Broncos draft previews
Offense: Quarterbacks | Running backs | Wide receivers | Tight ends | Offensive line
Defense: Defensive line | Outside linebackers | Inside linebackers | Cornerbacks | Safeties

Broncos’ in-house offseason moves: Traded first-round, third-round and fourth-round pick for Dolphins receiver Jaylen Waddle and fourth-round pick; re-signed Lil’Jordan Humphrey on one-year, veteran-minimum contract; re-signed Michael Bandy to futures contract.

Under contract: Waddle, Courtland Sutton, Troy Franklin, Pat Bryant, Marvin Mims Jr., Humphrey, Bandy

Need scale (1-10): 4. The Waddle trade completely upended the outlook at this position. The Broncos landed the truly elite route-runner they’d been searching for. Waddle and veteran Sutton, now, will lead the room as interchangeable pieces at the X and Z receiver, with Franklin continuing to develop as a field-stretcher and Bryant needing sun as a possession target. The key here is Mims’ contract: his rookie deal is up after 2026, and the Broncos want another returner in the kicking game to preserve Mims for punt and receiving duties. It’s highly unlikely Denver targets a receiver with any of its first few picks, but the franchise could look to add speed late.

Top Five

Carnell Tate, Ohio State

The latest off the Buckeye assembly line. Tate steadily improved over three years at Ohio State and flourished as a senior in 2025, with 875 receiving yards and nine touchdowns while playing alongside Jeremiah Smith, who’ll be leading this space next year. He’s got ideal size at 6-foot-2 and 192 pounds, but didn’t exactly explode at the combine, with a 4.53-second 40-yard dash. Still, he’s probably as NFL-ready as anybody in a deep receiver class.

Makai Lemon, USC

Not the biggest. Not the fastest. Not the strongest. Just a player. Lemon won the Biletnikoff Award for the best receiver in college football this past season for a reason, after racking up 1,156 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns. He’s got strong hands, incredible body control and plus run-after-catch ability from any alignment. . He’s just an LA dude.

Jordyn Tyson, Arizona State

A one-time Colorado receiver in 2022, Tyson’s stock has careened all over the map during the pre-draft process, after initially being in contention as the first receiver off the board in April. He missed the combine and Arizona’s Pro Day with a hamstring injury, and random character concerns around durability have begun to swirl around the 6-foot-2 wideout. Take that with a grain of salt. He’s caught 18 touchdowns in 21 games the last two seasons, and has as much big-play ability as any receiver in this class.

KC Concepcion, Texas A&M

Denver would’ve probably been in the mix here at pick No. 30, and even scheduled a top-30 visit with Concepcion, before canceling it after the Waddle trade. Concepcion has produced wherever and in whatever role he’s been across three years at NC State and Texas A&M, and was an All-American in 2025 after racking up 919 receiving yards and nine touchdowns. He’ll likely be a late Round 1 pick and a slot weapon for somebody.

Omar Cooper, Indiana

Similar to Concepcion, Denver was doing work on Cooper, as the Hoosiers wideout took a visit in Denver before the Waddle trade. Cooper was Fernando Mendoza’s top target in 2025, with 69 catches and 13 touchdowns in 16 games, and has produced both from the slot and outside in his collegiate career. He profiles similarly, actually, to Waddle in that vein.

More Broncos fits

Malachi Fields, Notre Dame

Fields will probably go before the Broncos can circle back around to the fourth round, but this is a receiver in the Sean Payton mold (big). He’s 6-foot-4 and a half, weighs 218 pounds, and has a 38-inch vertical jump. Think Sutton’s ability to track balls in the red zone and make big third-down contested catches in one-on-one opportunities, here. Denver doesn’t really need Fields because of circumstance, but system-wise, he’d be a gem for Bo Nix.

Eli Heidenreich, Navy

How about a multidimensional weapon who ran for 499 yards and caught for 941 more in Navy’s triple-option offense? The 6-foot-0 Heidenreich’s best fit as a pro is completely unclear (is he a running back? A fullback? A slot receiver? A special-teamer?) but the production and speed is real. It’s easy to see Payton salivating over the gadget possibilities here, and Heidenreich will probably be there on Day 3.

Donaven McCulley, Michigan

McCulley’s done a Zoom with Denver, and the Broncos’ interest makes sense for one very large reason. The Michigan product stands 6-foot-4 and had a decent season in 2025, with 588 receiving yards in 13 games. He’s a converted quarterback, too, so there’s some untapped upside here. The top-end speed might not be there, but McCulley could be a seventh-round or free-agent target for Denver.

Caleb Douglas, Texas Tech

The tools here are top-of-the-line. Douglas stands 6-foot-3 and a half and ran his 40-yard-dash in 4.39 seconds at the combine, an intriguing blend of size and speed. He had great production for two years at Texas Tech, with two straight seasons of 800-plus receiving yards. In a deep draft for receivers, Douglas could easily drop to Day Three.

Kaden Wetjen, Iowa

This would be a return play, as Wetjen has had an unreal stretch on kicks and punts across a three-year career for the Hawkeyes: he led the FBS in kick-return yardage in 2024, and led in punt-return yardage in 2025. If Denver is seriously considering moving on from Mims, Wetjen would be a good play. Without much receiving tape, though (23 catches across three years), this would be too steep a price unless the Broncos could nab Wetjen late in Day Three.

Their pursuit of wide receiver Jaylen Waddle didn’t get close to a deal at the trade deadline last fall, but general manager George Paton and the Broncos front office had done extensive background work on the 2021 first-round pick then.

“We felt like we knew the player well and the person even better,” Paton said Monday at the NFL’s spring meetings here.

It led, at the end of about two weeks of talks, to the Broncos acquiring Waddle on March 11 in exchange for their first and third-round picks in this year’s draft plus a swap of fourth-rounders with the Dolphins.

“He’s one of the more explosive playmakers in the league,” Paton said. “Great makeup, great competitor. He’ll fit in with our room. … He just upgrades or helps the room. He opens up the run game, he’ll open it up for other receivers.”

Broncos won’t trade from WR depth after trade

Paton and head coach Sean Payton have consistently been bullish on their existing receivers, repeatedly expressing confidence in the group over the past two years.

Paton on Monday shot down any notion that Denver might look to trade from the position now that Waddle sits at the top of it.

“No, we really like those pieces and they’re all going to help us,” Paton said. “They’ve all helped us up to now. … We’re 7-8 deep. Why would we build up this room then trade someone right now?”

It was confidence in that receiver group that ultimately led the Broncos not to push harder to land Waddle at the trade deadline last year. The depth held up until the playoffs, when Denver played most of its two games without Troy Franklin (hamstring) and Pat Bryant (concussion). At one point against Buffalo in the divisional round, Denver was playing with three healthy receivers.

At the trade deadline, though, the Broncos were a healthy team overall and at receiver.

“We liked the group, we were on a win streak, we were rolling pretty good,” Paton said, adding that at that point, Denver also didn’t know exactly where its first-round pick would be. “And (the price) was high. They were asking a lot at that time.”

A trade ‘too unique’ to pass up 

The price stayed high when new general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan arrived at the Dolphins early in the offseason, but Denver became increasingly convinced this was the move they needed to make.

“The more you think about it, the more you go through all of your different models — the cap, the draft picks, who’s available in the draft, free agency, all of that — Who’s available that can really help us?” Paton said. “It had to be a unique circumstance for us to do this, to make a trade like this. And we just felt this was too unique to pass up.”

Paton joked that he may like draft picks more than anybody in the league, but the Broncos decided that the equivalent value of the No. 26 pick in the first round was fair compensation for a player of Waddle’s caliber.

“You look at the caliber of the free agent class,” Paton said. “You look at the caliber of the draft class. Who can we get at 30 within the draft class?’Then you factor in the cap and the finances, not just this year, but down the road. The fact that he’s 27 years old. The fact that it was (No.) 30— it wasn’t No. 16. We compared it to all the other trades the last 10 years with the first-round pick. The value we felt was 26, and that����ap the value we gave them.

