Remembering the Broncos’ 1989 roster cutdown day

Perhaps the most universally disliked day for coaches and personnel people in the NFL calendar is the annual day of final cutdowns, when the roster of each team is reduced to the mandatory player limit.

This is now tempered just a bit by the fact that many players join the practice squads of all the teams, but it is still very difficult for both player, coach and personnel executive alike when they must call someone in to tell him that he was not good enough to make the final roster — or to be called in to be told that.

I have seen a lot of cutdown days since I first joined the Denver Broncos in 1978, but none stands out as much as that in 1989.

Dan Reeves was Denver’s head coach, and the Broncos had made the Super Bowl in both 1986 and 1987, so the franchise was still very talented and looked poised to make another run in 1989.

But on that final cutdown day in 1989, the Broncos performed a major remodel of their roster, and no one on the outside saw it coming.

Four players who had each started for a decade or nearly a decade were released on that day.

Steve Watson had made the team as an undrafted rookie free agent and went on to a Pro Bowl career. He was a key component of the Broncos’ 1987 Super Bowl team and is a member of the Top 100 Team, which was announced in 2019. But wide receiver Michael Young had joined the team in the offseason and Reeves had decided to go with Young.

Today, Watson remains one of the most popular players in Broncos history, but on that fateful 1989 day he was let go by the team.

Left tackle Dave Studdard, who had protected future Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway and other quarterbacks for a decade since joining the team in 1979, was released. Studdard is a member of the Broncos’ Top 100 All-Time Team.

Linebacker Jim Ryan is also a member of the Broncos’ Top 100 Team, and he too was released by the Broncos on that fateful day.

But the biggest shocker, which is hard to imagine considering the magnitude of those previously listed, was the…