Denver's Linebacker Room Enters Camp Down Two, With a Third Already in Legal Jeopardy

The Broncos placed Jordan Turner on the NFI list on July 26, the same day Nick Gargiulo landed on PUP. Two players out before a single padded practice. For the offensive line, losing Gargiulo is a problem. For the linebacker room, losing Turner is something closer to a crisis.

Going into camp, Denver's linebacker rotation already carried only two players who logged meaningful snaps last season — Alex Singleton and Justin Strnad. Turner's NFI designation doesn't add to that number; it confirms there's no cushion beneath it. Singleton is 32 and a succession question in his own right. Strnad is a serviceable backup asked to be more than that. Behind them, Dasan McCullough has yet to produce at the NFL level in any meaningful way.

And then there's Jonathon Cooper, whose arraignment hearing is set for August 31 on criminal charges filed in June. Cooper is listed as active, but that date sits squarely in the middle of the regular-season runway. A suspension or release triggered by the legal process would remove another body from a room that can't spare one.

This is the part of the offseason where depth problems stop being abstract. Denver won 14 games last year and still carried these vulnerabilities — thin at linebacker, thin at defensive end, no real secondary depth behind Brandon Jones. The luck that papered over those gaps in 2025 won't be there in 2026. The roster is telling you something. Camp just started, and it's already getting louder.