Broncos vs. Dolphins: Who won the Jaylen Waddle trade?

Even though the NFL free agency period is winding down, plenty of deals and trades are still being made. One large deal that happened during the offseason was the Miami Dolphins continuing their rebuild by trading wide receiver Jaylen Waddle to the Denver Broncos. In the deal, the Broncos will receive Waddle and Miami's 2026 fourth-round pick, while the Dolphins will receive Denver’s 2026 first-round pick (30th overall), as well as 2026 third- and fourth-round picks. So, which team won this trade deal? The NFL experts and analysts are weighing in. In a Tuesday, March 17 feature for CBS Sports, Jordan Dajani discusses the NFL offseason moves and grades the changes. "This NFL offseason has already been a wild one, as we witnessed an uptick in trades during free agency," he says in the story. "Certain teams were looking to shed salary in order to get under the set cap number, while other teams were looking to buy talent ahead of the free agency firestorm." When it comes to the Dolphins and Broncos trade, he notes that the trade grades, per Carter Bahns, were an A- for the Broncos and B+ for the Dolphins. So, the Broncos won this trade, but just barely. "The Broncos were uncomfortably quiet during free agency, but George Paton found a way to shatter that silence Tuesday by trading for Jaylen Waddle." he notes in the piece. "A first-round pick, third-round pick and a fourth-round swap is a pretty high price to pay for Waddle." More sports news: Panthers Sign Former Packers Star to Replace Rico Dowdle He adds, "I mean, what are the Eagles now expecting for A.J. Brown? But upgrading Bo Nix's weaponry was something Denver had to do this offseason. The Broncos' Super Bowl window is open, so it's easy to appreciate this big swing." In a separate feature, Seth Walder of ESPN says of the trade that the Kansas City Chiefs have some questions. "Is Fields the right person to handle the pre-Mahomes part of the 2026 season?" he notes. "And if not, did they need to make this trade? It's possible the answer to both is no, but the Chiefs needed a cheap, temporary solution at quarterback." More sports news: Travis Kelce and Jason Kelce Make Risky Final Four picks He also says that from the Jets' view, "Would they have found a trade partner if the Chiefs didn't step up? It's possible. But if not, they would have almost certainly released Fields and not received any draft compensation. In that scenario, the Chiefs, with coach Andy Reid and the potential of early-season starts, surely would have been a very attractive destination for Fields on the veteran minimum."