NFL: Broncos’ Jaylen Waddle sidelined 4-5 days

A cautious pause in Denver

Jaylen Waddle will sit for a few days. The Denver Broncos wide receiver is dealing with a muscle strain in his left leg, and head coach Sean Payton ruled him out as a precaution on Thursday. Waddle skipped practice and was seen limping with a sleeve on the leg.

“He has a strain. I think we’ll see him back in the next four to five days,” Payton said. Nothing in that assessment suggests alarm this early in August.

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The price of a headline trade

Denver paid up for Waddle. The Broncos sent first-, third- and fourth-round picks to Miami on March 17 to land the receiver and a 2026 fourth-rounder, and he is owed $68.6 million over the next three seasons. That outlay explains the caution over a minor strain.

The production backs the investment. Waddle caught 64 passes for 910 yards and six touchdowns in 16 starts last season for a rebuilding Dolphins side. Since Miami took him sixth overall in 2021 out of Alabama, he has piled up 373 receptions for 5,039 yards and 26 touchdowns across 78 career starts.

Timeline

A four-to-five-day absence keeps Waddle on track for the bulk of Denver’s preseason work. The Broncos would rather lose him for a week now than push a new investment too hard, too soon.

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