On the heels of learning that fourth-year wide receiver KJ Hamler is expected to be available to start training camp, we learned that the Denver Broncos have renegotiated his contract. ESPN's Field Yates broke the news, calling it a "slightly-tweaked final year."
"The Broncos and WR KJ Hamler agreed to a slightly-tweaked final year of his rookie deal: Hamler’s base salary of $1.583M stays the same, with the chance to earn $417K more via receiving incentives. Meanwhile, an injury-specific IR split was added, which eases the cap implications for the team if he lands on IR with the specified injury. Some upside for the player, some protection for the team," Yates said on Twitter.
Basically, the Broncos wanted to protect themselves against the possibility (probability?) of Hamler landing on injured reserve season by minimizing the salary-cap hit. That was the stick.
The carrot was adding the $417K in incentives, which 9NEWS' Mike Klis writes "helps a player make the team." Hamler now has the added motivation of nearly a 50% raise if he earns those incentives through merit.
Hamler is coming off a third season in Denver that was mostly lost to injury, much like his previous two. Then, the seemingly snakebitten speed demon suffered a torn pec during offseason workouts this past spring, clouding his outlook entering his contract year.
Even if Hamler had never dealt with consistent injury woes, 2023 would be the last year on his rookie contract, so the Broncos preemptively maneuvered by making Oklahoma speedster Marvin Mims, Jr. the first draft pick of the Sean Payton era in Denver, trading up into the second round to land him. As Mile High Huddle's Lance Sanderson wrote on Thursday, the Broncos sent a 'direct message' to Hamler with the Mims pick.
Digging deeper, Mims could make Hamler expendable as the two receivers possess nearly identical skill sets. Hamler also has injury concerns to work through, as well as inconsistency issues throughout his tape over his first three seasons as a pro. With Mims being a durable player, as well as a priority selection for the new Payton regime, Hamler very well could have played his last snap as a Bronco.
This was written before the news of Hamler's renegotiated contract broke, but it doesn't change all that much besides incentivizing the veteran. The Broncos drafted Hamler in the second round as well, back in 2020, but he's only been available in 23 of 49 possible games (absent 47% of the time), with six career starts.
Hamler has a huge heart, and he's a great story. But there are no vestiges remaining of the regime that drafted him. John Elway is gone, as is Vic Fangio and Hamler's long-time position coach Zach Azzanni, the last of whom could always be counted on to advocate for him in those coaches' meetings at roster cut-down time.
We know how talented Hamler is. All he needs now is a little luck by way of the injury bug, and many of these questions about his career will go bye-bye. Stay tuned.
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