The Denver Broncos stood pat at last year's NFL Trade Deadline, but in the offseason, the team swung a major deal for wide receiver Jaylen Waddle. While he has not produced as expected, no one on the offense really has outside of Garett Bolles and Quinn Meiners, the team's two All-Pro offensive linemen.
Denver, though, after a six-game stretch that was largely thought of as being the hardest in football to start the season, is now 4-2 on the season with a great chance to get to 5-2, as they face the Arizona Cardinals in Week 7, a team that is coming off a major upset in Week 6.
The Broncos are, from top to bottom, better than the Cardinals and should win this game, and with a win, the team should strongly consider becoming active buyers at the 2026 NFL Trade Deadline.
The Denver Broncos need to consider being major buyers at the deadline, especially with a Week 7 win
There are reasons for and against the Broncos being buyers at the deadline. The obvious reason against it is if the team simply keeps winning - winning means you're doing something right, so in the minds of the coaching staff and front office, there might not be a need to bring in another player or two if the current group is accomplishing the goal most weeks.
However, that doesn't mean there aren't personnel issues. The Broncos did deal with personnel issues last year, but still won 14 games despite not having a very good run game when J.K. Dobbins went down, for example.
The team winning could (and should) prompt the front office to simply do what it takes to evaluate and shore up the remaining roster holes, as realistically as possible. I'm not saying the team should win in Week 7 and immediately go out and trade for Jonathan Taylor and Quenton Nelson, but if the team made a major move for Waddle this offseason, why can't they do something similar again...?
In today's NFL, as quickly as Super Bowl windows open, they close, and the Broncos would not have added Waddle if they did not think they could win the Super Bowl this year. I can't imagine that thought process has changed, either.
While one win over the Cardinals in Week 7 doesn't really move the needle a ton, it does bring us another game closer to the deadline, which is on November 10th this year. And getting to 5-2 and extending the win streak would at least further confirm that this team knows how to take care of business and can keep stacking wins, as was also evidenced last year during their 11-game win streak.
The AFC is truly wide open this year, but at the same time, there are a lot of really strong, competent football teams. The Broncos are one of those teams, but they also have personnel issues. Adding someone like Taylor in a trade would feel like a near best-case scenario, for example.
But there will surely be more players traded before November 10th. Denver winning in Week 7 would bring the team closer to the deadline and should force the front office to consider an aggressive move. If now isn't going to be the best time to do it, then when?
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