IMPACT: Jaylen Waddle TRADE To Broncos Changes Dallas Cowboys Draft Fortune!

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Locked On Cowboys

Episode: IMPACT: Jaylen Waddle TRADE To Broncos Changes Dallas Cowboys Draft Fortune!

Date: March 18, 2026
Hosts: Marcus Mosher & Landon McCool

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Episode Overview

This episode centers on the breaking news of the Miami Dolphins trading wide receiver Jaylen Waddle to the Denver Broncos for a first and third round pick. Marcus and Landon examine how this major deal could reshape the NFL Draft, with a particular focus on how it affects the Dallas Cowboys’ prospects and strategy in both the first (picks 12 and 20) and later rounds. The hosts dissect which positions Miami might target, what domino effects might result for other teams, and how Dallas could be an unexpected beneficiary of this trade.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Analysis of the Jaylen Waddle Trade

[01:12 - 02:17]

• The Dolphins send Jaylen Waddle to the Broncos, receiving a 1st and 3rd round pick in return.
• Marcus Mosher points out, “Jalen Tolbert is currently the number one receiver in Miami. Is it a lock that the Dolphins are going to draft a receiver with their first pick one spot ahead of Dallas?”
• Both hosts agree that this leaves a massive crater at pass catcher for Miami, indicating a strong likelihood they’ll draft a WR or TE high.

2. Miami's Roster Needs and Draft Plans

[02:17 - 03:59]

• Landon McCool observes the contradiction in Miami’s approach: “It seems like they're tanking but at the same time they just paid a lot of money for Malik Willis.”
• The hosts stress that Miami must bolster its pass catching corps to properly evaluate newly acquired QB Malik Willis, even if they’re in a rebuild.
• Discussion expands beyond WR: Marcus notes, “I might not even say wide receiver. I might say pass catcher,” referencing Miami’s lack of a true number one tight end.

3. 2026 NFL Draft Ramifications for Dallas & Others

[03:59 - 05:06]

• Marcus: “I think more importantly, everybody in the league… believes that the Dolphins are going to draft a receiver at 11.”
• This perception elevates the urgency for other WR-needy teams (Washington, Giants, Chiefs, Saints, Ravens, Rams) to move up the board.
• Possibility of a WR run in the top 13 picks, which benefits Dallas by pushing defenders down to them.

4. Trade-Back Scenarios and Draft Strategy for Dallas

[05:06 - 06:22]

• Landon: “Maybe the urgency increases to get, for teams to get to that 12th pick if they're shopping wide receivers… maybe they're willing not to just trade up past the Cowboys, but maybe trade with the Cowboys, right?”
• The trade could lead to Dallas fielding offers to move back and accumulate assets while still getting a high-valued defender.
• If teams trade above Dallas for WRs, defensive talent could slide to the Cowboys' picks.

5. Offensive vs. Defensive Targets at Picks 12 and 20

[06:22 - 10:10]

• Marcus contemplates whether Miami could pivot to offensive line but sees offense as the likely focus.
• Suggests a “bigger impact at pick 20 than 12” – Broncos’ trade for Waddle may signal skepticism among teams that a top WR would survive until later.
• “[I] wouldn’t be surprised if the Cowboys are getting some calls at pick 20 to move down a little bit for a team coming up for a receiver.” (09:55)

6. Consensus Board & WR Rankings—Draft Trends

[11:38 - 12:41]

• Marcus cites the consensus draft board: “Generally receivers get drafted ahead of where they are on the board right now.”
• WRs like Carnell Tate, Makai Lemon, Jordan Tyson, and Omar Cooper could be pushed up.
• Injury drop for Casey Conception (recent knee surgery) could intensify the rush for other WRs.

7. Net Positive for Dallas

[12:41 - 14:06]

