The Denver Broncos waived cornerback Levi Wallace on Tuesday to move running back Blake Watson from the practice squad to their active roster.

Wallace played in Denver’s first 13 games and started two, including a 41-32 victory over the Cleveland Browns on Dec. 2. In the lineup for injured cornerback Riley Moss, Wallace had a long day against Browns quarterback Jameis Winston.

In the two games since, the former Alabama defensive back has been a healthy scratch as Denver has used younger players, such as Kris Abrams-Draine, a rookie from Spanish Fort High School, to fill in for Moss.

“It’s never an easy decision,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said of waiving Wallace. “Hopefully, we’ll see how it goes and we’re able to get him back (on the practice squad). Basically, you’re trying to protect your roster at certain positions. I would say with the way Kris Abrams-Draine, some of those guys have been really stepping up. And keeping a young player like Blake Watson that others are trying to – this is the time of the year when some of the teams that are out of it are maybe trying to improve looking to the future (by signing practice-squad players), so it’s always difficult.

“It’s roster management, though, and it’s hard.”

Wallace joined Denver as an NFL free agent on April 22. He had been on the field for 307 defensive snaps and 49 special-teams plays this season.

Wallace has started 72 NFL regular-season and five playoff games even though he was not drafted after completing his college career with the Crimson Tide’s CFP national-championship team in 2017.

Wallace joined the Pittsburgh Steelers as a free agent in 2022 after starting all 57 games he played in four seasons with the Buffalo Bills after spending the first nine games of his rookie season on the practice squad.

In 2023, Wallace played in 16 games, with nine starts. Wallace began 2023 in the Steelers’ starting lineup, saw his playing time diminish as second-round rookie Joey Porter Jr. reached the field and returned to regular duty when injuries hit the secondary in the final month.

Wallace has intercepted 12 passes in his NFL career, but he does not have one this season.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.