Jaylen

Waddle

The Dolphins received calls on the 26-year-old wideout, including from the Denver Broncos. However, Wolfe reports the Dolphins wanted a “Quinnen Williams or Sauce Gardner type return” for Waddle. This would have consisted of at least one first-rounder and another first- or second-round pick, but there was not a market for this kind of return for him. The Dolphins view Waddle as a part of their future, whether that includes the current Tua Tagovailoa/Mike McDaniel quarterback-coach combination or not. Trade rumors will certainly resurface in the offseason, though Miami is clearly reluctant to part ways with the speedy former No. 6 overall pick.

Waddle is no stranger to playing through minor injuries. This week will be no different. On the plus side, a full practice means this is truly the most minor of issues. It shouldn’t affect him come Sunday. Coming off back-to-back games of at least five grabs and 80 yards, Waddle has locked up a spot in the WR2 ranks heading into Week 10.

As much sense as a Waddle trade makes, teams rarely commit to the most obvious of moves. Having already fired GM Chris Grier, the Dolphins are all but throwing in the towel in the 2025 season. With a dead cap hit of over $100 million potentially on the horizon via Tua Tagovailoa’s release, the Dolphins could be staring down the barrel of a multi-year rebuild. Schefter notes that the Dolphins are looking for “a 1 plus” as compensation in a Waddle trade. We doubt any team is willing to spend that much, meaning Waddle will remain a Dolphin for the foreseeable future.

It was another solid effort for Waddle as he operated as something of a “rare bright spot” for a team that immediately found itself back in crisis following last Sunday’s outlier win over the Falcons. Waddle was unlucky to be held below 100 yards, as he took a mammoth hit on a second quarter 36-yard reception only for the grab to be called back by a bogus tripping penalty. Waddle has been absolutely cooking since Tyreek Hill’s season-ending injury, but there are limits to what any wideout can accomplish with Tua Tagovailoa under center. That makes him a volatile but high-upside WR2 heading into Week 10 against the Bills.

Waddle did nothing in an embarrassing loss to the Browns last week, catching one pass for 15 scoreless yards. He and the entire Miami offense returned to form in emphatic fashion this week. Tua Tagovailoa tossed four touchdowns and Waddle got home on one of them for a 43-yard score in the third quarter. Waddle is dominating targets with Tyreek Hill and Darren Waller out. Hill is done for the year while Waller will miss at least three more games. That will leave plenty of work for Waddle when he takes on the Ravens on Thursday, keeping him in the WR2 ranks.

Waddle will play in Week 8 despite injuring both hamstrings this week. While he technically can be started as a WR2, there are obvious re-injury concerns at play. Waddle should command a healthy target share for as long as he is out there, operating as the Dolphins’ No. 1 wide receiver, though.

Waddle popped up on the injury report, and McDaniel said that he is expected to play through “tweaked” hamstrings. We’d expect a questionable tag later today. Based on that report, Waddle is probably a re-injury risk and you can break near-ties in the rankings against Waddle. But given how little the Dolphins have, unless your wideout room is just stacked, you’re probably going to wind up starting Waddle.

It was a new injury listing, though it’s hard to understand how serious it is with the “rest” designation added. Waddle’s absence — should that be where this heads — would be enormous for the Dolphins, who would have to build an entire passing game out of Malik Washington and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine. As it is, we don’t want to overreact to it, but Waddle will be a major domino on the injury report watchlist on Friday.

Fowler notes that plans “can always change,” but the team views Waddle as “a building block who can translate to any offense,” should the Dolphins choose to implement a new one in 2026. While a change of scenery, or Dolphins quarterback, could quickly improve Waddle’s fantasy prospects, it sounds as though things are tentatively expected to remain the same for Waddle at this time.

Rock bottom. One of Waddle’s missed connections was a late sail job by new No. 2 Quinn Ewers. Waddle skied then landed awkwardly and was in a world of pain. He eventually made it to the sideline unassisted and avoided the blue tent, suggesting it was a mere wind knocking. Before Ewers’ insertion, Waddle suffered through three awful Tua Tagovailoa picks. This was a bad matchup in worse weather, but this is an offense coming apart at the seams. Waddle is probably best left outside the top 18 for Week 8 against the Falcons.