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03/18/26 05:05:00
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03/18 17:00 CDT From Alabama to Denver, Waddle and Surtain reunite with
training camp battles looming
From Alabama to Denver, Waddle and Surtain reunite with training camp battles
looming
By ARNIE STAPLETON
AP Pro Football Writer
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) --- Jaylen Waddle and Pat Surtain II are gearing up for
some fierce training camp competitions now that the former Alabama stars have
been reunited in Denver.
"He was one of the first calls that I made," Waddle said on a conference call
Wednesday after his trade to the Broncos from the Miami Dolphins was finalized.
"We talked about this earlier in our careers, we wanted to get together and
play with each other.
"Just seeing it happen, it's special."
Waddle and Surtain were both part of the Crimson Tide's 2018 recruiting class
and played three seasons together in Tuscaloosa, winning a national
championship in 2020 before leaving for the NFL. Waddle was drafted sixth
overall by the Dolphins in the 2021 NFL draft, three spots ahead of where the
Broncos selected Surtain, who has lived up to his promise as one of the
league's premier cornerbacks.
The Broncos, who remain the only team not to sign an outside free agent this
offseason, acquired one of the league's fastest and best wide receivers in a
blockbuster trade that sent three draft picks to the Dolphins, including the
30th-overall selection next month.
Waddle said Surtain didn't give him any new intel on the Broncos and coach Sean
Payton in their conversations since the trade.
"Not too many details. (But) we kept in contact through the years when Coach
Payton has been here," Waddle said. "He's been keeping me in the loop without
even knowing."
Waddle is a bona fide No. 1 wide receiver but he declined to speak of his
skills in that manner.
"I don't think there are No. 1s," he said. "Everyone is here to make plays and
try to win. That's ultimately the goal for the team and for the organization."
Waddle gives rising young quarterback Bo Nix another playmaker along with
Courtland Sutton, boosting a passing offense that finished 11th in the NFL last
season.
And Waddle's arrival gives the Broncos a legitimate top wide receiving duo for
the first time since Emmanuel Sanders signed as a free agent in 2014 and teamed
with the late Demaryius Thomas to help propel Denver to a Super Bowl
championship a decade ago.
The Broncos were the AFC's No. 1 seed last season but lost to New England in
the snowy AFC championship game without Nix, who broke his ankle in a game
against Buffalo in the divisional round.
Waddle appears to be a good locker room fit for a franchise that is notable for
its lack of prima donnas and troublemakers. Payton, general manager George
Paton and team owner Greg Penner have all spoken at length about the team's
philosophy of not having distracting players on the roster.
Asked for his personal and team goals for 2026, Waddle said, "I wouldn't say
nothing personal. I would say for the team, just take it week-by-week. Just try
to go out there and play a good brand of football and try to stack some wins
together."
Waddle is the antithesis of the diva wide receiver, saving his trash talk for
the field but maintaining humility in public.
"I honestly think it was just the way I was brought up," he said. "My mom and
dad obviously tried to do a good job as best they could with keeping me not too
high, but not too low. So just staying at a good head space."
Waddle comes in as the headliner in a wide receiver room that features Sutton,
Marvin Mims Jr., Troy Franklin, Pat Bryant and Lil'Jordan Humphrey but he
insisted, "I'm excited to learn from them and for them to learn from me. It
should be fun."
Waddle, 27, had three straight 1,000-yard receiving seasons to begin his NFL
career but hasn't reached that total since 2023.
"I don't look at it as that standpoint of getting back to where I was," Waddle
said. "I just look at it as a new opportunity to go out there with a new team
in a great place, play along great talent and help out as best I can."
One thing he will lean on Surtain for is guidance on where he can help in the
community like he did in Miami, where he befriended a young cancer patient,
Rocco Passaro, who was battling leukemia from 2022-23.
"I'm definitely going to get in the community and do something," Waddle said.
"I know ?PS2' is going to help me find different things to get into. I know he
does a lot of good things out here. Rocco is definitely someone that is
special. We have a special a bond, and I think that's just going to continue
(no matter) where I play at. He has family in me on his side."
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
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