Facing looming roster crunch, Broncos’ Hamler restructures contract

KJ Hamler hasn’t been blessed with good health to this point in his career. And to that end, the Broncos and the 2020 second-round pick reworked his contract with a specific clause tied to injury.

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…

— Field Yates (@FieldYates) June 30, 2023

The split contract means Hamler will see a reduced salary if he lands on injured reserve. Such language is standard for the contracts of numerous players, particularly undrafted or late-round players in their first seasons in the NFL.

Hamler missed offseason work due to a torn pectoral muscle suffered earlier this offseason while working out. That followed a season in which a hamstring injury landed him on injured reserve to end the season. He began the year completing his rehab from a torn ACL and a dislocated hip suffered three games into the 2021 season.

Hamler has played in just 10 of a possible 34 games in the past two seasons and 23 of 50 for his career. Further, he faces a tight situation at wide receiver in the wake of the team using a second-round pick on Oklahoma wide receiver Marvin Mims Jr., along with the return of Tim Patrick from injured reserve and the addition of some potential special-teams contributors on the back end of the depth chart, particularly ex-Saints WR Marquez Callaway.

The reworked contract gives the Broncos some cap relief if the pectoral-muscle issue lands Hamler on IR again. But it doesn’t change the fact that Hamler, once considered a core part of the Broncos’ hopes, is very much on the bubble as camp approaches.

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