“You look at all of that when you make a trade like this.”

When Paton called Waddle’s former college roommate, Pat Surtain II, to tell him the deal was done, Surtain already knew.

“He was screaming,” Paton said.

Then he made his way down to the training room to tell quarterback Bo Nix.

He was pretty excited,” Paton said. “He went out to dinner with all of us. Bo thinks he’s kind of a quasi-GM sometimes. Sometimes he’s right, sometimes he’s wrong.

“I think he’s right on this guy. This guy is pretty special.”

Parker, the Broncos finally did something! With Jaylen Waddle and Courtland Sutton now our Nos. 1 and 2 receivers, how does the rest of the WR room look? Does Marvin Mims Jr. fill that joker role now that we can put him anywhere on the field? Do we turn Lil’Jordan Humphrey into a tight end?

— David Miller, Commerce City

Hey Parker, the Broncos finally made that big offseason splash trading for Jaylen Waddle. I’m assuming he’s taking the WR1 slot with Courtland Sutton shifting over to WR2. How does the rest of the WR room look now?

— Ryan K., Bennett

Hey David and Ryan, thanks for writing in and for the interesting questions about Denver’s new-look receiving group.

Waddle may well end up with more targets than Sutton in 2026, but there aren’t really set WR1, 2 and 3 roles like that. Guys align by position — Payton wants guys that can play multiple — and then, of course, there are primary options on every passing play. Payton refers to those as tags for certain players. There will undoubtedly be a ton of plays tagged for Waddle.

Perhaps one of the more exciting prospects for both Denver’s offensive coaching staff and for Waddle himself is the manner in which the Broncos will likely move him around. They see him as a guy who can play outside or in the slot.

What����ap interesting about Waddle, in particular, is that despite his diminutive stature, the Dolphins last year used him predominantly as an outside receiver. According to Next Gen Stats, 307 of his exactly 400 routes came after being lined up outside. In 17 games, Waddle lined up in the slot just 22.8% of the time and was targeted out of the slot 16 times.

It would be a surprise if those numbers held in Denver.

Not to say Waddle will be only a slot or even line up in the slot a majority of times — we don’t know yet what his usage will look like — but he’ll likely move around quite a bit.

For comparison, Courtland Sutton, who is about as prototype outside “X” receiver as there is, lined up in the slot more frequently (23.3%) in 2025 for Denver than Waddle did for Miami.

It may surprise some to see the Broncos’ pecking order for who played in the slot most frequently by routes run.

Pat Bryant led the way as a big, power slot, running 170 of his 301 routes from the slot (56.5%). Next came Troy Franklin at 200 out of 480 (41.7%). Lil’Jordan Humphrey (56 out of 174) was at 32.1%. Last but not least, Marvin Mims ran just 62 of his 270 routes from the slot (22.9%).

All of those players will see their roles impacted and one of them may not even be on the 2026 roster unless the Broncos decide to roll with six on their initial 53-man this summer.

Who exactly sees what changes to their roles is yet to be determined, but suffice it to say Sutton and Waddle will be on the field together a ton and then Payton, offensive coordinator Davis Webb, new receivers coach Ronald Curry and the rest of the staff will mix and match third and fourth guys based on situations, matchups and more.

We don’t know exactly how that����ap going to shake out, but we’re not the only ones. Mims himself spoke with Altitude after attending a recent Nuggets game and said he was “really surprised” by the trade. He spoke highly of Waddle and said he was excited to add another playmaker but also added, “It’s interesting to see how I’ll fit in in the offense.”

Marvin Mims tells his initial reaction to the Jaylen Waddle trade: "It really surprised me, bringing in a guy like that. … Offensively you always need more playmakers."

Also, "It's interesting to see how I'll fit in in the offense."

— Parker Gabriel (@ParkerJGabriel)

Parker, this question may take a longer explanation than you have room for in your column (which I enjoy reading by the way), but I’m curious about the Denver coaching staff. I just saw an article that shows Denver has 26 coaches on staff. I was surprised at the quantity but also the titles and even duplicated titles (quality control assistants for offense, defense and special teams). I was particularly surprised that Denver has an inside and outside linebacker coach, and then you see the various run and pass game coordinators. Is there any insight you can provide on how these guys all work together or coordinate their efforts?

Thanks for the consideration!

— F.J. O’Leary, Frisco, Texas

Hey F.J., thanks for writing in and good question.

The Broncos do indeed have a large coaching staff and, like most, there are a variety of titles. Most of the time, a coordinator title (think run game coordinator or defensive pass game coordinator) is a way of giving a coach a promotion — and a raise — to keep him in your building. They can also help you ward off attempts from other teams to interview your coaches, since a club can block an interview for a lateral move but not for a promotion. Sometimes those jobs also come with added responsibilities in meetings or on game day, but if a staff is already kind of in place, there’s not necessarily a major change. Last year, for example, Davis Webb was made the offensive passing game coordinator and Jim Leonhard the defensive passing game coordinator. They each said at different times that they had a little more responsibility, but it wasn’t like suddenly they were running meetings differently or had a completely different workflow during game weeks.

Now, of course, Webb is the offensive coordinator and Leonhard the DC for Buffalo. Denver rehired John Morton as the offensive PGC and Zach Strief is once again the offensive RGC. He still coaches the offensive line, though, along with Chris Morgan.

Quality control coaches may not have specific titles, but they mostly work with certain position groups. Todd Davis works with inside linebackers. Brian Neidermeyer worked a lot with outside linebackers last year. It’ll be interesting to see how the new trio of offensive QCs splits up. Previously, Logan Kilgore was a QC working with tight ends. Now he’s the Broncos’ quarterbacks coach.

As for the inside/outside linebacker split, that����ap because those groups have very different responsibilities and techniques. In many ways, OLBs are closer to defensive linemen than to inside linebackers.

����’s similar for corners and safeties. Leonhard was the PGC and defensive backs coach last year, but day to day on the practice field, he worked with the safeties, while Addison Lynch worked with the corners. Payton fired Lynch after the season.

The new-look group there is PGC Robert Livingston and defensive backs coach Doug Belk. We’ll see how they split up on-field coaching duties during practice.

With our re-signing of Alex Singleton and Justin Strnad, who do you see covering tight ends as the roster looks now?

— Mark, Albuquerque, N.M.

Hey Mark, thanks for writing in. I see largely the same group covering tight ends as last year — Singleton, Strnad and Denver’s safeties. Nickel Ja’Quan McMillian or a cornerback, depending on the matchup.

There’s a narrative out there that Singleton and Strnad are bad in coverage. They might not be the best coverage linebackers in football, but I think — and, perhaps more pertinently, coaches and people in the building believe — that����ap overblown.

Denver played as much man coverage as anybody in football, but its defensive principles aren’t as simple as lining up across the board and running with the man you’re responsible for, no matter where he goes. Especially in the middle of the field, the Broncos play a lot of match-style coverage, hand-off players, etc. ����’s not as simple as seeing a tight end catch the ball and get tackled in pursuit by Singleton or Strnad and saying definitively that he had responsibility.

Again, this isn’t to say they’re the most dynamic cover linebackers in football. They’re not. But it����ap not as simple as saying they’re bad and can’t do the job, either.

Late in the season, defensive coordinator Vance Joseph had a lot of insight into this. Here’s what he said:
“Our corners are really good players. …  Sometimes, in (offenses’) minds, their better matchups are with backers and safeties. They can control the leverage, which is smart. So we understand that.”

He said he likes to try to control tight ends and running backs by showing pressure looks that force them to think about blocking before going out on a route, referring to it as covering them using defensive structure. But he also acknowledged defenses can’t always do that and also that third downs, in particular, become prime time for targeting tight ends and backs.

“����’s tough to find tight ends, especially on first and second down. But on third downs, that����ap the matchup they want because they get the leverage they want. That����ap just football. ����’s always been that way for my defense. We understand that.”