• Landon: “That desperation for a pass catcher… may drive the need for Kenyan Sadiq to get pushed up.”
• The more offensive weapons taken ahead of Dallas, the better their odds of landing top defenders.
• At pick 20: defensive prospects like Avion Terrell and Dylan Fenamin could fall where they previously would not have.
• Marcus: “This is a very good day for the Cowboys. We haven’t had a ton of them this offseason, but this is a good one.” (13:16)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Marcus Mosher [01:35]:
  “Jalen Tolbert is currently the number one receiver in Miami. So my question to you is Landon, like is it a lock that the Dolphins are going to draft a receiver with their first pick one spot ahead of Dallas?”
• Landon McCool [03:18]:
  “It's going to be hard to even get a solid evaluation of what kind of quarterback Malik Willis is with the way that, that his weapons are on that offense currently.”
• Marcus Mosher [03:59]:
  “You could talk yourself into, well, let's get Makai Lemon, you know, at pick 11. He's not going to change our win total dramatically this year. It gives Malik Willis somebody to give a bunch of targets to, and we'll reevaluate the situation in 2027.”
• Landon [05:06]:
  “… maybe they're willing not to just trade up past the Cowboys, but maybe trade with the Cowboys right. In order. Like, honestly, if you go to the Rams and trade and they just want to flop picks, I'm on board with that.”
• Marcus [13:16]:
  “This is a very good day for the Cowboys. We haven’t had a ton of them this offseason, but this is a good one.”
• Landon [13:44]:
  “The Cowboys needs are broad which makes them open to these kind of situations being positive for them. So let's see how it all plays out. But yeah, I agree. I think this is a situation where the, the stars sort of aligned for the Cowboys, so to speak.”

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Important Timestamps

• [01:12] – Trade announcement and initial impact on Dolphins' roster
• [03:18] – Miami's options: WR vs. TE vs. offensive line
• [05:06] – Trade-back scenarios instigated by WR run
• [09:55] – Anticipated trade calls and WR runs at Dallas picks 12 & 20
• [11:38] – How consensus board WR rankings influence the draft
• [13:16] – Concluding optimism for Dallas’ draft fortunes

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Overall Takeaway

The Jaylen Waddle trade to Denver dramatically increases the probability of an offensive player being taken immediately before the Cowboys’ top two picks, potentially pushing coveted defenders into Dallas’s reach. The effects extend beyond the first round, as teams anxious for WRs could create trade-up opportunities for Dallas and shift the draft landscape in the Cowboys’ favor. Both Marcus and Landon agree: For Dallas, this development could be a rare stroke of luck in an otherwise challenging offseason.

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Transcript

[Marcus Mosher]

Foreign. Every day

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[Marcus Mosher]

The Miami Dolphins have traded away Jalen Waddle and that'll have big draft implications for the Cowboys.

[Locked On Cowboys Podcast Announcer]

You are Locked On Cowboys, your daily Dallas Cowboys podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast network your team every day.

[Marcus Mosher]

Welcome back. I am Marcus Mosher. He is Landon McCool and on today's show we're discussing Jalen Waddle being traded from the Miami Dolphins to the Denver Broncos and how that's going to impact the Dallas Cowboys in the 2026 NFL Draft. The Dolphins get a first round pick in a third round pick from Denver to move on from Waddle. And I think the most obvious thing here is that Miami is going to need a receiver. Former Cowboys legend, maybe it's a little strong. Jalen Tolbert is currently the number one receiver in Miami. So my question to you is Landon, like is it a lock that the Dolphins are going to draft a receiver with their first pick one spot ahead of Dallas?

[Landon McCool]

I certainly think it raises the odds, right? I mean, like, I think we still got to kind of figure out what Miami's ultimate like plan is here because to me it's still a little bit disjointed. I think it seems like they're tanking but at the same time they just paid a lot of money for Malik Willis. So it seems like it's a little bit of both somehow. But yeah, I have to imagine just looking at their depth chart, pass catcher has got to be really high on their list. But frankly, I mean it could be almost anywhere in that offense except for the offensive line I would say, I mean, and I wouldn't be totally shocked, but wide receiver, it does seem like there's a big, huge crater in the, in the Miami depth chart right now.

[Marcus Mosher]

Well, and I, I might not even say wide receiver. I might say pass catcher, because their number one tight end was Darren Waller last year. I mean, he has not returned as a free agent. So if it's not Mai Lemon or Carnell Tate or Jordan Tyson, I mean, I think you could talk yourself into Kenyan Sadiq at that spot and bring in a tight end that maybe could be your number one option there.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah, I mean, honestly, like Sadiq, I think Kai Lemon, I think any Cardell Tate, if he falls to them. I mean, I just think that, you know, they, they could easily convince themselves that that's where they need to head at this point. Just because you look. I mean, look, the defense doesn't look great either, but I, I think it's hard to look at this offense, and especially with the. Like I said, they just spent all this money signing Malik Willis. And, and even if you are tanking, you're probably not telling Malik Willis that. And unless you go out and draft a wide receiver or some kind of pass catcher, it's going to be hard to even get a solid evaluation of what kind of quarterback Malik Willis is with the way that, that his weapons are on that offense currently.

