ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — With Courtland Sutton returning to push his draft class mate down the receiver depth chart and with $2.2 million too much to pay a No. 5 receiver, the Denver Broncos not expectantly informed DaeSean Hamilton he would be waived.
Hamilton was a fourth-round pick in the Broncos’ 2018 draft class that also included outside linebacker Bradley Chubb in the first round, the receiver Sutton in the second round and inside linebacker Josey Jewell also in the fourth.
During Hamilton’s three years with the Broncos, his role ranged from No. 2 to No. 4 receiver.
In every season, he had little production through the first three months, but always came on to put up No. 2-like receiver stats in the final month.
He finished with 81 catches for 833 yards and five touchdowns, but his career before-and-after splits were striking:
Games 1-12: 33 catches for 364 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Games 13-16: 48 catches for 469 yards and 3 touchdowns.
After a strong finish to his rookie year Hamilton seemed ready to become the No. 2 or 3 receiver in his second season of 2019, but a dropped touchdown pass from Joe Flacco in the opener at Oakland seemed to send the receiver in a funk.
Last year, the Broncos drafted receivers Jerry Jeudy in the first round and KJ Hamler in the second round as veteran Tim Patrick emerged as a solid No. 2-type receiver. Hamilton was spared when Sutton went down first with a shoulder injury that forced him to miss Game 1, then tore an ACL in the second quarter of Game 2. The Broncos were also encouraged by the development of Tyrie Cleveland, a 7th-round draft pick last year, and the team just selected Auburn receiver Seth Williams in the sixth round two weeks ago.
Hamilton hit most of his snap-count bonuses to raise his salary to $2.2 million in 2021, making him difficult to trade and vulnerable to getting cut.
> Video above: Mike Klis breaks down Denver's 2021 schedule.
RELATED: Broncos' 2021 schedule: To regain primetime prominence, beating last-place opponents a must
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