Broncos Wire’s 90-man offseason roster series continues today with a look at eighth-year defensive lineman Mike Purcell, No. 98.
Before the Broncos: Purcell (6-3, 328 pounds) was born and raised in Highlands Ranch, Colorado and played college football at Wyoming. After going undrafted in 2013, he signed with the San Francisco 49ers.
Purcell played the first two years of his career under defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, serving mostly as a rotational defensive lineman. After three years with the 49ers, Purcell bounced between the Los Angeles Rams, Chicago Bears, Carolina Panthers, New England Patriots and Kansas City Chiefs from 2017-2018.
After falling out of the NFL, Purcell played a season in the Alliance of American Football with the Salt Lake Stallions in 2019. After playing in the AAF, Purcell finally got another chance in the NFL after previously being cut nine times by six different teams.
Broncos tenure: In 2019, Denver decided to sign Purcell primarily as a camp body for training camp. Fangio was serving as the team’s head coach at the time and he later recalled telling then-general manager John Elway, “Be careful. You might like him.” Fangio was right.
Purcell won a spot on the Broncos’ 53-man roster that summer and he never looked back. Over the last four years, the nose tackle has appeared in 49 games, earning 27 starts. In those contests, Purcell has totaled 141 tackles (12 behind the line), nine quarterback hits and 2.5 sacks.
Chances to make the 53-man roster: Purcell, 32, should be safe unless Denver wants to create more salary cap space. The Broncos could cut the veteran with a “dead money” cap hit of just $286,765 while creating an additional $3.5 million in cap space. If Purcell is cut this summer, it would be as a cap causality, not because of his ability as a player.
Depending on if Denver plans to use D.J. Jones primarily as a defensive end or nose tackle this year, Purcell might even be a candidate to start in Week 1. He still has gas left in the tank. It will just come down to the money.
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