John Elway has said that the Denver Broncos make sure that they keep the best 53 players when making the final cuts to their roster.
Two of this year's draft picks were among the players released by the AFC West side ahead of yesterday's roster deadline.
The team's vice-president of football operations told the club's official website: "We keep good football players, whether they're drafted or whether they're free agents. I think that you need the veterans but the bottom line is that we kept the best 53. Everyone says you want to win now and I say we want to win now on.
"As you get better, you have fewer slots. That's the situation that we're running into and we've got a lot of good football players on this team. The rookies these days, they have to get on board and get there fast and mature fast, which is tough to do for some.
"Our goal is always to keep them, but that's why you have competition, too. We're fortunate with the fact that we had a lot of tough decisions, but the bottom line is what we want to do is keep the best 53."
The Broncos play the Baltimore Ravens in the opening game of the season on Thursday.
Sian Cowper