[Marcus Mosher]

Well, and the other part of it is, is whether it's Malik Willis at quarterback next year or somebody that you draft at, let's say, 1, 2 or 3, you're gonna want to have weapons for that guy to throw to. You don't want to have him go into a completely bare situation. And I think if you're Miami, like you could talk yourself into, well, let's get Makai Lemon, you know, at pick 11. He's not going to change our win total dramatically this year. It gives Malik Willis somebody to give a bunch of targets to, and we'll reevaluate the situation in 2027. But I think more importantly, everybody else in the league, I'm going to assume, believes that the Dolphins are going to draft a receiver at 11. I think you're going to have at least one more receiver come off the board before that. Whether that's like Carnell Tate to the Commanders, the Giants, the, the Chiefs, the Saints, and I wouldn't be surprised with teams again like the, The Ravens and the Rams drafting directly behind the Cowboys, if we see a little bit of a wide receiver run where you get three guys going inside the top 1212 top 13 picks. And that's great news for Dallas.

[Landon McCool]

Well, I love it when our bonus episodes solve the equations that were presented in our normal episode. Right. Like maybe what we're seeing here is now that the, the Dolphins are kind of moving into wide receiver need, maybe the, the urgency increases to get, for teams to get to that 12th pick if they're shopping wide receivers, because now suddenly one less spot that they thought that they could then let these wide receivers pass through, one more spot for them to potentially land and take away from that list teams like the Rams or any of these groups that are looking for wide receivers, maybe they're willing not to just trade up past the Cowboys, but maybe trade with the Cowboys right. In order. Like, honestly, if you go to the Rams and trade and they just want to flop picks, like, I mean, just, you know, just to get ahead of everything, I'm on board with that. Or. And even if they want to move ahead of the Cowboys, go up to like the Bengals or something like that. That's great. Perfect. Yeah, take another team that is, that's drafting defense, move them behind us and, and go pick your wide receiver, buddy, and push down that, that defensive defender to the Cowboys. So there's, there's kind of weird, you know, angles all around here because they pick right above the Cowboys, that it's going to have a collateral effect, you know, hopefully potentially in a positive way for the Cowboys.

[Marcus Mosher]

I think, I think the Cowboys are more likely now to get the defender that they want to follow them to 12 than they were at least going into Tuesday. Right. Just because I feel better that another offensive player is going to Miami. You mentioned that you don't think it's going to be an offensive lineman, but I wonder, like, could Spencer Fano, who. Maybe he's a guard, maybe he's a tackle. Is that somebody that they just draft and they try to build up their offensive line? I think Miami is going to be really aggressive spending their picks on offense, but I wonder if it's going to have a bigger impact on the Cowboys at pick 20. I'll explain why next. This episode is brought to you by FanDuel. College basketball is non stop. Big games, tight spreads, momentum swings every single night. From early tip offs to late night west coast shootouts. There's always action on the board. And now FanDuel is giving you a way to turn that energy into an even bigger potential win. With a college basketball parlay, profit boost. You can build any college parlay that you want. Rivalry games, ranked matchups, whatever fits your read and you can mix spreads, totals, player props to match how you see the slate playing out. Then you can apply the profit boost and instantly bump up the payout. So go safe. Go bold. Ride with the team that you've been following all season. It's your parlay, your style now with more upside behind it. Head over to FanDuel.com to get started. That is FanDuel.com FanDuel play your game. This episode is brought to you by Indeed Workplace Chaos Deadline stacking up, Inbox overflowing in the one position that you have to fill is still sitting open when the pressure's on and you need the right hire. This is a job for Sponsored Jobs. Indeed Sponsored jobs help you reach the people who who actually fit what you're looking for. Skills, experience, location. So you're not just hoping that the right candidate stumbles across your post. So if you're hiring, spend less time searching and more time interviewing candidates who check all of your boxes with Indeed Sponsored Jobs. And listeners of this show will get a $75 sponsored job credit that help give your job the premium status that it deserves. Indeed.com SL podcast just go to Indeed.com podcast right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Indeed.com podcast terms and conditions apply. Need to hire. This is a job for Indeed Sponsored Jobs welcome back to the Loton Cowboys Podcast. We are discussing the Jaylen Waddle trade and Landon I honestly think this could have a bigger impact for the Cowboys 20 than 12. And the reason why is I think the Broncos made this trade because they they did not feel confident that a receiver was going to get to them at pick 30, so they wanted to get ahead of a run. And the more I look at these mocks and let's say it is two receivers that go ahead of Dallas at pick 12. I think there could potentially be four that go ahead of the Cowboys at pick 20 and maybe even five. And you've got teams like Cleveland who might need a receiver at pick 24. You've got Pittsburgh, who needs a receiver at pick 21. The 49ers could add a young receiver. Buffalo could add a young receiver. I would not be surprised if the Cowboys are getting some calls at pick 20 to move down a little bit for a team coming up for a receiver. But I also wouldn't be surprised if you get a really good defensive player falling into you because you have four receivers and a tight end. Go inside the top 19 picks.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah, that'd be an incredible development I mean, obviously, I think any of these offensive players that are getting selected in front of the Cowboys picks is a positive at this point. I mean, that's just the way the Cowboys are shopping. If they were able to kind of, you know, gin up or, or now there's been the, the demand that's created such that there's multiple wide receiver runs or, or at least one long wide receiver run, it's going to just help push down a lot of these defenders to the Cowboys. I, I guess my, my, my concern is that, you know, is our teams interested in, in that strongly about, you know, getting wide receivers? Do they view that these prospects are. That this is a deeper class? Right. Like, will they wait on that? I would say that. I mean, that's been my concern. I, but I would say that, that it does feel like the posture and the body language of the NFL based on this trade and not some other things seems to indicate that wide receivers may be going a lot earlier than I anticipated. And, and, and yeah, I, I think that the immediate conversation we have is at 12 because of that's the higher pick and that's closer to where we anticipate this run happening. But the truth of the matter is, is that the collateral of, of what's falling down underneath, that also changes. Right, because it changes the angles for all the teams in between 12 and 20 as well. And so, yeah, there's a chance that suddenly you're looking up at 20 and you've got options that you didn't ever

