Miami Dolphins See Jaylen Waddle Depart as Ideal Opportunity for His Starry Night
New Dolphins general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan did well by trading Jaylen Waddle to the Denver Broncos. He and the team need those draft picks.
Jaylen Waddle posted three 1,000-yard seasons for the Miami Dolphins and lived up to his status as the sixth overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. But trading Waddle to the Denver Broncos at this moment makes complete sense. And the value received ― reportedly picks in the 1st, 3rd and 4th rounds ― seems fair.
A fourth rounder will go with Waddle back to the Broncos. It won't help first-year quarterback Malik Willis to lose a game-breaking player like Waddle. But the Dolphins are in a reconstructive mode.
And for first-year general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan , draft picks must be the priority. The Dolphins, in a rebuild arms race with AFC rival New York Jets, now hold t hese picks in the first three rounds of the next NFL Draft: First Round (2), 11th and 30th Second Round (1): 43rd Third Round (4): 75th, 87th, 90th, 94th Miami Dolphins NFL Draft stockpile just got bigger Waddle is talented. It's also true that in its next iteration, Miami wants to get bigger and stronger.
Waddle is 5-feet-10, 185 pounds. Waddle averaged 15. 6 starts over his five Miami seasons, so one cannot really say he is injury-prone.