With Jaylen Waddle on the roster, what’s the big target in the draft? An inside linebacker? A tight end? Do we trade back our second-round pick for most picks?

— Michael Smith, Denver

Hey Michael, great questions. I’m inclined to answer yes, yes and yes. Obviously if there’s a player the Broncos feel strongly about at No. 62, they’ll take him right there. By that time in the proceedings, though, if Denver has a clump of players graded similarly, trading back and recouping a selection or two makes a lot of sense.

����’s impossible to say from here who will be available at No.62, but if you’re talking about tight ends and linebackers, there figure to be multiple or several already gone at each position by the time the late second round rolls around. Beyond just the surefire first-rounders like linebacker Sonny Styles and tight end Kenyon Sadiq, it’d be a surprise if players like Vanderbilt TE Eli Stowers, Georgia LB CJ Allen and Texas Tech LB Jacob Rodriguez are still around as the 60s approach.

Given where the Broncos are roster-wise, you really can’t count them out from taking any position if they think the value is there. I’ll agree with you on tight end and linebacker as top needs and throw running back in the mix, too. They could use a young safety and could stand to add more young, cheap options on both lines as they plan for the future.

Parker, what do you think about running back Adam Randall out of Clemson? He’s a converted wide receiver and is 6-foot-3 and 235 pounds.

— Eric Price, Altoona, Pa.

Hey Eric, thanks for writing in. He’s a really interesting prospect, that����ap for sure. Big guy who can really run. Not the most refined runner at this point, but given that he hasn’t been playing running back very long, he should have considerable development in front of him. Physically, it����ap an uncommon profile and not a type of back Sean Payton’s typically pursued, but if you think there’s a chance he turns into something special, it����ap worth considering later in the draft.

Overall, though, he’s a fun and interesting watch. I’m guessing there aren’t many guys his size with extensive kick return experience.

David Njoku is still available. We should sign him. We need more talent in our tight ends.

— Tom, Boulder

Hey Tom, thanks for writing in. Njoku is indeed still available. So far, we haven’t heard much about any substantial interest shown by the Broncos. That, of course, could change.

Njoku, at his best, certainly would upgrade Denver’s tight end room. Given where the group’s been collectively from a production standpoint the past couple of years, it would be hard to push back too much against such a move.

Njoku, though, hasn’t been at his best in the past two seasons. He’s missed 11 games in that stretch — six in 2024, five last year – and hasn’t come close to his 2024 output of 81 catches and 882 yards.

Njoku’s played predominantly in-line, meaning adding him would be more about Adam Trautman than about Evan Engram. Even in limited time the past two years, Njoku’s been a more dangerous receiver than Trautman. Trautman has been the better blocker by most metrics and Njoku would have a long way to go to catch up to Trautman’s knowledge of the offense and the implicit trust the coaching staff has in him.

So Grove bragged. He bragged about alumni like offensive lineman Donovan Jackson, a first-round pick by the Minnesota Vikings in 2025. He bragged about alumni like Jaguars offensive lineman Walker Little, and former Eagles defensive tackle Marvin Wilson. And most of all, he bragged about Waddle.

Eventually, Grove asked for questions. One kid’s hand went up.

“Is it true,” this eighth-grader asked, right off the bat, “that Jaylen Waddle was just traded?”

For the rest of the morning, a Houston-suburb high school campus of about 800 students became obsessed with the Denver Broncos. Partly because this was a group of 16-to-18-year-old kids, after all, in a football-obsessed state. Partly because Waddle’s former high school coach, Steve Leisz, blasted out word of Waddle’s trade to Denver to about “500 of my closest friends on campus,” as Leisz said. But mostly because Waddle, now a 27-year-old star NFL wide receiver, still magnetizes eyeballs whenever he sidles back through Bellaire.

In the early lunch window on Tuesday, Episcopal teachers and students buzzed amongst themselves about the Waddle trade. One sophomore came up to Grove in the cafeteria, grabbed the athletic director’s shoulders, and gloated.

“Did you see it?” the kid said, as Grove recalled. “Did you see it? Jay’s got a quarterback that����ap going to get him the ball.”

The people who best know who Jaylen Waddle can be as a Denver Bronco live here in Bellaire, Texas. Episcopal offensive coordinator Kary Kemble once remarked that this 5-foot-nothing receiver with Houdini-level escapeability was “magic,” and it stuck. To this day, the football staff still calls Waddle “Magic” whenever he comes through town. He has been anointed for no-doubt stardom since the Army All-American Bowl in 2018, when Waddle first crossed paths with Pat Surtain II.

And then Surtain II anointed Waddle himself, as the two became best friends and ringleaders of another wave of NFL talent at Alabama.

“If you got a pot, tin pots of characteristics — their pot is the elite,” said Karl Scott, who was Alabama’s cornerbacks coach from 2018 to 2020. “It is very few people in that pot. And I think, as they got to that pot and looked around, it’s like, ‘Hey, you’re here. And you’re here. All right.’ That’s almost how I envision it.”

A few years into their NFL journeys, though, Surtain’s pot shrank and Waddle’s widened. After three straight 1,000-yard seasons with the Dolphins, Waddle’s ball production dipped sharply during two losing seasons in Miami in 2024 and 2025. Starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa played in 25 of 34 regular-season games. The Dolphins finished with the league’s 25th-best passing offense in 2025, and defenses keyed in more on Waddle after top WR Tyreek Hill’s season-ending injury. Miami fired general manager Chris Grier in October, fired head coach Mike McDaniel in January, cut Hill and Tagovailoa in February and March, and capped off a full-scale rebuild by trading Waddle to the Broncos this week.

On a conference call with local reporters Wednesday, Waddle shrugged off any notion that he views the move to Denver as a chance to recapture early-career momentum, simply saying the trade brings “new beginnings.”

“I just look at it as — a new opportunity to go out there with a new team in a great place, and play alongside great talent, and try to help out as best I can,” Waddle said.

Privately, though, those who’ve helped write Waddle’s story — from the Houston suburbs to the Rocky Mountains, now — see the Broncos’ all-in swing for Waddle as a spark to re-ignite his stardom.

To become Magic, again.

The prince of Bellaire

Everybody in Houston, Texas, knew him. They still do. Waddle is a diminutive deity in Texas, where whispers of his spirit twist across baseball diamonds and basketball courts and football fields from Bellaire to the Woodlands to Dallas. Late in one junior-varsity game during his freshman season at Episcopal, Waddle lined up with the clock ticking away on a potential comeback win.

The other team, Episcopal staffers remember, put five defenders on Waddle. He caught a goal-line touchdown anyway.

“That����ap when the first few moments of like, the mystique — the legend of Jaylen Waddle — was beginning to grow,” Grove said.

In Waddle’s freshman year, Leisz put Waddle out for his first varsity snap on the return team for a playoff game against St. Mark’s High in Dallas. St. Mark’s kicked to him. Waddle took it 75 yards to the house.

In Waddle’s sophomore year, Episcopal’s basketball team played St. Stephen’s Episcopal School, a program from Austin. St. Stephen’s had budding 7-footer Jarrett Allen, a now All-Star center with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Episcopal had 5-foot-10 Waddle. He went up off a rebound during one fast break, Grove remembers, and dunked on Allen.

In Waddle’s junior year, he took a punt return and put his foot in the ground. Two gunners dove at him. Waddle accelerated. He slipped through so quickly, Leisz remembers, that the two would-be tacklers hit their heads on each other.

In Waddle’s senior year, Episcopal lost its quarterback for a game due to injury. Leisz put Waddle behind center, so he could touch the ball off the snap. He scored six touchdowns.

“He could get himself out of a fix, he could get himself out of a jam, he could get himself out of trouble,” said Kemble, Episcopal’s offensive coordinator. “It wasn’t coached. We didn’t coach that. He was God-given talent.”

