Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that Broncos OLB Shane Ray, who as supposed to undergo wrist surgery this summer, did not have a procedure performed because his doctor believed it was unnecessary.
Instead, Ray stuck to rehabbing his wrist injury and his timetable to return is much quicker than anticipated.
According to Rapoport, Ray could still start on the PUP list this summer, but he may not miss any regular season games thanks to not needing surgery.
Had Ray undergone the surgery, he was looking at being out three months and may very well have opened the regular season on the reserve/PUP list, which would have cost him the first six weeks of the season.
Ray, 25, is a former first-round pick of the Broncos back in 2015. He’s entering the final year of his four-year, $9.116 million contract and stands to make a base salary of $1,678,485 in 2018.
Denver placed him on injured reserve coming out of last year’s preseason with a wrist injury and was designated as their player to return. However, Ray landed on the injured reserve a second time in December after re-injuring his wrist.
The Broncos declined his fifth-year option this offseason, which means he’ll be an unrestricted free agent in 2019.
In 2017, Ray appeared in eight games for the Broncos and recorded 16 tackles and a sack. Pro Football Focus rated him as the No. 97 edge defender out of 106 qualifying players.
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