Broncos draft pick Justin Joly stolen on waivers by most predictable team

The Denver Broncos took a risk by subjecting rookie tight end Justin Joly to the waiver wire, and he's now officially gone.

Joly was claimed on waivers by the most predictable team imaginable: The Miami Dolphins.

The Dolphins made a league-high 7 waiver claims as they look to rebuild their roster under new GM Jon-Eric Sullivan and head coach Jeff Hafley. The Broncos and Dolphins already struck one of the biggest blockbuster deals of the offseason with the Jaylen Waddle trade, and even after getting Denver's 1st- and 3rd-round picks in the 2026 NFL Draft, Miami apparently wasn't done collecting.

Joly is now a member of the Miami Dolphins, who have two of George Paton's failed tight end picks on their roster (Greg Dulcich).

Justin Joly sniped away from the Broncos on waivers by the Miami Dolphins

The Dolphins had one of the biggest rookie classes in the NFL this year after making 13 selections in the 2026 NFL Draft. Getting Joly is a nice little bonus for them, because he was the highest-drafted player from the class of 2026 to get cut by his team this year.

That's obviously not a great look for the Denver Broncos, who need some type of future plan at the tight end position. The Broncos kept rookie Dallen Bentley over the younger Joly, a big surprise decision to say the least.

Even though he was "just" a Day 3 pick, the Broncos traded up to get Justin Joly in the Spring. He represented a refreshing jolt of upside at a position that has lacked not only upside, but production from proven veterans. Instead of going after anyone in free agency or earlier in the draft, the Broncos decided to be patient during the draft, and Joly fell into their laps.

It felt like a really good pickup at the time, but GM George Paton noted how raw Joly was coming out, and that missed time in the offseason program really hurt his case:

“Justin is a talented player. We knew it when we drafted him. We knew he was raw. We still like the player. He was coming on towards the end of training camp. Tight end position is a tough position for a rookie. He missed a lot of the offseason, just a little bit behind. We wish we had another game or two. We still like the player. We think he’s going to have a nice career. You just have to make tough decisions to build the best 53 you can make.”

- GM George Paton (via Broncos PR)

Again, it's just an unfortunate situation for the Broncos, and perhaps speaks to a bigger issue they have with identifying and developing talent at the tight end position.

While he was with the Broncos, Greg Dulcich struggled more with injuries than on-field production (when healthy), but he was also horrendous in a handful of games during the 2023 season under Sean Payton. Joly didn't seem to fit in from the start, and there were a couple of reports from training camp that perhaps put the writing on the wall:

It's little moments like this, along with Joly fumbling in 7-on-7 during camp, that make you wonder if the Broncos just soured on him after their initial evaluation. Sean Payton has never been one to shy away from making difficult roster decisions like this, and clearly the Broncos felt that they had enough information on Joly to know it wasn't going to work out in the long term.

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