Getting Waddle to this point was one thing. He grew up in Acre Homes, a majority-Black neighborhood in the Houston suburbs with a median household income of about $36,000 in 2019, Waddle’s mother, Ishea Cotton — his “rock,” as Grove said — pushed to get Waddle into Episcopal, that has 600-plus applicants for roughly 200 spots in any given school year. Waddle didn’t want to be there his first week, as he once recalled to Leisz. He came around quickly.

From there, most everything ended up easy, even when the situation was hard. While recruiting Waddle to Alabama, legendary ex-HC Nick Saban told him there would be no guarantees; the Crimson Tide already had future first-round draft picks Jerry Jeudy, DeVonta Smith and Henry Ruggs III in the room, after all. The best players played, Saban told Waddle. So Saban asked him: Are you the best player?

“Without a doubt,” Waddle responded instantly, as Leisz remembered.

He went for 848 yards as a true freshman, led the country in punt-return yards as a sophomore, and led the SEC in yards per catch as a junior. After the Dolphins drafted Waddle at No. 6 overall in 2021, he broke the NFL rookie record for catches (104), then went for 1,356 yards in his second season. His legacy became larger than life in his hometown before his life had even truly begun. Waddle left a heap of tickets for Episcopal staffers for a Dolphins-Texans joint training-camp practice in Houston in 2023, and teachers and alumni filled the stands at NRG Stadium in 2024 when Miami came back to town.

But those from back home, where memories of Magic still sit fresh on the tip of tongues, sense there could be more. Waddle ranked 38th in the NFL in targets last year in Miami, and tied for 60th the year before.

“Jaylen certainly has always brought incredible pride to all of us here at Episcopal High School — brought honor back to us,” Grove said. “But we’re always – we’re kinda waiting for him to take another step.

“Because we all know that he’s capable, of doing it.”

Teammates once again

In Denver, now, Waddle will be pushed daily by a cornerback who’s become family. And Waddle will push right back, just as he’s done for years, on Pat Surtain.

“Pat is not really much of a talker,” said Mike Weber, Surtain’s cousin and a longtime mutual friend. “But if anybody does get him to talk, or talk (expletive) on the field when they go up, it’s definitely Jaylen.”

In the summer of 2018, early in the first padded scrimmage of their freshman years at Alabama, Surtain (running with the 1s) matched up with Waddle (running with the 2s) in the slot. Man-to-man. And Waddle torched Surtain. Veterans on the starting defense grumbled.

Safety Xavier McKinney, then a sophomore, came to secondary-coach Scott and told him they needed to get it right. The implication was obvious. So Scott caught Surtain coming off the field, worried he’d lose the kid mentally if he didn’t check on him.

“Pat, you good?” Scott asked.

Surtain’s eyes, Scott remembered, were somewhere else. Then he snapped to. He turned back to Scott with a strange look.

“Yeah,” Surtain scoffed, as Scott recalled. “What, am I not supposed to be good?”

He was competing against himself, Scott realized. So was Waddle. The two soon began competing with each other, and became Frick and Frack off the field, as Scott said. They moved into an apartment together eventually at Alabama, and Waddle would occasionally come back with Surtain to his family’s house in South Florida during season breaks. The Surtains had a basketball hoop in their backyard, and cornerback and receiver would wage war there, too.

The two would stagger back into the house, sweaty, looking a mess and talking a mess, too.

“It’s just, in them,” Surtain Sr. told The Post.

Their families sat next to each other in the green room in 2021’s draft; Waddle hugged Surtain’s parents when he went at pick No. 6 to Miami, and Surtain hugged Waddle’s parents when he went at pick No. 9 to Denver. They trained together for their first few offseasons in the NFL. And they hatched ideas, early in their careers, of playing with each other one day.

It nearly became a reality at the 2025 trade deadline. Denver didn’t pull the trigger on Miami’s asking price for Waddle at the time. But the possibility of the receiver coming to Denver was “known for a while,” as one team source told The Post. And felt, certainly, by Surtain.

“When Tyreek was let go and then Tua was let go,” Surtain Sr. told The Post, “you kinda felt that the Dolphins were going in a different direction. They wanted to start anew. And the conversation would come up between us — me and Pat — about them getting Jay. And then Pat would say he’s talked to people about it, but that nothing’s come to fruition.”

Waddle knew it was a possibility, too. He never made a public fuss across two dysfunctional years in Miami, as Hill dominated negative headlines and the Dolphins entered a downward spiral. Privately, though — as Waddle caught passes from five different starting quarterbacks in 2024 and 2025 — the situation was “definitely frustrating” for the receiver, as Weber said.

The Dolphins entered a new era last week, signing former backup QB Malik Willis to a three-year contract. Waddle would’ve been perfectly OK with Willis throwing him the ball in Miami, Weber said.

“But I know if he had it his way, he would rather be in Denver,” Weber said. “And it worked out.”

Indeed, the Broncos pushed their chips in last week and gambled a true haul: a late first-round (No. 30), third-round (No. 94) and fourth-round pick (No. 130) for Waddle and a fourth-rounder (No. 111). General manager George Paton called Waddle on Tuesday to deliver the news that he was coming to Denver. Waddle’s mother Ishea excitedly told Leisz she was going to have to get a new set of gear. Weber, who lives in Denver and does marketing work for both Waddle and Surtain, practically jumped for joy at the news.

“I already knew it was coming, just speaking it into existence,” Weber said. “����’s been about a year that we’ve been pounding the table, on this.”

The trade was a “total win,” Leisz said, knowing Waddle would be reunited with a blood brother in Surtain. And sparks will fly come training camp, as iron sharpens iron.

“Jaylen is very quiet off the field,” Leisz said. “And on the field? He is not quiet.

“So I can only imagine that first practice, when those two line up with each other — you’ll probably hear it in the stands.”

‘A competitive son of a gun’

Saban, the one-time legendary Alabama figurehead, has never been one to wrestle with decisions. But Waddle’s situation, in January 2021, stumped him.

Three months earlier, as Waddle was streaking towards an All-American campaign in his junior year, the receiver broke his ankle on the opening kickoff of an October game against Tennessee. He . But Waddle rehabbed aggressively enough for a return date around the Crimson Tide’s national-championship matchup with Ohio State Jan. 11 — as he was also headed for a top-of-first-round selection in the draft. It left Saban wondering if he should play him.

“I’ll never forget, in the staff meeting, Saban kinda opened it up,” Scott recalled. “Like, ‘What do you guys think? Because I don’t know. I don’t know.'”

Eventually, Saban decided to just ask Waddle. Doctors told the receiver it would hurt, but he could play, as Leisz recalled. So Waddle played.

He caught three passes on a less-than-100% ankle, and Alabama won a national title.

“He was a competitive son of a gun, man,” Scott said. “He might be all of 5-foot-10 right now. But inside of him, man, it was like he was 6-foot-10.”

The Waddle trade is quite literally unprecedented in Broncos head coach Sean Payton’s career. In 18 seasons as an NFL head coach, Payton’s organizations only ever swung a trade for one previous wide receiver: Bethel Johnson in 2006, who Payton promptly cut before the season began. The Broncos head coach has a particular type of receiver — big — and has generally maneuvered his teams to draft and develop at the position.

On the field, though, Waddle can be the key to unlocking the two-high-safety seal that opposing defenses often threw at Denver in 2025. Secondaries often shaded towards Broncos No. 1 wideout Courtland Sutton last year, and quarterback Bo Nix rarely had a consistent coverage-beating option. No. 2 WR Troy Franklin has caught just nine of 41 attempts of 20-plus air yards across two years in the NFL, according to Next Gen Stats.

Waddle’s speed, though, gives Denver another legitimate vertical threat to stretch the field for the rest of Nix’s weapons.

“They’ve just diversified themselves even more than they already were,” said Scott, who’s now the secondary coach for the reigning Super Bowl-champion Seahawks. “I mean, you talk about a team that just went to the AFC Championship Game. So, how much more help do they need?”

