Bills general manager Brandon Beane revealed why they could not land Dolphins receiver Jaylen Waddle
After a 1-6 start, the Miami Dolphins fired their general manager, Chris Grier. The Dolphins then handed the keys to Champ Kelly, who became interim general manager for Miami. Despite not being retained after the season, Kelly had to make some big decisions for the franchise as he oversaw the 2025 trade deadline.
In it, he traded former first-round pick pass rusher Jaelan Phillips, who netted the Dolphins a third-round pick from the Philadelphia Eagles. However, perhaps his biggest decisions were the two moves he did not make at the deadline. Aside from Phillips, the Dolphins received calls on De’Von Achane and Jaylen Waddle.
While Kelly listened to those offers, he opted to stand pat and have the pair remain with the Dolphins. Now, it has been revealed that the division rival Buffalo Bills had the best offer for the Dolphins’ talented wide receiver.
Bills Offer for Miami Dolphins’ Jaylen Waddle
At the trade deadline, the Buffalo Bills were seeking playmakers to complement Josh Allen and their offense. However, they failed to land Saints wide receiver Rashid Shaheed, who went to the Seahawks. Bills general manager Brandon Beane has now revealed that he tried to land Waddle, and that he had the best offer out there. He said, “In division, we talked to one or two of those teams about their players, but at the end of the day, I know we had the strongest offer on one. I know that, but they ultimately decided not to pull the trigger, which maybe they decided wasn’t enough, or maybe they just decided they didn’t want to send them in division. They would have to answer that.”
NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero had previously reported that the Bills tried to acquire Waddle and included a first-round pick in their offer, but Miami declined, since the first-round pick was set to be in 2027 and the Dolphins wanted the Bills’ 2026 selection.
Beane’s comments seem to suggest that the report may have been false as he indicated the Dolphins did not engage in the negotiation. He added, “They never really countered back to us. So you never really know, was he really available? Was he not? Or were you just going to have to go to a deal that they just, you know, was so unbelievable that there’s no way they could turn it down. I don’t know. When you don’t get a counter back, it’s hard to truly know how willing or not they were willing to move the player.”
Jaylen Waddle’s Future
With the Dolphins adding Jon-Eric Sullivan as their new general manager, it will be hard to know how close the previous Miami management was to trading the Dolphins receiver. Waddle had an up-and-down season in 2025. He failed to reach 1,000 yards, as Miami’s passing offense struggled in the second half of the season.
He played well in the initial games after Tyreek Hill suffered his dislocated knee injury, but failed to surpass 80 receiving yards in his final six games. Waddle is under contract through the 2028 season, and has been promoted by the team’s marketing department as one of the team’s faces of the new era.
Jose Esquer Jose Esquer is a Mexican-American sportswriter and communications student based in San Diego, CA. His work spans football, basketball, baseball, and soccer. He has written for platforms like RotoWire and DolphinsTalk. You can find him on Twitter/X @JEsquer8, usually talking Dolphins, world football, or both. More about Jose Esquer
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