Last week, reports indicated the Broncos were ready to waive DaeSean Hamilton. But the team found a trade taker for the fourth-year wideout. Hamilton’s subsequent ACL tear nixed that deal.
The Broncos are making Hamilton’s exit official Tuesday. They waived the former fourth-round pick, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. This transaction will come with a non-football injury designation, with Hamilton having suffered the serious knee malady Friday morning.
Denver was prepared to move on because of its depth at receiver. The Broncos became the first team since the 2003 Cardinals to use first- and second-round picks on receivers in the same draft last year, taking Jerry Jeudy and K.J. Hamler. That duo joins contract-year talents Courtland Sutton and Tim Patrick, and the Broncos drafted Auburn’s Seth Williams in this year’s sixth round.
Hamilton was not able to become a consistent target in Denver, failing to surpass 300 receiving yards in any of his three seasons. He is expected to miss the rest of this season due to injury, one that could become a point of contention.
Like Ja’Wuan James, Hamilton was working out on his own — during the time the Broncos going through Phase 1 of their offseason workouts. James and Hamilton were following the NFLPA’s recommendation for veterans to boycott teams’ voluntary offseason programs. The Broncos are not expected to pay James his $10.58MM base salary, setting up a potential grievance. While Hamilton was set to make far less in 2021 ($2.183MM), it will be interesting to see if the team takes the same stance with its second player who suffered a major injury working out on his own.