Waddle is also “over the moon,” as Weber said, at the prospect of playing more reps in the slot. He played 51% of his snaps there in 2021, before shifting primarily to playing outside with McDaniel’s arrival in 2022. And his versatility and production between the hashes gives the Broncos the kind of explosive receiving target they haven’t had in the Payton era.

“With Mike McDaniel’s offense, it was timing,” Surtain Sr. said, who was a defensive assistant for the Dolphins in 2022. “Because Tua was that kinda quarterback. Boom – get to his fifth step, let the ball go, Jay (on) in-breaking cuts. But I think it����ap way more than that with Jaylen. I think he can run the whole route tree.

“Obviously,” Surtain Sr. continued, “he’s a deep threat with his speed and explosiveness. He can run every route. And I think it����ap going to be even more scary with Bo’s escapability … you’re going to see a lot of plays that break down where Jay gets open.”

Waddle fits the Payton profile in all but size, which is equally important. Waddle’s grit was “unquestioned” in Miami’s pre-draft evaluation, for one, after that junior-year return, as former Dolphins receiver coach Josh Gizzard said. The Saban pedigree means something in Denver, where Payton has hired multiple former Crimson Tide graduate assistants and drafted multiple former players. And the receiver comes off as agreeable off the field — without being docile.

“Don’t get me wrong, Jaylen’s a diva on the field,” Leisz said. “He wants the football. There’s no doubt about that.”

Coaches still know Waddle as the same kid in high school whose mother called before one game to report that he had a 100-plus-degree fever. Not to hold him out. To get them to hold him out. For an entire game, Kemble, the team’s offensive coordinator, had to sit by Waddle on the bench to make sure he didn’t tug on his helmet and sneak onto the field.

“I don’t think he’s lost any of that,” Kemble said. “I don’t think he’s lost that zeal.”

The Broncos are betting on it.

Hey, we get it. It’s tempting to dust off a slightly used Troy Franklin, stick him on eBay, and see what kind of offers come rolling in. With Jayden Waddle to the Broncos’ wide receiver room, somebody who played a lot in 2025 is likely going to see their 2026 snaps take a dip.

But before you decide that Franklin is surplus to requirements, that he’s disposable, consider the short-term consequences. Consider the depth chart. Because if the last three years have taught ����apountry anything, it’s this:

1. A wide-receiver screen in the red zone is a wasted down;

2. Should Humphrey be anywhere near the top of the two-deep, Broncos coach Sean Payton is going to find a reason to play him. Like, a lot.

To wit: Last November, Payton brought Humphrey, whom he’d signed to the Saints as an undrafted rookie in 2019, back to Denver. Lil’Jordan wound up making almost as many starts in seven games as a Bronco (two) as Marvin Mims Jr. did in 15 contests (four).

Over the Broncos’ last four regular-season games,, Humphrey logged 118 offensive snaps while Mims landed 95. Humphrey got twice as many offensive snaps (46) as Marvelous Marv (21) in Week 15 and nearly 10 more (43-34) during Week 17. In the playoffs, Humphrey landed 91 snaps in two games; Mims got 85.

Keeping Franklin around doesn’t just keep Lil’Jordan honest. It might even keep him off the field. And if that’s not a good enough reason for the Broncos to retain our man Troy in orange and blue, we’ll give you five more to chew on:

1. He makes the Broncos’ WR room more diverse

A Broncos wideout room with Franklin can beat you in more than a half-dozen ways. As currently comprised, it also helps to smooth over one of quarterback Bo Nix’s rough edges.

, Nix was 35th out of 42 NFL QBs who logged at least 100 plays last year in Yards Per Attempt vs. zone defenses (6.72). Waddle rolls into Dove Valley with a history of being a zone-buster.

He’s also proven to be dangerous in all three levels of the passing game. Waddle’s done some of his best work in between the hashmarks, which was an absolute dead zone for the Broncos’ passing game a year ago. The ex-Alabama star can beat defenders in foot races up the seam or along the boundary.

Which is, on paper, a savvy complement to Sutton, who can move the chains, body up smaller foes outside the hashes and win jump balls in the end zone.

Pat Bryant has the goods to do a lot of the Sutton stuff, only with a younger frame. Mims is a return weapon and gadget specialist who can exploit mismatches anywhere. Franklin can stretch the field to win battles deep (4.41 time in the 40) or beat you short. If you line up Waddle next to Franklin, defenders are never going to be completely sure who’s going where. Or when.

2. He’ll make other wideouts have to work to get snaps

Waddle doesn’t just push everybody who’s not Sutton down a peg. He makes them work that much harder just to see the field.

Of the NFL’s top 15 players in drops last season, the Broncos put three on the list, . (The Lions and Jaguars had two each.) In terms of drop percentage, per Pro-Football-Reference.com, Denver targets made up two of the NFL’s top 10. (Old friend Jerry Jeudy was 13th, if you’re curious, dropping 9.4% of the balls thrown at him last year.)

“When it’s going good, it’s very contagious,” Franklin said last December. “Things just get to rolling … once everybody gets that first catch, (when they) go for 5 (yards), 10 (yards), whatever the case is, then somebody else wants to make a play. So it’s just, feed off them.”

Want snaps? Don’t drop the rock.

3. He bolsters the depth

The Broncos started six different wide receivers at various points during the 2025 regular season. They started six different guys there in 2024. Ditto for 2023.

The more bodies, and good bodies, the merrier. Bryant went through a scary collision against Jacksonville in Week 16, getting concussed in the process. He went on to suffer another concussion vs. Buffalo and rack up a hamstring injury on the Broncos’ first drive of the AFC Championship Game. Mims missed Weeks 9 and 10 last season recovering from a concussion.

“At the end of the day, we’ve got fighters on this team,” Mims said after Denver’s divisional round win over the Bills. “We’ve got guys who are selfless. No matter what their role is on this team, they’re going to go out there and give it their all. And that’s what we need to be able to go and just advance the playoffs.”

4. He’s got a rapport with Bo Nix

You might take a Duck out of Oregon, but you’ll never take the Oregon out of a Duck. Franklin and Nix played two seasons together in Eugene (2022, 2023), during which the former caught 25 touchdowns over those two years as a collegian.

Franklin added nine more TD receptions as a Bronco, eight in the regular season. Nothing builds trust — and continuity — quite like reps.

“I mean, (when) you see that, it’s a huge thing,” Broncos tight end Adam Trautman told me last fall. “And then it just develops over time — throws in practice, throws in training camp, throws in the offseason, it all just accumulates. And then it’s like, (in a) big moment, I trust (Troy).”

5. He’s relatively cheap — and young

In a capped sport, you want all the production you can muster from star contributors while they’re playing on rookie contracts. For one, because it’s cost-effective. For another, it allows you to spend more on veterans to fill in other holes on the roster as they pop up.

Franklin’s slated for a cap hit of $1.289 million in 2026 and a $1.404-million hit in 2027. His 2025 salary average ($1.218 million) ranked 130th among NFL wideouts, Meanwhile, his catches (65, good for 39th), receiving yards (709, good for 46th) and TD receptions (six, tied for 26th) all ranked among the league’s top 50 last fall.

So far, that’s an awfully good value on return for a fourth-round pick, especially one who just turned 23. In a league where storm clouds lurk around just about every corner, Franklin’s the kind of umbrella you want to keep within arm’s reach. Just in case.

When seeking a playmaker, the Broncos required a receiver who could beat any coverage and fit in their culture.

Coach Sean Payton did not spend three years creating a tight, like-minded locker room only to stuff Mentos into the Coca-Cola bottle.

He fought to clean up Nathaniel Hazmat’s mess, fought to win the division, fought to reach the AFC Championship Game.

A dynamic weapon to goose their offense was not coming from the 30th overall pick in the NFL Draft. The best running back (Jeremiyah Love) and tight end (Kenyon Sadiq) would have been long gone, and no matter what you think of receivers Omar Cooper or KC Concepcion, there was zero chance they were making Jaylen Waddle’s impact.

