Former Denver Broncos safety Caden Sterns snagged by NFC South team

Travis Wakeman

Former Denver Broncos safety Caden Sterns snagged by NFC South team image

The Denver Broncos released fourth-year safety Caden Sterns on Monday and he has been claimed off waivers by the Carolina Panthers.

The Broncos made a surprise move to release Sterns, likely due to his past with injuries, but making an already weak safety position even weaker. It speaks well for Sterns that the Panthers, the team sitting at No. 1 in the waiver wire order, grabbed him. 

 

Sterns was a fifth-round pick of the Broncos in 2021 and had worked his way into a starting position. But a torn patellar tendon in Week 1 last year forced him to miss the rest of the season. The Broncos' starting safeties from the beginning of last season, Sterns and Justin Simmons, are now both gone. 

Broncos will turn to younger players at safety

Sterns will now join a Panthers roster where, as long as he's healthy, he should be able to compete for playing time immediately. Xavier Woods and Jordan Fuller are the team's projected starters so Sterns could quickly work his way into a big role. 

As for the Broncos, they will likely start the season with Brandon Jones and P.J. Locke as their starters. Delarrin Turner-Yell and JL Skinner could be in for more snaps and undrafted safety Omar Brown could also make a big push for the 53-man roster. 

Simmons, considered by many to be one of the league's best safeties even now, is still waiting for the right opportunity to come his way with a new team. 

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Travis Wakeman

Travis Wakeman Photo

Travis Wakeman has been covering the NFL since 2012 when he started with Bleacher Report. After reporting about the Broncos there until 2016, he joined the FanSided network as a site expert covering the San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers while simultaneously covering the Broncos at Broncos Wire when that site launched. He then took over the Broncos site at FanSided in March 2020 and covered the team there until spring of 2024. A lifelong Broncos fan and fan of the game, Travis is filled with sometimes useless NFL knowledge, but it always serves him well in any trivia contest. You can follow him on Twitter/X @traviswakeman10.