The Denver Broncos just made a big trade for Jaylen Waddle, and some think they should trade receiver Troy Franklin.
The Denver Broncos finally made their big offseason move last week with the trade for receiver Jaylen Waddle, but it also raises some serious questions in the receiver room as a whole. Troy Franklin has drawn much of the focus given that he had basically the same numbers as Waddle last year, but he now appears to have been displaced.
Franklin has been the subject of trade rumors in Denver lately, and Sean Keeler of the Denver Post believes it would be a mistake to deal him. Which is somewhat ironic, because the Post as a whole has been howling for the Broncos to deal with someone like Waddle, but let’s go there for the moment and examine his logic in keeping Franklin around.
Start with the idea that Franklin makes the Broncos receiving room “more diverse.” According to Keeler, one of quarterback Bo Nix’s primary weakness was throwing against zone defenses, as he finished 35th out of 42 QBs in yards-per-attempt against that defensive configuration, and Waddle has a reputation as a zone-buster. Franklin enters the equation as a receiver who can win short or long, and which makes the zone-busting concept if they’re lining up side-by-side.
A more tangible goal is to avoid drops, which plagued the Broncos at key moments last year. Three Broncos receivers made the list of top 15 players in drops last year, and Waddle will make receivers compete for snaps and lose opportunities if they drop the ball.
“When it’s going good, it’s very contagious,” Franklin said last December. “Things just get to rolling … once everybody gets that first catch, (when they) go for 5 (yards), 10 (yards), whatever the case is, then somebody else wants to make a play. So it’s just, feed off them.”
The added depth is another reason, and it’s not a bad one. As Keeler points out, rookie Pat Bryant took a nasty hit that produced a concussion late in the year, and he was lucky to make it back into the lineup.
Also, there’s that oft-cited rapport Franklin has with Nix, which dates back to their college days at Oregon, which was commented on by tight end Adam Trautman back in December.
“I mean, (when) you see that, it’s a huge thing,” Broncos tight end Adam Trautman told me last fall. “And then it just develops over time — throws in practice, throws in training camp, throws in the offseason, it all just accumulates. And then it’s like, (in a) big moment, I trust (Troy).”
Finally, there’s the fact that Franklin is still on his rookie contract. The Broncos are getting great production from him, especially relative to his cost, and teams with championship aspirations don’t trade players like that.