The last two rookie receivers in Payton’s offense, Troy Franklin and Pat Bryant, combined for 59 catches, 641 yards and three touchdowns. Waddle has averaged 75 receptions, 1,008 yards and five scores every season.

So, for those lamenting the lost draft picks, get over it. Were you saving them for Secret Santa gifts? My word.

The Broncos were one converted fourth-and-1 from winning the Super Bowl. They are not playing for the future.

Waddle helps them win now. But not just because of who he is as a player, but who he is as a person. There is no beaker to pour in the exact amount of characteristics to create strong chemistry.

But spend any time around the Broncos, it is obvious they have it. Star defensive end Zach Allen told me last season that (bleepity, bleeps) need not apply.

“We have none of them,” Allen said. “You are going to be the odd man out if you are.”

So the challenge for general manager George Paton and Payton was to be brilliant, bold and selective. Character mattered.

Waddle delivers, perhaps more off the field than on it.

He left a vapor trail of long plays and 100 yards of smiles.

Let’s start with the best story told by former Three years ago, Waddle befriended 6-year-old cancer patient Rocco Passaro. His parents, Raymond and Ida, viewed Rocco as a superhero. But with their son facing a potential bone marrow transplant, they braced for the worst.

They asked him to compile a bucket list. Going to a Dolphins game was near the top. The family got connected to the team and it wasn’t long before Rocco was on the sideline.

“Rocco is definitely someone that is special. We have a special a bond, and I think that����ap just going to continue (no matter) where I play at,” Waddle said Wednesday. “He has family in me on his side.”

Waddle, 27, went beyond a meet-and-greet. He connected with Rocco, face-timed him, received updates on his health, and their relationship was credited for helping Rocco beat leukemia.

This story folds into who the Broncos are. They received ESPN’s 2022 Sports Humanitarian Team of the Year Award for their work in the community. Service before self is in Waddle’s DNA.

When the Dolphins released a thank you post on Twitter, the highlights featured Waddle hanging out with a boy wearing his jersey before a game, posing for pictures with Boys&Girls Clubs members and teaching his penguin celebration dance to kids.

This stuff matters in Denver. Folks roll their eyes, but it is real. The competition for their Walter Payton Man of the Year is more competitive than for team MVP.

“I’m definitely going to get in the community and do something. I know ‘PS2’ (Pat Surtain II) is going to help me find different things to get into,” said Waddle, who was part of Alabama’s 2018 recruiting class with Surtain and teammates with him on the 2020 national championship team. “I know he does a lot of good things out here.”

Why should you care? Simple. It will allow Waddle to assimilate seamlessly, increasing the likelihood he makes an early impact.

Which brings us to another salient point. The question Waddle faced four months from his first training camp in his first year with his new team: Does he see himself as the No. 1 receiver?

Mind you, this position features more divas than “Moulin Rouge.” Receivers have cratered seasons with me-over-we buffoonery.

Waddle did not take the bait. His goals are team goals.

This is not a front. After the Dolphins acquired Tyreek Hill in 2022, Waddle saw his targets shrink for three consecutive seasons. As Hill ate like crazy, there was less meat on the bone for Waddle.

He never made a stink. Never whined, even as quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s play deteriorated last season.

You know who else is like this? Courtland Sutton, a team captain.

Of course, the Broncos required someone with special talent. But they needed that player to possess humility. Waddle can be quirky and hilarious — but his unselfishness remains a defining quality.

“I honestly think it was just the way I was brought up. My mom and dad obviously tried to do a good job as best they could with keeping me not too high, but not too low. So just staying at a good head space,” Waddle said. “I think it����ap going to be a fun group. They have a lot of talent with ‘Court’, ‘Marv’ (Marvin Mims Jr.), Troy, Pat Lil’Jordan (Humphrey). I’m here to help in every fashion, making plays and learning. I’m excited to learn from them and for them to learn from me. It should be great.”

He makes the Broncos better. And his makeup makes them the AFC’s top contender.

“This is exactly what we needed,” Surtain told the team website. “He fits this team very well.”

The Broncos can win a Super Bowl. Not in two years. Not when they move into their new stadium.

This upcoming season. This is their time. They made it to the green room last January. Now, they are ready to walk onto the big stage and strut away with the franchise’s fourth Lombardi Trophy.

Jaylen Waddle, mercifully, provides the Broncos with what they were missing — another playmaker.

They did not bring in Waddle because they had a bad week in free agency, where the receiver options were limited and deemed unworthy of more than $6 million annually. They brought him to Denver because he is a terrific player and worth the compensation (Don’t @me with concerns about draft picks when a team is in a win-now window with a franchise quarterback on a rookie contract).

Let’s not minimize Waddle. This was a function of need.

There was no way the Broncos could look at anyone with a straight face and believe their offense was capable of winning a championship.

With Waddle, they are.

Waddle should tell us what he thinks on Wednesday. There are tentative plans for a press conference if Sean Payton does not cut the phone lines or knock the power out in the building.

No free agent has had one since Payton took over. Waddle deserves one.

He is that guy, the type of player who is never available in free agency at age 27 and whose talent would never be matched by the 30th pick in the first round.

He is versatile, durable, and productive (things I will deny saying if Lil’ Jordan Humphrey leads the Broncos in targets in Week 1). He has speed that demands attention, and is capable of turning a quick pop into a 50-yard burst.

For all of you grousing that the Broncos could have just drafted a player like Waddle, Payton has not developed his Nik Bonitto on offense as Vance Joseph has on defense.

The Broncos needed a veteran for Nix, and hopefully, longer marinating will make Pat Bryant and Troy Franklin more productive someday. Waddle is about today.

Think about what else this move means. Davis Webb has a chance.

Had the Broncos remained static offensively, there is no way Webb would have received a fair shot at calling plays. Until Tuesday, that was the Broncos’ biggest change this offseason. A 31-year-old expected to be for an offense what Doogie Howser was to an operating room.

Problem was, all the players were the same.

And you know who knows them better than anyone? Payton.

Had the Broncos struggled the first few games, it is almost certain Payton would have snatched the Waffle House menu back. He did that in New Orleans with Pete Carmichael in 2016. For the same reasons. They were all his guys.

Back then, it worked. This time it will not.

Payton is 10 years older, less decisive on the headset and slow with the mechanics of getting the play into Nix.

The Broncos must find out what they have in Webb. Is he the Ben Johnson on their staff?

No one will ever convince me that Payton gave up play-calling willingly.

More like reluctantly.

And watching him run it back at every position group, it felt like he was valuing continuity over productivity. That he was, though not purposefully, making it harder for Webb to find a lane to establish his identity.

Waddle changes everything.

Good players make great play callers. Webb now has a weapon to make the Broncos more dynamic.

He has Payton’s brain to pick in collaborative game plan meetings and a new receiver capable of making whiteboard dreams come to life.

“Defenses can no longer look at the Broncos and say they have one guy in Courtland that they need to take out and that they can live with what the other guys do,” said FOX NFL analyst and 104.3 The Fan host Mark Schlereth. “This gives them their first one-two punch since Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders.”

Ranking those in order who benefited most from Tuesday’s deal is easy: Nix, Webb, Evan Engram, everyone else.

Waddle gives Webb a chance to be more aggressive, especially after establishing the run.

J.K. Dobbins was the Broncos’ best offensive player for 10 games last season before a foot injury knocked him out for the season. He must prove he can stay healthy — the goal should be 14 games and the playoffs. R.J. Harvey remains in the mix and should be joined by a draft pick.

The ability to stay committed to the run will create long strikes from Nix to Waddle in play action. No more depending solely on Sutton to haul in a 50-50 ball on third down. Or Marvin Mims Jr. to rescue the team once a month.

“And remember, you stole Waddle from everybody else in the AFC who might have wanted him,” said Westwood One Radio host for NFL games Ryan Harris. “This move is a goldmine.”

