From Alabama to Denver, Waddle and Surtain reunite with training camp battles looming

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.

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“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.

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“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…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/alabama-denver-waddle-surtain-reunite-220013526.html

Author : ARNIE STAPLETON

Publish date : 2026-03-18 22:00:00

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