Late Thursday night Miami and the LA Rams made a trade. The Dolphins gave up a 6th round pick for DE William Hayes and a 7th round pick. Hayes is a 31 year old DE who is a solid run stuffer. I have seen two stats, one had him ranked as the 11th best defensive end vs the run last season and another ranking had him the 17th best defensive end vs the run. Whichever stat you believe, Hayes is good against the run. He also has some pass rush ability as since 2012 he has never had a season with less than 4 sacks. Hayes can also slide inside and play defensive tackle in nickel package situations as well.

With Andre Branch returning (who is also solid at setting the edge and playing the run) and now Hayes Miami is building up their defensive end position with guys who can play the run as Miami’s run defense last year was very poor. No word if the acquisition of Hayes means Miami is no longer interested in Jabaal Sherad who is the DE from New England who lives a few minutes away from Dolphins headquarters and drove himself to meet with the team on Thursday but left without a deal. I still expect Miami to sign a defensive tackle at some point this free agency period but I think the defensive line for the most part is set and I expect Miami to turn its attention to linebacker and safety in the coming days.

Hayes made headlines last year when he said he didn’t believe in Dinosaurs. Here is Hayes with Comedian Jimmy Kimmel