[Marcus Mosher]

expect to get really quickly. If you look at the consensus board, generally receivers get drafted ahead of where they are on the board right now. CARNELL Tate is ninth overall, but Makai Lemon is 12th, Jordan Tyson is 14th, and you've got Omar Cooper at 20. So again, if all four of those guys are being drafted ahead of their current ADP or current rankings, again, that's great news for Dallas. The other thing that's really noticeable is that a guy like Casey Conception, who a lot of people have, is like the fifth receiver in this class. Yeah, he actually just had a knee surgery done by the Cowboys doctor, Dr. Cooper, and I wonder if that's going to knock him from like a middle first round player, like a guy that's going between picks, you know, 15 and 25 to somebody who's more of like a day two guy now. And if that's the case, I think you're going to see a lot of these teams going up to try to get a mark. Omar Cooper going up to try to get Jordan Tyson. It's a long way for me of saying, like, this is fantastic news for Dallas.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah. And like you said too, I mean that desperation for a pass catcher, you know, it may not just be for wide receiver, you know, like it may drive the need for Kenyan Sadiq to get pushed up. Right. Because I think there's a difference. You know, obviously for the Cowboys, if three receivers at going in the top 12 versus, I don't know, four receivers and a tight end going in the top 12, suddenly you're talking about a whole different class of available defenders to you at 12. Maybe you can even afford to trade back and, and get the guy you want, you know, with, with, with what's left at that point.

[Marcus Mosher]

And I think of all these guys go inside the top 19 picks, you're very likely to get guys like Avion Terrell and Dylan Fenamin and players like that at 20 where maybe that didn't feel like the case a couple weeks ago. I feel pretty good about the caliber of player that you're going to get at that spot. So again, this is a very good day for the Cowboys. We haven't had a ton of them this off season, but this is a good one.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah. And again, like we talked about, you know, sometimes the ideal situation can happen with, with the way that the draft plays out. The Cowboys needs are broad which give makes them open to these kind of situations being positive for them. So let's see how it all plays out. But yeah, I agree. I think this is a situation where the, the stars sort of aligned for the Cowboys, so to speak.

[Marcus Mosher]

All right, that is it for today's show. We'd like to thank you for making us your first listen every single day. If you never miss an episode, the everyday or club is built for you. Get locked on Cowboys ad free members only discord access and more. Head over to lockedon cowboys.supercast.com to join the club. And for those of you on video, we can send you the first ever 24.7national NBA YouTube channel and on audio make your second listen the lockdown NFL draft podcast. Follow Landon on Twitter coolbcb. I'm at Marcus Underscore Moser and we will see you right back here tomorrow.

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[Marcus Mosher]

Oh joy.

[Landon McCool]

Another day, another buzz.

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[Marcus Mosher]

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[Landon McCool]

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[Landon McCool]

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[Marcus Mosher]

You should get it yolo.

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[Marcus Mosher]

Thanks mom.

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