After the Russell Wilson disaster, it must be asked: Why was Waddle available? The simple answer: the Dolphins are tearing down to the studs, rebuilding through the draft.

Also, everyone loves his route running. So, how is he different from Jerry Jeudy?

“He and Jerry are not (comparable) players. Jerry drops the ball. And if he is not the primary target, what are you going to get from him? Jaylen is going to get other guys open,” Schlereth said. “He is going to make other players better.”

Bottom line: Waddle can create space and havoc.

He gives Nix a chance to reach his ceiling. But it requires improvement.

Greg Cosell, an NFL analyst and a senior producer at NFL Films for nearly 40 years, echoed what multiple folks told me at the combine: Payton might have issues getting plays in, but he has not lost his touch. Nix, Cosell explained, left a lot of plays on the field, especially early in games.

It is on Webb to give Nix more time at the line of scrimmage to build consistency and make sure he is on time to take advantage of Waddle on slants.

Waddle gives them both a receiver who opens up all possibilities.

By getting him, the Broncos showed they knew what everybody else knew. They needed a weapon. And Webb, rubbing his hands together, is best suited to use him.

“This is a declaration,” Harris said, “that the Broncos intend to win the Super Bowl.”

Waddle has averaged four broken tackles per season since 2021. Courtland Sutton has averaged 1.2. Marvin Mims Jr. has averaged 1.3. Troy Franklin has averaged two.

No more stodgy screens. No more trying to chase points with singles hitters. Sean Payton and George Paton are swinging for the fences, baby. Waddle, the wide receiver reportedly acquired Tuesday in a blockbuster trade with the Miami Dolphins, is Denver’s biggest home-run threat this side of Hunter Goodman.

The former Alabama star can turn a 7-yard slant into a 35-yard house call.

You can split him out wide. You can stick him in the slot. You can run him out of the Wildcat or from the wishbone. The only limits to Waddle are a surgically repaired ankle and Payton’s imagination.

The Super Bo dream is alive and kicking. Bo Nix has a toy half the AFC would kill to play with. The Broncos landed A.J. Brown without the drama.

No, he didn’t come cheap. The law firm of Payton & Paton is sending Miami their first-round pick (No. 30), as well as selections in the third and fourth rounds, for Waddle and a fourth-rounder in return.

But he’s worth it. Every pick. Every hypothetical. Trading for Waddle is a win-now move, the kind of gambit you make when you’re a team that was a bum ankle and a snowstorm away from a Super Bowl last year.

Waddle’s cap number of $4.9 million jumps to $27 million in ’26 and $30 million in ’27. In terms of guarantees, it’s closer to a two-year deal on the books worth about $41.2 million, according to Spotrac.com.

The Broncos still have pick No. 62, late in the second round. Last year’s wideouts taken from picks 25-75 averaged numbers pretty similar to what Pat Bryant III put up in 2025 — 31 catches, 378 receiving yards, one receiving touchdown, three drops.

Since 2023, Waddle has averaged 15 games, 65 catches, 889 receiving yards, four scores, and five drops. Sure, a rookie such as Omar Cooper of Indiana would be cost-effective with that second-round pick, assuming he was on the board. But every first-year wideout is also a roll of the dice.

Speaking of taking chances, we won’t lie — Waddle’s drop numbers conjure up some Jerry Jeudy flashbacks. Then again, Payton has never suffered fools gladly, and the former Dolphins target brings a different skill set to the table.

As a 5-foot-11 speedster, the newest Bronco is as much a utility/slot/gadget option as a WR2. If anything, on paper, he’s a pricier version of Mims. And besides the draft capital, if there’s a down side Tuesday’s big swing, it’s that Waddle may very well cut into whatever looks/packages were planned for Mims, who’s always deserved more touches.

Then again, you can never have too much of a good thing in a league where catastrophic injuries run rampant. If nothing else, the Broncos can quietly explore the market for Mims, who’s heading into a contract year, or the market for Franklin, who’s got an extremely friendly cap number ($1.29 million this season) for a potential WR3/WR4.

Meanwhile, a Denver offense just added some serious Waddle. And for the first time in what feels like forever, the Broncos acted like a contender. Bills fans are gnashing teeth. Chiefs fans are raising eyebrows. In grabbing Waddle, the best team in the AFC — don’t kid yourselves, Patriots Nation — didn’t just get faster. It got better.

Denver’s third-year cornerback finished No. 12 in performance-based pay and brought home an extra $1,136,103 because of it.

That nearly doubles Moss’ pay for the 2025 season considering he had a base salary of $1,245,266.

Performance-based pay is supplemental income distributed each year to players by the based on a formula that weighs playing time against base salary. It is part of the collective bargaining agreement between the NFL and the and has been in place since 2002.

The Broncos are the only NFL team to not yet sign a free agent. What’s the strategy?

Any player who plays a snap is eligible and many players receive at least some money, but players who have low salaries and end up playing a lot are typically in line for the biggest distributions.

Moss started all 17 regular-season games for the Broncos and logged 97% of Denver’s defensive snaps while also chipping in 15% of the club’s special teams snaps.

The performance-based pay pool continues to rise across the league. After distributing a total of $452 million a year ago, the league distributed $542 million this year. That means each club’s roster received a total of $16.65 million, up from $14.13 million a year ago.

Behind Moss, four other players topped $800,000: Center Luke Wattenberg ($887,647), nickel Ja’Quan McMillian ($866,178), offensive lineman Alex Palczewski ($853,302) and outside linebacker Dondrea Tillman ($808,853).

Most of the top of the list is young players on rookie contracts or former undrafted free agents. The rest of Denver’s top 10 went WR Troy Franklin, OLB Jonah Elliss, All-Pro special teamer Devon Key, RB Tyler Badie and DL Eyioma Uwazurike.

Established players and top draft picks can earn a good bit of extra money too, though.

Safety Talanoa Hufanga logged 97.7% of playing time based on the calculations and took home an extra $427,726. Starting quarterback Bo Nix got $369,400 and all-pro left guard Quinn Meinerz was right after him at $308,969.

A year ago, only five players league-wide topped $1 million in PBP. This year, 25 players topped that mark.

Last year Moss was third on the Broncos at $650,787, trailing McMillian ($773,090) and Wattenberg ($662,587).

Last Tuesday, soon-to-be free-agent running back J.K. Dobbins was working out in the Broncos’ facility when he got a buzz from Payton to come up to his office. Dobbins finished, wandered up, and sat with Denver’s head coach for a simple conversation that’ll form the genesis of how Denver’s not-so-new-look run game will produce in 2026.

Payton told Dobbins that he was his guy, a source familiar with the situation told the Denver Post. That said enough. Being a Payton Guy has extended NFL lives and poured millions upon millions of dollars into loyal bank accounts. Being a Payton Guy, as former Saints linebacker Scott Shanle told The Post last year, is a “badge of honor.” And Payton has praised Dobbins to reporters throughout the year, enamored with the spirited presence of a running back who chose specifically to rehab a midseason Lisfranc injury in Denver to stick around the team rather than have surgery elsewhere.

“Losing J.K., obviously, was a tough loss,” Payton said after Denver’s season ended. “He brought a lot more to the locker room than you would know.”

And Payton made clear he didn’t want to lose Dobbins come 2026, the source said, in that March 3 conversation. The reality of Denver’s situation was slightly more complex. Jets star running back Breece Hall loomed as a potential free-agent option; asked if the Broncos would’ve gone after Hall had he hit the open market, a source with knowledge of the team’s thinking told The Post the decision would’ve been a “no-brainer.” But New York .

Other top options, from Kenneth Walker III to Travis Etienne Jr., quickly fell off the board during the early week’s legal-tampering period of free agency. Dobbins remained, as his own market started to climb. And the Broncos moved quickly to secure their 2025 leading rusher, and certified Payton Guy, on a two-year deal.

