Broncos send Menelik Watson to IR; sign former Bills/Lions OT to roster

According to 9NEWS’ Mike Klis, the Broncos have placed Menelik Watson on IR and have signed former Bills’ tackle Cyrus Kouandjio.

Right tackle Menelik Watson left the field after suffering a foot injury during the Giants game mid-October.

Watson, who appeared to be limping after the play - which was a 9-yard scramble by Trevor Siemian - played a few more snaps before leaving the field.

Watson, a 6-foot-5, 315-pound offensive tackle who signed a three-year contract with the Broncos in March, was a second-round pick by the Raiders in the 2013 draft. Since coming to the Broncos, he has consistently been a weak link on the offensive line.

Kouandjio, the Bills second-round pick in 2014 who fizzled out in Buffalo, was picked up by the Lions to compete for the left tackle job this summer. The former Alabama left tackle was released just before cut down day in August after former Rams’ LT Greg Robinson won the starting gig in Detroit.

Kouandjio started just seven games in three seasons with Buffalo and dealt with several injuries, never making the expected impact on the field.

However, his Pro Football Focus grades in 2016 were: 66.7, 46.4, 52, 60, 50.6, 53.4, 70.5, 85.5, 91.4, 50.5 - which is generally a big upgrade over Watson’s typical grades in the 20s - 40s. Watson also had allowed the most sacks (9) of any offensive lineman through Week 9, per PFF.

In April police were called because Kouandjio was found wandering on a man’s farm wearing only a t-shirt and underwear.

According to the Buffalo News, he had parked his vehicle alongside a nearby highway that had been closed for hours due to a serious wreck.

"He was acting real confused, but he was no threat," a police source told the News at the time. Kouandjio was not arrested in connection with the incident.

Kouandjio underwent hip surgery in January while a member of the Buffalo Bills and played sparingly for the Lions in preseason.