Sean Payton‘s Saints did acquire Jeremy Shockey via trade (in 2008), but they were known more for jettisoning playmakers than acquiring them in trades. The Saints traded Jimmy Graham and Kenny Stills in 2015 and unloaded Brandin Cooks in 2017. First-round picks came back in the Graham and Cooks swaps, with the pick in the latter deal becoming All-Pro right tackle Ryan Ramczyk in an impact Saints draft class.
Entering Year 4 in Denver, however, the Broncos held the No. 30 overall pick and carried a roster without many glaring needs — especially since the team completed a host of 2025 extensions before re-signing a handful of free agents. Although the Broncos traded three first-round picks from 2022-23 — for Russell Wilson and then Payton’s rights — they felt comfortable to deal first-, third- and fourth-round picks to the Dolphins for Waddle and a fourth. Waddle joins Courtland Sutton to form one of the NFL’s top receiving duos.
The Broncos inquired about Waddle before last year’s deadline, when the Bills were believed to have come closest to acquiring the speedy wide receiver, and Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer notes assistant GM Reed Burckhardt reached out to new Dolphins GM Jon-Eric Sullivan after the Combine to initiate talks with Miami’s new regime. This came after, per Breer, interest from other teams emerged in Indianapolis. Though, that interest did not progress too far.
Then-interim GM Champ Kelly held onto Waddle despite a Bills offer believed to include a 2027 first-rounder and a 2026 third, the Broncos also started their second Waddle process with an offer of a 2027 pick. Denver put its 2026 first on the table immediately during talks this offseason, Breer adds, but its initial proposal included a 2027 third-rounder. The Dolphins pushed the Broncos to include their 2026 third-rounder rather than their 2027 third.
No other aggressive suitors appeared to be in play here, per Breer, who notes Broncos GM George Paton trusted Sullivan not to shop Denver’s offer around the league. Paton worked with Jon-Eric Sullivan’s father, Jerry, who was a former Dolphins receivers coach during the current Broncos GM’s time in Miami’s front office. The Bills had also already made their receiver move, sending a second-round pick to the Bears for D.J. Moore and a fifth. Other teams obviously had Waddle on the radar, but it does not sound like anyone rivaled the Broncos’ aggression this month.
The Broncos used a few of their own players — from Patrick Surtain to ex-Auburn QB Bo Nix to former Dolphin safety Brandon Jones — as resources regarding Waddle, with the team contacting Nick Saban on his former charge as well. Surtain, Waddle’s roommate at Alabama, had spoken to others (via the Denver Post’s Luca Evans) about a potential trade reuniting the Crimson Tide teammates. Overall, around 15 sources led the Broncos to make this Waddle investment.
Naturally, the Broncos compared Waddle’s value to what could be obtained in free agency and at No. 30 overall. The team ranked 14th in scoring offense last season but 19th in explosive pass rate, according to Sharp Football Stats. Marvin Mims has made impactful plays as a Broncos deep threat, but the team has not regularly trusted the former second-round pick as a receiver. Mims’ increased playoff usage came after both Troy Franklin and Pat Bryant suffered injuries. Franklin and Bryant will see their paths to prominent roles blocked by this Waddle acquisition, while Mims’ future is foggier. The All-Pro return man is in a contract year.
Three years remain on Waddle’s $28.75MM-per-year contract — a deal that looks slightly better after Jaxon Smith-Njigba moved the WR market to $42.15MM AAV today — and the 2021 first-rounder is on Denver’s 2026 cap sheet at just $4.91MM. As our Adam La Rose noted in his most recent mailbag, Waddle’s deal will both line up with Nix’s 2026 rookie-deal salary and the early years of an extension. Nix will likely be extended in 2027, but the Broncos will assuredly backload the deal to keep the QB’s cap numbers manageable in the near future — especially after authorizing many extensions from 2024-25.
The Dolphins now hold Nos. 11, 30, 43, 75, 87, 90 and 94 in the first three rounds of this draft. That is an impressive war chest for Sullivan in his first draft as a GM, though the team did not do well to maximize its draft capital when it tore down the roster early in Chris Grier‘s decision-making run.
Miami, which is not planning to trade De’Von Achane, extracted plenty of value for Waddle. It should not be expected the Broncos extend the high-end trade pickup this year, as that would negate the advantage trading for a through-2028 deal (the Broncos may also be skittish about such a move considering how poorly their summer 2022 Wilson extension aged).
But if Waddle impresses this season, it should be expected his camp will want an update with his new team. For now, though, the Broncos have Waddle and Sutton sitting as the NFL’s 13th- and 19th-highest-paid wideouts.
Fins logic: cut the entire roster, then sign a QB w/ less than 10 starts to a $60m deal.
Good luck Fins fans.