the final game Thursday night at Arizona. With Beal on IR and two players — tight end Virgil Green and linebacker D.J. Williams — expected to be moved to the reserved suspended list, the Broncos will have 19 more roster moves to make by 7 p.m. MDT Friday in order to pare their roster to the required 53 players. John Elway, head of the Broncos' football operations, is scheduled to meet with the press at 5 p.m., so the cuts should be revealed within the hour. Broncos TE Virgil Green, LB D.J. Williams begin suspensions Lindsay H. Jones The Denver Post September 1, 2012 GLENDALE, ariz. — For the next four weeks, Virgil Green might be the biggest Broncos fan in Denver. The second-year tight end begins his four-game suspension Saturday but said he plans to remain in Denver, work out with local trainer Loren Landow and watch plenty of football on television. "It's a chance for me to get better, watch a lot of film, watch a lot of football, work out and just come back and help this team out," Green said. The NFL suspended Green for a violating the league's banned substance policy early in his rookie year. In March, when the suspension was announced, Green said he tested positive for a prescribed attention deficit hyperactivity disorder medication that he had not gotten cleared through the league. Green, clearly the Broncos' No. 3 tight end in training camp, is developing into a solid blocker, a skill the team will miss during his absence. In that sense, Green said he feels like he's letting down his teammates and coaches. "At the end of the day, you have to accept the consequences and look to the next level," Green said. Veteran linebacker D.J. Williams also begins his suspension Saturday for violating the banned substance policy. He likely will be suspended additional games because he was convicted of driving while ability impaired. Williams, an eight-year starter, didn't play in any preseason games. He declined all interview requests during the preseason, including Thursday night in Arizona. Green and Williams are allowed to keep their iPads containing the Broncos' playbook, but the team is prohibited from updating it or communicating with the two players during their suspensions. Carter returns. Second-year safety Quinton Carter recovered from knee and hamstring injuries suffered on the second day of training camp in time to get on the field for nearly two quarters of preseason work Thursday in Arizona. "It felt very, very rusty. Really rusty," Carter said. "But it felt good to get out there and get some snaps, get some game experience." Carter started 10 games as a rookie in 2010, and when healthy, he should make a push to get back into the Broncos' starting lineup. Hillman getting healthy. Despite missing two games while dealing with a sore hamstring, rookie third-round draft pick Ronnie Hillman led the Broncos in rushing in the preseason. Hillman gained 97 yards on 24 carries in the final two games. "I think I can do a lot more. I'm just easing back into it," Hillman said. "Have a little bit more to go, but I'm just doing everything I can to show I can help this team win." A Broncos preseason in review Jeff Legwold The Denver Post August 31, 2012 The Broncos made the moves they had to make Friday as they trimmed the roster to 53 players in the hours following their preseason finale late Thursday night in Arizona. And after the record crowds at their Dove Valley complex for open practices and the next level buzz both near and far about a certain future Hall of Famer now at quarterback all through the preseason, here are some things that stood out over the previous month: • The Broncos talent is better. They do not have the depth chart constructed the way it needs to be to consistently be one of the elite teams in the league - building through the draft takes time and discipline, two things that aren't always in vogue in the NFL - but they are better.