ENGLEWOOD — Broncos’ second-year receiver Carlos Henderson, who failed to report to training camp because of personal reasons, informed John Elway on Tuesday that he wants to rejoin the team, a source familiar with the situation told 9NEWS.
Henderson met with Elway in the general manager’s upstairs office at the Broncos’ UCHealth Training Center headquarters.
One of the Broncos’ two, third-round draft picks in 2017 (cornerback Brendan Langley was the other), Henderson was supposed to report with other first-year players coming off injuries and rookies on July 24.
Exactly four weeks later, he was in Elway’s office saying he was ready to play.
Will the Broncos take him back? Elway and the Broncos’ staff will do their homework on the reasons Henderson stayed away with plans on making their decision in the next two or three days.
There are some complicated financial factors to consider. One, is whether Henderson would have to pay back a portion of the $817,496 signing bonus he received last year as the No. 82 overall selection in the NFL Draft. Another is the $40,000-a-day in fines Henderson incurred for missing training camp.
The league’s collective bargaining agreement enforcers, nor the Broncos would likely want to set a precedent by waiving Henderson’s fines.
Then there’s the question of whether Elway and head coach Vance Joseph want to bring a player who skipped arguably the most grueling four weeks of an NFL season into a locker room with 90 other guys who just sent through the aches, pains, sweat and grind of training camp.
Even if Henderson does return, there is almost zero chance he would make the team’s 53-man roster. The Broncos already have four receivers set in Demaryius Thomas, Emmanuel Sanders, Courtland Sutton and DaeSean Hamilton. The other spot or two will come from a competition of Tim Patrick, Isaiah McKenzie, River Cracraft and Jordan Leslie. It's possible the Broncos only keep five receivers this year.
Henderson would be eligible for the practice squad, if the Broncos wanted to go that route.
As a rookie in 2017, Henderson struggled during the offseason and training camp, then suffered a severe thumb injury that required season-ending surgery in the Broncos’ first preseason game.
He then was arrested on a marijuana possession charge in January, and later accepted a plea, an infraction that drew a one-game suspension from the league for violating its substance abuse policy.
Henderson participated in the Broncos’ offseason program but was nagged by a hamstring injury. He then failed to report to training camp for what his agent said were personal reasons and was placed on the reserve/did not report list.
