If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, quacks like a duck, then it probably is Jaylen Waddle.
There is your answer to upgrading the Broncos. You’re welcome.
A month removed from the AFC Championship loss — wasn’t that a kick in the groin instead of through the uprights — the facts remain clear. Denver is not reaching the Super Bowl or winning it without more weapons around Bo Nix.
Who better for the former Oregon Duck to throw to than Waddle?
Saying it inspires grins. Seeing him in the offense would create cheers.
Time for general manager George Paton to pick up the phone and call the Dolphins. Miami is hitting CTRL-ALT-DEL, cutting former star receiver Tyreek Hill, edge rusher Bradley Chubb and two other players last week.
If new coach Jeff Hafley and general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan want to tear it down, the Broncos would be foolish not to check in. Again.
Denver kicked the tires on Waddle at the trade deadline last October, along with multiple teams.
The feeling then, under old management, was that the Dolphins were not interested in making a deal, whether it was the Broncos, Bills or someone else. Reports indicated the Dolphins wanted a first-round pick included. That is unreasonable for a receiver in a league where the draft cranks out a battery of contributors every year.
But Waddle is worth acquiring. Offer Troy Franklin and a third and a fifth-round pick. If the call does not drop, persist. Don’t want Franklin? How about outside linebacker Dondrea Tillman?
Waddle would finally solve the Broncos’ WR2 problem.
Check that, he could give them 1A and 1B options when paired with Courtland Sutton. Sutton has become to Nix what a blanket is to Linus. Too often, he only has eyes for him on third down.
Waddle would pull coverage away from Sutton. Give Nix a legitimate alternative, sometimes even one who can stretch the field.
Can you imagine? The notion of Waddle in orange creates goosebumps.
We only see a deep threat on the random weeks that Marvin Mims Jr. is viewed as a receiver and not a gadget player.
Consider this: Sutton has posted a 17-game average of 71 catches, 957 yards and eight touchdowns over the past three seasons. Waddle counters at 73, 1,008, and five. They both average 13.4 yards per reception.
Two is better than one.
And for those who believe the answer is in-house with Franklin, here is my push back. Yes, no player improved more year-over -year than the former Oregon standout. But he was not dynamic.
Of the 28 receivers with 100-plus targets last season, only one finished with fewer yards than Franklin (709), per Pro Football Reference. That was Jerry Jeudy.
OK, that is a little funny. But Jeudy has an explanation. He played with every quarterback but Brian Sipe last season.
Franklin averaged 6.8 yards on his 104 targets, ranking 26th of 28. And his 48.1% success rate was 24th.
He will get better, but not quickly enough in the Broncos’ Super Bowl window. There is a saying in sports: the time to rebuild was last year. And the time to go for it is this year.
The Broncos are in position with an elite defense coached by Vance Joseph and Nix on his rookie contract. Franklin, 23, might figure it out. But realistically, he will blossom in his fourth or fifth season. That is too late.
Waddle, 27, is ready to meet the moment.
Why not pursue the Eagles’ A.J. Brown? Some in Broncos Country are already attracted to him like a compass needle is to a magnet.
This scenario was presented by ESPN’s Bill Barnwell recently. He suggested the Broncos trade cornerback Riley Moss, a second-round pick, and a fifth-round pick to the Eagles in exchange for Brown and a future fifth-round selection.
Brown is better than Waddle. But he is also a drama llama.
He never seems happy, even though he won a Super Bowl in 2025 and is a central focus of the offense. The Broncos pursued Stefon Diggs last offseason, and he exhibits diva traits. But that was before Denver agreed to a contract extension with Sutton.
Would Sean Payton risk adding Brown to the mix?
He is fond of saying that he owes it to the locker room to bring in good fits. Not sure there would be a more volatile ingredient than Brown, his production be damned.
Owner Greg Penner echoed the same sentiments as the coach, saying at the end of the year press conference, “It really starts with the culture of toughness, resiliency and grit that Sean has instilled into this group and having the right players here.”
That doesn’t sound like Brown. Perhaps new intel emerges at the NFL combine this week, and we can revisit the 28-year-old’s availability.
For now, Waddle makes more sense.
And let’s be fair, a running back makes the most sense because it is more straightforward, involving no draft pick compensation, just a routing number to a bank account in free agency for Breece Hall, Kenneth Walker and Travis Etienne Jr.
Any of those three would provide a boost for an offense that finished in the top third in three-and-out drives the past two seasons.
They have performed when everyone expects them to. And, in the case of Walker, he performed when the whole world was watching.
Once J.K. Dobbins succumbed to injury, the Broncos became unbalanced and too tentative. Denver turtled its way to season-ending victories over the Chiefs and Chargers against backup quarterbacks.
A more explosive offense will lead to more leads and takeaways.
In Indianapolis, the Broncos will likely try to sell us on the idea that if they fail to acquire a weapon, it will be no water off their back. Don’t fall for it.
The Broncos must add. If it is a receiver, make it Waddle. Or be prepared to duck and cover.
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