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Sean Payton and the Denver Broncos should be more explosive with Jaylen Waddle.
The Denver Broncos’ first-round pick of the 2026 draft was, for all intents and purposes, veteran wide receiver Jaylen Waddle.
Waddle, who turns 28 in November, is a five-year NFL veteran and, obviously, not a rookie. That could make him better prepared to have the kind of impact often associated with premium draft picks, though.
The Broncos certainly have to hope that is the case.
GettyThe Denver Broncos needed someone like Jaylen Waddle.
Waddle had 64 receptions for 910 yards and 6 touchdowns in a down final season with the Miami Dolphins, a line that would have put him firmly in second place on the 2025 Broncos. His 14.2 yards per reception ranked 25th, per Pro Football Reference, higher than any Bronco.
CBS Sports’ Zachary Pereles listed “explosiveness” and the Broncos’ “biggest improvement” this offseason, citing Waddle as the “player who exemplifies it.”
Pereles noted Waddle adds “downfield explosiveness” to an offense that “sometimes lacked it.”
“Denver ranked 27th in average depth of target when throwing to wide receivers (7.4 yards). Waddle was at 13.1,” Pereles wrote on May 12. He can win on intermediate and deep throws, and Sean Payton and Bo Nix are going to absolutely love him. He fits in perfectly alongside Courtland Sutton, a bigger, more physical archetype. Waddle averaged 14.1 yards per catch last year. Only one Broncos wide receiver (Sutton) averaged over 11.”
Sutton notably ranked 29th in yards per reception at 13.7. The Broncos have other speedsters in recent draft picks Marvin Mims–also an All-Pro and Pro Bowl returner–and Troy Franklin, but none of them have Waddle’s track record of success.
Waddle, a member of the 2021 All-Rookie Team, joins the Broncos with 373 receptions for 5,039 yards and 26 touchdowns in his career.
GettyJaylen Waddle was a big part of the Miami Dolphins’ offense.
Waddle’s trade to the Broncos robbed Dolphins offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo of what he described as a tremendous asset on the field. Waddle posted three straight 1,000-yard seasons from 2021 through 2023 and led the league at 18.1 YPR in 2022.
“Coach [Jeff Hafley] does a great job of just kind of keeping transparent with us. And we know kind of where we’re at with the roster, and that’s kind of how it was,” Patullo told the Sun Sentinel’s David Furones on May 2 of learning about the trade. “Sully’s [GM Jon-Eric Sullivan] doing the best he can to give us everybody we can have personnel-wise to be successful.
“He’s a really good player, and I would love to have worked with him, but we’ll see how he does in Denver.”
The Broncos have to hope Waddle does well.
In addition to the first and third-round picks and fourth-round pick swap that the Broncos’ trade included, Denver is also on the hook for all three seasons of Waddle’s $84.7 million contract that begins this season.
GettyThe Miami Dolphins will have a difficult time replacing Jaylen Waddle.
The Dolphins’ decision to trade Waddle has drawn as strong reactions as the Broncos’ acquisition, signaling a clear shift for the team in South Beach.
“They picked a bunch of good players we wanted to pick, but you were not replacing Jaylen Waddle with a 1, a 3 and a 4 in this draft,” an unnamed rival executive said, per The Athletic’s Mike Sando in March.
The Dolphins still got strong reviews for the draft class.
However, the Broncos are clearly getting a difference-maker in Waddle, who is also taking a step up in his move to the AFC West.
Josh Buckhalter covers the NBA and NFL for Heavy.com. He has covered both leagues since 2016, including bylines at FanSided, Last Word on Sports and Clocker Sports. He's based in Villa Park, Illinois. Follow Josh on Twitter and Instagram: @JoshGBuck More about Josh Buckhalter
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