The Denver Broncos were having a bit of a quiet offseason.
Until they didn’t.
Head coach Sean Payton and GM George Paton traded for Miami Dolphins wide receiver Jaylen Waddle last week, instantly improving Denver’s offense and giving Bo Nix another explosive weapon in the passing game.
Before that free agency had been all about retaining their own players — not a bad strategy for a team that went 14-3 and reached the AFC Championship a season ago. It might not have been splashy, but it was probably smart.
Of course that all changed with the Waddle blockbuster which was one of the biggest moves of the NFL offseason. The Broncos had to part with a first-round pick and third-round pick, but Waddle has said all the right things since joining the team and fans are excited.
And what Payton and Paton have done got the attention of ESPN’s Ben Solak. He ranked team’s additions this spring and has the Broncos at No. 5 in the league. Only the Steelers, 49ers, Lions and Saints came in ahead of Denver.
“This is the sort of move that contending teams in rookie QB contract windows should make. With the 30th pick in a weak draft class, the Broncos were unlikely to get a needle-moving player for 2026. Instead, they used that pick (and a middle-round pick) to get Waddle,” Solak wrote of the big trade.
He’s not wrong. With Nix counting for a very small portion of the salary cap, the Broncos are in a “win now” moment in time. Adding Waddle shows Denver believes it can win two more games in 2026 and hoist the Lombardi Trophy. Heck, if Nix didn’t break his ankle against the Bills they might’ve done it this past year.
But it wasn’t all praise from Solak as he wasn’t a massive fan of re-signing inside linebackers Alex Singleton and Justin Strnad while Denver moved on from Dre Greenlaw.
“I do think that the Broncos’ linebackers were often exposed in man coverage last season, and with both Singleton and Strnad back in-house, teams with good pass-catching backs will continue stressing Denver’s second level,” Solak wrote.
If there was a weakness of Vance Joseph’s excellent defense last year, it might be just that. We’ll see if the Broncos draft an impact linebacker in the second-round of next month’s NFL Draft.
To see the full rankings of all 32 teams, click here.