Many Denver Broncos fans have been wondering about the team’s plan this offseason.
It turns out there was one all along.
Broncos head coach Sean Payton and GM George Paton rocked the NFL world on Tuesday, landing Miami Dolphins star wide receiver Jaylen Waddle in a blockbuster trade.
Denver had to part with a first-round pick and third-round selection to acquire Waddle, with the two clubs also swapping fourth-round picks.
And with the Broncos not signing an outside free agent since last week, folks were getting impatient with Payton and Paton.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, on with Pat McAfee on Tuesday, this has been brewing for a bit and picked up right as free agency opened last Monday — or even a little before.
.@AdamSchefter joins the @PatMcAfeeShow and breaks down the Jaylen Waddle trade to the Broncos ✍️ pic.twitter.com/yl5zQ5DpF1
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) March 17, 2026
“I think there have been soft talks here for a while going on between the two teams,” Schefter said. “And over the course of the last 10 days the talks ramped up some, to the point where obviously this morning both teams felt comfortable enough to move ahead.”
So for all those jokes that Payton and Paton were asleep at the wheel — that wasn’t the case.
Waddle is definitely better than any free agent wide receiver options the Broncos had. He instantly makes their offense better, teaming up with Courtland Sutton, Troy Franklin, Pat Bryant, Marvin Mims Jr. and Evan Engram as viable weapons for Bo Nix.
Has it been a frustrating eight days? There’s no doubt.
Was it all worth it in the end? We’re fixing to find out, but the Broncos look to be all-in to win the Super Bowl next season.
Of course the braintrust running the team was eventually going to do something, it just took a little longer than anyone expected. And as Schefter laid out, this has been their plan for more than a week.