Jaelan Phillips is Headed to Philadelphia; Who Could Be Next?
There is little to root for in Miami this season; instead, the team must focus fully on the future and who they can afford to move on from. The first domino has fallen this morning, as the Philadelphia Eagles have traded for the supremely talented, though often-injured, Jaelan Phillips. Phillips was the 18th overall pick in the 2021 draft and has shown flashes of greatness during his time in South Beach.
The former first-rounder has totalled 23 sacks in his professional career thus far, and early on in his career, it looked like he would be an essential part of the team for years to come. Unfortunately, injuries have derailed his progress, as he only played in 12 combined games between 2023 and 2024 due to an Achilles and an ACL injury.
As such, the Dolphins were only able to receive a 2026 3rd-round pick in return for Phillips.
This raises the question: Who is next? The two best players on the offensive side of the ball are clearly Jaylen Waddle and De’Von Achane. I wrote a piece about how trading either of them would upset the fan base, but that doesn’t mean that the Dolphins will care. Teams have apparently been reaching out to Miami about Waddle and inquiring about the cost of acquiring him.
Ian Rapoport reported that a trade would be unlikely on the NFL’s website.
“While previously a question about wide receiver Jaylen Waddle was met with a hard “no,” the team will now do its due diligence and at least consider offers for the star in his prime, sources say. Miami still would prefer not to trade Waddle, but the Dolphins are at least willing to weigh an offer that blows them away.”
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported the asking price is what is preventing a trade for Waddle.
“Sources do not expect that a team would be willing to part with a first-round pick along with other compensation — as attractive as Waddle is to multiple teams.”
We can assume the asking price for De’Von Achane is even higher; he’s a multi-talented player entering the prime of his career. He’s also often the primary piece of the Dolphins’ offense. So if a first-round pick and then some is being asked for Waddle, Achane has to at least be worth the same thing, if not multiple first-round picks.
Though there might be another running back that the team views as movable. Jaylen Wright has only had nine carries for 28 yards this season and was a healthy scratch again on Thursday night.
The second-year pro is talented, but the staff very obviously doesn’t believe he has a future with the team. It would be advantageous for both sides to get a mid-round pick for Wright while allowing him to actually see the field.
On the defensive side of the ball, I can see Bradley Chubb being moved. Chubb has a cap hit of over $31 million each of the next two seasons, if the Dolphins can find a trade partner willing to take that on I expect them to make that move. Miami needs to think about the future and having a player who is at best just okay, while being a large cap hit acts as a large anchor for a rebuild.
Safety Minkah Fitzpatrick could be another player the Dolphins move on from. Fitzpatrick only just returned to the team this offseason, but has had a rather quiet season. He’s far from the impact player that he was with the Steelers the past few seasons. He also has a cap hit of over $18 million next season.
While that isn’t too crazy, it still would be better for a new General Manager to have off-the-books if possible.
It will be interesting to see who ends up moving, but I think that the front office is finally accepting that this iteration of the team has been a failure. So instead of doubling or maybe tripling down, they are taking proactive steps to make the job more appealing to potential hires.
It’s the logical thing to do, even if it makes the on-field product worse in the short term. Do you agree with my thoughts about who can get traded? Who would be your pick for the team to move on from at the deadline? Let me know in the comments.
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