The Denver Broncos were doubted all year in 2026, came a step short of the Super Bowl (due to injury, mind you), and have one of the most doubted quarterbacks in all of football. Even still, the Broncos entered the 2026 offseason already being discounted for next year, with analysts seemingly learning nothing. Apparently, the 14-3 and first-place Broncos did not do enough to get the buy-in from the football world.
The Broncos were bashed, understandably so, for not signing anyone to begin the free agency period a few weeks back. The Broncos followed that by landing the biggest fish in the wide receiver pond this year, adding Jaylen Waddle from the Miami Dolphins. This helped some realize how scary the Broncos are for 2026, but apparently, it did not work on everyone.
The likes of ESPN's Dan Orlovsky are now seeing the undeniable Broncos vision for 2026, but other voices are yet to realize what Sean Payton and George Paton are building. Not only is it fairly insane not to see the obvious, but it is downright disrespectful. Talking heads are giving the Broncos even more bulletin board material heading into 2026, as if the most disrespected team in football needed any more.
Skip Bayless just gave Jaylen Waddle and the Broncos even more motivation heading into 2026
Skip Bayless is not exactly regarded as the beacon of correct takes and sound opinions, but he is not afraid to let his voice be heard. He recently went so far as to say that Waddle did "virtually nothing" once Tyreek Hill went down in Miami and criticized his whole body of work in the NFL. He even went as far as to say that he never lived up to being the sixth overall selection in the NFL draft.
"I don't think a lot about Jaylen Waddle because he was a clear-cut #2, and when Tyreek went out, he did virtually nothing. He never lived up to being the No. 6 overall pick."
- Skip Bayless
Bayless is typically not correct with many of these takes, but this one might be his worst in a while. The Dolphins have been stuck with brutal quarterback play for some time now, and Waddle was tasked with trying to make the most in a horrible situation. On a pretty bad team that changed quarterbacks halfway through the season, Waddle still turned in 900 receiving yards and scored six times.
Since coming into the league, Waddle has averaged almost 1,100 receiving yards per 17 games and has only missed seven games in his five years in the league. He has shown the ability to be a truly dominating receiver as he did in 2022, when he scorched the AFC to the tune of 1,350 receiving yards. He is truly elite and is going to help push the Broncos over the top in 2026, whether Skip Bayless believes so or not.