That single sequence has encapsulated Denver’s dealings — or lack of them — through the first week of free agency. The reigning No. 1-seeded Broncos are approaching unprecedented levels of run-it-back roster retention. As of Friday, Denver is the only team in the NFL to not have signed a single external free agent. Not only that, but the Broncos have signed back 16 of their own 22 players set to hit free agency since late February.

The sheer wave of Payton favorites re-upping on minimum deals — tight end Nate Adkins, fullback Adam Prentice, receiver Lil’Jordan Humphrey, running back Jaleel McLaughlin — has washed in heaps of online vitriol from Denver’s own fanbase. Internally, the Broncos’ brass went into free agency aligned without expecting to make a massive splash in the market. Externally, the Broncos’ lack of activity gives the impression of an organization that is relying fully on its Payton-era foundation for a Super Bowl leap, for better or for worse.

The reasons for this week’s developments are multifaceted. But the overall reality is simple, lying in the hands of the head man still pulling the strings despite passing off the play-calling reins.

Asked their impression of the Broncos’ approach, one NFL assistant coach told The Post: “Sean obviously likes his football team.”

Growth inside the building

There’s plenty left to play out, from the trade market to April’s draft. Denver, after all, first signed Dobbins in June 2025. But data indicates the Broncos have taken a particularly unique strategy on the first go-around of the free-agent carousel.

According to player data collected and analyzed by The Post, Denver currently has 94% of its total snaps from the 2025 season under contract. In the last 10 years, no team that’s made the AFC Championship Game has gone into the following season retaining more than 83.2% of its snaps from the previous year (the 2019 Kansas City Chiefs set this mark).

“Good call,” one NFL agent, speaking on condition of anonymity, remarked. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

Denver, of course, was the furthest thing from broken in a 14-3 season in 2025. The issue: its offense, by all accounts, was continually bent out of shape. Payton fired offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi and receivers coach Keary Colbert after a 14th-place finish in points per game in 2025 and appointed a separate play-caller — 31-year-old Davis Webb — for the first time in his 18-year head-coaching career.

At the NFL Combine, Payton was asked whether coming so close to a Super Bowl appearance influenced him to consider a big offseason swing or simply to stay the course. He directly acknowledged that the Broncos played the margins too thin in a season of white-knuckle moments at Empower Field.

“From my lens, we won a lot of games by one score or less, right?” Payton said then. “And I’m not naive enough to think those games couldn’t have swung, and you could grab any two or three. But where’s the meat on the bone?

“The meat on the bone,” he continued, “exists with our takeaways. That has to improve. Our run-game consistency, our meat on the bone relative to a number of things that we won despite maybe — not being as good as others.”

That has quickly become the defining quote of Denver’s offseason, for better or worse. Despite Payton’s acknowledgement that the Broncos couldn’t simply stand pat, they have simply … stood pat. In fact, they’ve only lost production. Defensive lineman John Franklin-Myers, who was everything from a key pass-rusher to a behind-the-scenes mentor, left for a monster three-year, $63 million deal with Tennessee. Backup safety P.J. Locke went to Dallas. Denver cut linebacker Dre Greenlaw to save cap room.

There are a few explanations for this confusing puzzle. Piece together hints from across the past year, and Payton and general manager George Paton are clearly focused on development from young, cheap talent under a new-look staff. That starts, of course, with a continued third-year leap from quarterback Bo Nix.

Payton made it clear at the combine that Nix wasn’t a factor in the decision to pass play-calling duties to Webb; people close to Nix, though, have told The Post that Nix was generally supportive of the move.

“There’s certainly things we want to be better at,” Payton said at the combine, speaking on Denver’s offensive operation. “But it����ap also being quicker. And look, it����ap only if there’s someone that you feel like is good enough to do that, and (Webb) will have that opportunity.”

The Broncos are also plenty high on their young receiving corps of Troy Franklin, Marvin Mims Jr. and Pat Bryant, with the potential to hand-pick another weapon come April: Indiana star Omar Cooper Jr. visited Denver for a pre-draft visit on Friday. Rising second-year back RJ Harvey will have every opportunity to show he can improve as a runner from an equally dynamic and shaky rookie season. 2025 third-round pick Sai’vion Jones, who received just 39 snaps in the middle of a logjam in his rookie year, could also make a push in training camp for Franklin-Myers’ role on the defensive line.

Denver has room for growth in its tight-end crop, too, despite preserving a middle-of-the-road group for 2025. Veteran Evan Engram is tight with Webb dating back to their shared playing days in New York, and Engram had a 58-yard catch-and-run in Webb’s preseason play-calling showcase against the Cardinals in August. 2025 seventh-round pick Caleb Lohner, meanwhile — a raw big body who spent his rookie year on the practice squad — is training in Texas this offseason with former Packers Pro Bowl receiver Donald Driver, Lohner’s uncle Mike told The Post.

Another possible hidden wrinkle to Denver’s offseason: the 2027 draft is already generating substantial buzz in the NFL. The Broncos will likely receive a fourth-round compensation pick in ’27 with Franklin-Myers’ departure, which becomes particularly valuable given the strength of next year’s class. This would not be a foreign strategy.

The Jaguars, who’ve also been notably quiet in free agency, have let star running back Travis Etienne and linebacker Devin Lloyd walk specifically to acquire 2027 draft capital.

“I think on its surface, you would think, ‘Oh, OK, you’re going to make picks in 2027,'” Jacksonville . “Whereas, in reality, those draft picks and having more of ’em actually allows you the luxury of remaining in the hunt at different intervals throughout the entire calendar year, for acquiring players.”

Cap considerations

The Post sourced 10 different NFL agents for their thoughts on Denver’s lack of activity early in free agency. The clear consensus from those sitting across the table: the Broncos haven’t taken a bad approach, given they were a Bo Nix fractured ankle and an AFC title game winter wonderland away from a Super Bowl appearance.

“They had a great season,” one agent texted. “It makes sense to me to build off of what you already have.”

“Why would you not bring that entire team back (?)” another agent texted. “Good chance they win it all if no Injury (sic) and maybe even just if no blizzard.”

“It is odd,” another agent mused. “They probably see it, like — it’s not worth overspending on anybody.”

That point is key. Two NFL sources who spoke with Denver earlier in the week told The Post that the Broncos weren’t willing to spend more than $10 million per year at running back and $6 million per year at tight end. That ruled out the dynamic Etienne, who signed for four years and $52 million with New Orleans. That also ruled out Chig Okonkwo — a skilled tight end the Broncos called about, according to a source — who ended up signing for three years and $30 million with the Commanders.

That’s not stinginess for the sake of stinginess. At his end-of-season presser, Payton likened the Broncos’ financial freedom from Russell Wilson’s contract to renovating one’s house.

“If I said I’m going to give you $50,000 to decorate your home, or $200,000, your home’s going to look nicer, I think, if you’re a decent shopper,” Payton said.

Denver, though, really has closer to $50,000.

Much of the Broncos’ cap room has already been gobbled up by a rollicking run of long-term extensions across the past year, locking in core pieces from Zach Allen and Nik Bonitto to Luke Wattenberg and Malcolm Roach. The Broncos really haven’t had much to spend after extensions for Alex Singleton, Justin Strnad, Dobbins and Trautman — and need to keep an eye towards possible in-season extensions for key players like Mims, Riley Moss, and Ja’Quan McMillian.

The Broncos, too, may have to consider future renegotiations with All-Pros Pat Surtain II and Quinn Meinerz, who Denver extended at such bargains in 2024 that both are now making well below their market value. Surtain’s now the fifth-highest-paid cornerback in the NFL via average salary, and Meinerz .

The draft and the trade market still beckon, and Paton and Denver’s front office head into April with enviable capital: nine total picks, after being awarded two seventh-round compensatory picks for losing free agents in the 2025 offseason. There’s still time, as owner Greg Penner said in late January, for the Broncos to be “opportunistically aggressive.”

Thus far, though, Denver’s been all opportunistic and hardly aggressive.