The Denver Broncos announced on Mar. 18 that they have acquired wide receiver Jaylen Waddle and a fourth-round pick from the Miami Dolphins in exchange for three draft selections in the upcoming 2026 NFL Draft.
The move brings a proven offensive player to Denver, as the team looks to strengthen its receiving corps ahead of the new season. The Broncos received Waddle and the No. 111 overall pick, while sending their first-round (No. 30), third-round (No. 94), and fourth-round (No. 130) picks to Miami.
“It’s exciting … just playing with great players,” Waddle said Wednesday during his introductory press conference. “Everyone is talking about how great and close the team is. I’m excited to be around the guys, get to know them, and they get to know me and go from there.”
Waddle was selected sixth overall in the 2021 NFL Draft and has since recorded three seasons with over 1,000 receiving yards, including a career-high of 1,356 yards and eight touchdowns in 2022. He is one of only sixteen players in the league to achieve at least three such seasons since entering the NFL in 2021.
In his five-year career so far, Waddle has consistently produced strong numbers, averaging an estimated seventeen-game output of eighty-one catches for nearly eleven hundred yards and six touchdowns per season. He led all receivers in yards per catch during the 2022 season with an average of eighteen point one yards per reception.
Reflecting on his move to Denver, Waddle said: “It’s definitely new beginnings. I just look at it as a new opportunity to go out there with a new team in a great place, play along great talent and help out as best I can.” He joins a wide receiver group that includes Courtland Sutton, Troy Franklin, Marvin Mims Jr., Pat Bryant, Lil’Jordan Humphrey, and Michael Bandy.
Waddle played college football at Alabama alongside current Broncos cornerback Pat Surtain II before both entered the NFL as top draft picks in 2021.
“Everyone is here to make plays and try to win,” Waddle said. “That’s ultimately the goal for the team and for the organization.”
