The NFL off season hasn’t even started, but the speculation of what teams are going to do in free agency and possible draft day trades has already begun. The NFL Scouting Combine this weekend has kicked off some of the speculation with teams meeting with other team’s front office personnel as well as agents of free agents to be. Teams don’t want to divulge too much of what their plans are, but in the case of the Miami Dolphins the speculation has been amped up with the team not just owning the 5th pick in the 1st round to go along with the 18th and 26th pick as well. The Dolphins also own 2 second round picks this year and next year the team has 2 first round picks and 2 second round picks as well so they are more than positioned to move up to get a potential franchise quarterback they have been lacking since Dan Marino retired. The question is why should the Dolphins have to give up a lot to move up 2 to 3 spots?
— DolphinsTalk.com (@DolphinsTalk) March 1, 2020
The Dolphins do have the extra picks, but they also have a ton of holes on their roster so they shouldn’t be trading away a ton of assets. I get quarterback is the most important position on a team. However, the teams behind them in the top 10, the Los Angeles Chargers, Carolina Panthers, and Jacksonville Jaguars don’t have the extra draft capitol that the Dolphins have. Now the Jaguars do have 2 first round picks, but they are tight against the cap and they need their draft picks to have cheaper players on their roster to balance out their roster. The Chargers do need to get a young quarterback after parting with their long-time quarterback Phillip Rivers, but would they really mortgage their future with not a ton of draft picks. The same would go for the Panthers, who appear to be rebuilding with a new coach and not a ton of extra picks. From that standpoint, the Dolphins don’t have to give up a great deal with those team’s lack of draft assets.
The teams ahead of the Dolphins from picks 4 to 2, the New York Giants, Detroit Lions, and Washington Redskins have either drafted a quarterback a year ago or have a veteran quarterback tied to their cap making it almost impossible to get out of so they won’t take a quarterback. The Giants GM Dave Gettleman has never traded down before so there’s no reason to think he would move down now. The Lions have a GM and coach that are on the hot seat going into this year so there is no reason to think they will take a quarterback especially when they have Mathew Stafford under contract and why take a quarterback who won’t help this year so they will need to draft the best player that can help them now. The Redskins just drafted a quarterback, but have a new coach in Ron Rivera so it’s possible he would want to bring in his own quarterback, but he’s a defensive coach and the best player in this year’s draft is Chase Young so he would probably want to build his defense around him.
This isn’t to say these teams won’t listen to trade offers, but they might look trade down to get more draft picks in return. The Dolphins have the most to offer of any team, but the other teams behind them don’t have the extra draft capitol so why should the Dolphins give up any of their extra first round picks in this year or next year? The Dolphins if they were going to move up a couple spots should follow the trade model the New York Jets made two years ago. The Jets had the 6th pick in the draft and moved up 3 spots. They had an extra second round pick that year, so they gave up both second round picks and an additional one the following year. They didn’t give up any numbers 1s and that’s what the Dolphins should do. The only first round pick I’d consider giving up is the 26th pick, but it shouldn’t come to that. The Dolphins have multiple 2nd round picks this year and next year so that should be enough in a trade up 2 or 3 spots.
I like what the Dolphins have done in this rebuilding process getting rid of players with bad contracts and creating more salary cap space this year and beyond. I also like how the Dolphins have added more high premium draft picks in the first and second rounds the next couple years. The Dolphins need to find a quarterback, but they shouldn’t have to trade all of their draft capitol and have a quarterback with no other talent. If the Dolphins move up, they need to make a smart trade that will benefit them and not give up too much.
If they’re not gonna draft a QB, then Miami stands pat.
Give up nothing. 5th spot in the draft can be an all pro player and have 2 more 1st rounders. If somebody wants Tua that bad, let them move up. He has to sit out a year and has had multiple injuries and is smaller. Take him at 5 or just move on. We have to many needs.
I believe the best move Miami can make in the draft is trading back and picking up another 1st rd pick for 2021. I would forgo drafting Tua to build up the trenches. Maybe Miami can trade from #5 to #9 with the Jags pick up the Jags 1st rd in 2021 giving Miami a better chance of drafting Lawrence. Miami may have to throw in more for the Jags 2021 pick and that’s fine just not additional 1st rd picks in this draft.
I’m not falling for all the smokescreens. If Tua is who the Dolphins want, I’m hear to tell ya, he’ll be there at #5. DO NOT TRADE UP FOR HIM !! Washington has Haskins, and Rivera is a defensive coach. He’s not passing on Chase Young right now. Matt Patricia in Detroit cant afford to draft Tua knowing he’s not helping them this year. Detroit and Patricia have to win or his job is on the line. The Giants have their franchise guy in Daniel Jones. Only team I could see jumping up to get Tua would be the Chargers, although I think Justin Herbert better fits their system.