As NFL training camps are getting underway and the 2023 season inches closer, teams are plotting out their best plans of attack to achieve success in the coming year. With that in mind, Alex Ballentine of Bleacher Report came up with one trade that each team needs to make.
These trades saw the likes of Josh Jacobs, Chase Young and Trey Lance all finding new teams. When it came to the Broncos, he identified a player that many have said the team should look at moving, including myself.
That player would be wide receiver K.J. Hamler.
The Broncos chose Hamler in the second round of the 2020 draft and to this point, he's missed more games than he has played in, stunting his growth as a professional player and limiting his production.
On top of that, the team has a deep group at the wide receiver position and there is a good chance that he is now expendable in Denver. On the 53-man roster I predicted just before training camp started, I did not have Hamler making the team, noting that the team will look to trade him before cutting him.
Ballentine seems to agree, coming up with this trade idea.
Could the Carolina Panthers trade for K.J. Hamler?
This would be a deal that makes sense. Unlike the Broncos, who have multiple options at wide receiver, the Carolina Panthers are a team that could stand to use a few more.
The Panthers drafted Jonathan Mingo out of Ole Miss and also signed free agent Adam Thielen this offseason, but the depth is not great beyond those two players.
D.J. Chark and Terrace Marshall are also on the roster, but for a team looking to build around No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young, some more weapons could definitely be used.
It's easy to get caught up in what little the Broncos would be getting in return here, but let's be honest, they are not going to get much more than this and even though it would only be a sixth-round pick, it would be better than nothing, which is what they will get if he is cut before the season starts.