The Las Vegas Raiders were finally the team to bottom out during the 2025 NFL season after years of hovering in mediocrity. But the Miami Dolphins have upped the ante this offseason, as the new leadership tandem of Jon-Eric Sullivan and Jeff Hafley is cleaning house as never seen before.
Miami has essentially cut or traded any player of value in the last few weeks, outside of running back De'Von Achane. On Tuesday, the final domino fell, as the Dolphins traded star wide receiver Jaylen Waddle to the Denver Broncos, the Raiders' bitter AFC West rival.
After an irrefutably strong offseason for the Silver and Black, which featured upgrades like Tyler Linderbaum, Quay Walker, Nakobe Dean and Jalen Nailor, the Broncos landing Waddle serves as a bit of a gut check for the franchise.
Raiders fans may wince as Broncos upgrade WR room with Jaylen Waddle
Now, nobody expected Las Vegas to ascend into contention this year. Making solid improvements should be the name of the game for Klint Kubiak's squad, so they're playing an entirely different game than Denver, which should be going all-in during their window to win a Super Bowl.
That said, nobody wants to see the Broncos hoisting a Lombardi Trophy, and adding Waddle to a less-than-impressive wide receiver corps is certainly a step in that direction. Yes, the AFC was weak last year, but Sean Payton's squad was a game away from getting to the big stage and didn't have Bo Nix.
Waddle is undeniably the best receiver now in Denver, and he provides an element that they didn't have before. Whereas Courtland Sutton will be their bigger target and red zone eficionado, Waddle can be their speedster and homerun hitter.
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Not only that, but the Raiders will now have to gameplan for a much better Broncos wide receiver group, which they didn't have to do last year. Even though Denver had a tremendous season, they didn't exactly set the Las Vegas defense on fire, averaging just 17 points per game.
Yes, the Broncos gave up a lot for Waddle. Although they moved up 19 spots in Round 4 during the deal, they're mortgaging a first and third-round pick on his talents, and Waddle has never served as a true No. 1 wide receiver. His production has gone down in recent years, but he can still play.
It's certainly not the end of the world that Denver found a way to improve. They hadn't added a player from outside the building before they agreed to this trade, so the Raiders still made up some ground on them this offseason.
But Waddle is a tough matchup twice a year, and if this even inches the Broncos closer to winning a ring, then it is a loss for Las Vegas.