Should We Really Expect a Lot of Dolphins Trades?

Now that the Miami Dolphins have made their first significant change atop the organization — and maybe their last — national media reports suggest a shift in philosophy ahead of the NFL Trading Deadline.

In short, somehow the expectation is that interim GM Champ Kelly, now in place after the team parted ways with Chris Grier, will be looking to make a splash to show owner Stephen Ross he deserves the job beyond the 2025 season.

The other aspect to consider is that now at 2-7, the Dolphins clearly have (or should) their focus on the future and the upcoming rebuilding project instead of trying to make the playoffs, a goal that remains possible only in mathematical terms.

Maybe this is where Kelly wants to make more deals than normal, to show Ross he can be a guidance force through another rebuild.

So it would make sense for Kelly to evaluate every player on the roster based on production, age and contract situation and see how well they fit in the big picture, and then entertain offers for anybody and everybody who doesn't qualify.

But that's not the same as just cleaning house for the sake of cleaning house, and the return always should be factored in any decision. That applies specifically to a player like wide receiver Jaylen Waddle, whose name keeps popping up in trade speculation despite the fact he's young, productive and has a contract that doesn't get heavy in terms of cap hit until 2027.

So unless the Dolphins get a massive offer for Waddle, it still says here it makes zero sense for the Dolphins to move him. What constitutes a "massive" offer is debatable, but nothing short of a second-round pick plus another late-round selection should be considered from this vantage point.

THE PLAYERS IN PLAY

All along, the usual Dolphins suspects have come up in the hundreds of trade deadline stories and projections, and that would be the edge rusher trio of Jaelan Phillips, Bradley Chubb and Matthew Judon.

Other big-name players who might make sense would be Minkah Fitzpatrick, Rasul Douglas and maybe Darren Waller.

Douglas and Waller, though the latter currently is on IR, were signed only to one-year contracts and could fetch, say, a mid-round pick in return.

Fitzpatrick might have good value on the open market and his cap number jumps next year to $18.8 million from his current $4.5 million, and that might be excessive if the Dophins are in rebuilding mode.

Jaylen Wright's name also has been mentioned, though we don't get the logic considering it's still too early to consider him a bust and he's on his rookie contract and therefore cheap, not to mention the fact the Dolphins gave up a 2025 third-round pick to get a 2024 fourth-rounder to select him.

And despite the fact that Ollie Gordon II supplanted him as the No. 2 back behind De'Von Achane doesn't mean he won't get chances again, especially considering Gordon now is dealing with an ankle injury.

Jordyn Brooks is one to watch after the Dolphins converted some of his salary into signing bonus for 2025, which lowers the financial commitment for an acquiring team. Of course, the counterargument there is Brooks maybe has been the team's best defensive player and he's a leader on a team that's in short supply of those.

The bottom line, though, is again that deals have to make sense and Kelly shouldn't be wheeling and dealing for the sake of wheeling and dealing.

Yes, the Dolphins are going to try as much as possible to build a supply of draft capital and create cap space, but it's not like they're going to get rid of all their good players to accomplish that goal.

There most definitely should be some sort of balance.

So, yes, it's entirely possible that the move from Grier to Kelly could create more Dolphins action before 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday, but we remain unconvinced in this idea of a firesale.

THE EXAMPLES OF THE PAST

For the record, the last time the Dolphins traded a player at or around the NFL trading deadline was 2022 when they sent running back Chase Edmonds to the Denver Broncos — as part of the deal to acquire Chubb.

The last time they traded a player for a draft pick was 2020 when they sent wide receiver Isaiah Ford for a seventh-round pick — not counting the trade of Jakeem Grant to the Chicago Bears in 2021 because that one happened in early October.

Even in 2019, when the Dolphins were in full rebuild mode and all about accumulating cap space and draft capital, they traded away only one player around the trading deadline, that being running back Kenyan Drake going to Arizona for a fifth-round pick.

The Dolphins did make two trades in September that year, but the massive Laremy Tunsil deal came as the result of an offer that was too good to refuse and sending Minkah Fitzpatrick to Pittsburgh had to do with a clash with then-head coach Brian Flores.

Check out the Dolphins' transaction history and you'll find there's never been an instance of a firesale.