Courtland Sutton
Getty
Denver Broncos wide receiver Courtland Sutton.
Denver Broncos general manager George Paton and head coach Sean Payton have made a point of saying they won’t trade any of the talented wide receivers currently on their roster.
“No (we won’t trade wide receivers), we really like those pieces, and they’re all going to help us,” Paton told DNVR’s Zac Stevens. “They’ve all helped us until now.”
While it’s great lip service and might make the current group of wide receivers sleep well at night during the offseason, it’s a foolish thing for Paton to come out and say any group of players on offense isn’t going to be traded.
Here’s 3 reasons why none of us should believe Paton when he says the remaining wide receivers are off-limits in a trade.
Reason No. 1: Another Blockbuster Deal Could Land
The Broncos probably cost themselves a spot in the Super Bowl last season by not making a move for Miami Dolphins wide receiver Jaylen Waddle at the NFL trade deadline because the price was too high — a price they were willing to pay last month by sending the Dolphins a 1st round pick and 3rd round pick for Waddle.
Making a move for Waddle shows the Broncos are open for business. Getting another star via a trade would be smart, and we can almost certainly rule out using any more 1st round draft picks to get elite players on the roster.
That means, if there were to be a deal in the future, it would need to include an asset already on the roster. Which means wide receivers, because the Broncos have too many of those.
Reason No. 2: Waddle Clear-Cut WR1 for Broncos
Another person we shouldn’t believe is Payton, who says that Waddle isn’t the clear-cut WR1 for the Broncos.
“Sean Payton made it clear the Broncos don’t have aWR1 and WR2,” Stevens wrote at the annual NFL owners meetings this week in Phoenix.
If we use common sense, Waddle’s skill level makes him the WR1 for the Broncos. He was a WR2 in the past on the Dolphins, but that was only because the NFL’s best wide receiver at the time, Tyreek Hill, was in front of him.
There’s an obvious skill gap between Waddle and the Broncos’ WR1 for almost the last decade in Courtland Sutton, who has consecutive 1,000-yard seasons and could even have a 3rd consecutive 1,000-yard season in 2026 — he would just need to do it with Waddle being the main target.
That also means everybody except for Waddle is trade bait.
Reason No. 3: Too Much Talent, Not Enough Snaps
After Waddle, the Broncos have 4 wide receivers who could have trade value with Sutton, Marvin Mims, Troy Franklin, and Lil’Jordan Humphrey — 2nd-year wide receiver Pat Bryant might also be trade bait to a team that’s desperate enough.
Humphrey could almost certainly be a plug-and-play WR3 for a team in need and get back a 6th-round pick.
Mims, a 2-time NFL All-Pro return specialist, has shown he could be a dynamic wide receiver. Franklin made a major leap from his rookie year to 2025, and it’s not hard to see him garnering a 3rd or 4th round pick in return — both Mims and Franklin are clear-cut WR2 candidates for the majority of the teams in the NFL.