The Denver Broncos were the last team in the NFL to make their top pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, and that was thanks to the Jaylen Waddle trade they made back in the middle of March.
The blockbuster trade sent one of the league's top receivers to Denver, while the Broncos sent some of their most valuable NFL Draft real estate back to the Dolphins. Even though we still need to see Waddle and all of these draft picks take the field, you can't help but feel like the Broncos pulled off a work of complete mastery with this trade, especially given the quality of talent at the top of the draft.
Now that all of the picks have been made, let's take a look at how both the Broncos and Dolphins made out in the Waddle trade, and why the Broncos look like they might "win" the deal with relative ease.
Denver Broncos clearly made the right call giving up picks for Jaylen Waddle
Now that all the dust has settled, let's take a look at how this trade ended up:
Obviously, the deal is going to look like it weighs heavily in the Broncos' favor right now. We have absolutely no clue how the picks will work out for the Dolphins, but let's take a look at what they ended up getting in those pick slots.
Chris Johnson should end up being a solid starting cornerback for them. He was one of the more underrated prospects in this class with a great blend of size, toughness, and ball skills.
Chris Bell is recovering from an injury and his availability for the start of this season is a bit of a question mark. It's always a risk taking a player with a pre-existing injury coming up from the college ranks, but Bell was being considered a possible late-1st/early-2nd-round player before the injury occurred.
Trey Moore is a tweener type of player off the edge who should provide them some immediate help on special teams.
The path to the Dolphins winning this trade is if Chris Johnson ends up being one of the top 15 or so cornerbacks in the league and Chris Bell lives up to some of the lofty hype before he got injured. And somehow, the Jaylen Waddle trade will have to look more like the Russell Wilson trade in terms of the on-field product.
But nobody in Broncos Country is going to give that thought the time of day.
And who knows? Maybe Kage Casey can eventually become a starter for the offensive line as well. He's the first tackle the Broncos have drafted since Garett Bolles in 2017, and could project as a starter at either the tackle position or guard down the line.
Ultimately, if Waddle is what the Broncos believe he is, they are going to come away from this trade looking like geniuses for giving up picks in a weak overall draft class.
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