The Miami Dolphins continued their aggressive tearing down of their roster Tuesday. The next veteran on his way out is wide receiver Jaylen Waddle.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported Tuesday morning the Dolphins agreed to trade Waddle to the Denver Broncos.
NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported Miami will send both Waddle and a 2026 fourth-round pick to Denver. In return, the Dolphins will receive three draft picks, including No. 30 overall in the 2026 first round.
Waddle spent five seasons with the Dolphins, all of which he recorded at least 744 receiving yards. In his first three campaigns, he registered 1,000-yard seasons.
Last year, Waddle had 64 catches for 910 receiving yards and six touchdowns in 16 games.
Dolphins Trade WR Jaylen Waddle to Denver Broncos: Report
The Dolphins have clearly been looking for a fresh start this offseason with new general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan and head coach Jeff Hafley.
Parting ways with Waddle is another clear sign of that and pushes the Dolphins further into rebuild mode.
The three stars the Dolphins built their offense around under the previous regime — quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle — are now all gone. Miami released Tagovailoa and Hill this offseason, accepting almost $85 million in dead cap money.
Trading Waddle will bring another major dead cap hit for the Dolphins in 2026. But at least the team will receive draft compensation in return.
In addition to the first-round pick, Miami received a late Day 2 and early Day 3 pick for the receiver.
The Dolphins now possess 11 selections in the 2026 draft. They are going to need those picks to fill out their roster with so much money going toward players not with the Dolphins anymore.
But going forward, the hope is Miami will build a young core with all its draft capital.
After trading Waddle, the Dolphins have two first-round picks and four third-round selections. They also have a choice in the second round.
Dolphins WR Depth Entering 2026
Miami signed quarterback Malik Willis to a 3-year, $67.5 million contract during the first week of free agency. Having success as a backup last season, Willis was the top signal-caller on the free agent market.
But other than that, the Dolphins have only reportedly made minor additions. The team has signed more than a dozen other veterans to 1-year contracts.
Miami could be doing that for a couple different reasons. The team doesn’t want to be tied to any veterans long term. That’s because the organization is hoping to bring in a lot of young talent through the draft.
The Dolphins also could have been preparing for another big dead cap hit. Again, that’s what the Waddle trade will bring.
Spotrac reported the Waddle move to Denver will leave Miami with a $23.2 million dead cap hit.
Without Waddle, the Dolphins aren’t leaving Willis much to work with on offense. But Miami signed veteran wideouts Jalen Tolbert and TuTu Atwell to 1-year deals in free agency.
The Dolphins also re-signed tight end Greg Dulcich to a 1-year contract. At $3.25 million, the veteran tight end has received the second-most expensive deal from the Dolphins this offseason.
The Broncos were very quiet in NFL free agency before the Waddle trade. That’s clearly no longer the case. Denver added Waddle to be its top playmaker and to potentially put the team over the top in the AFC next season.
Dolphins Make Blockbuster Trade With WR Jaylen Waddle: Report