With half of their 10 selections in the 2025 NFL draft scheduled for the fifth round or later, the Miami Dolphins will be looking for some steals next weekend.
The question is whether they can come up with gems such as recent Hall of Fame inductee Zach Thomas in the fifth round like they did in 1996 or maybe a wide receiver who winds up having a career like Mark Clayton after they selected him in the eighth round in 1983.
We hereby present our All-Dolphins Draft Steal Team, with the selections based on production versus draft slot. We start with the offense.
First team: Dan Marino, 1983, Round 1
Second team: Don Strock, 1973, Round 5
Breakdown: Yes, Marino was a first-round pick, but he also was the next-to-last pick in the round, he was a slam-dunk Hall of Fame selection and the Dolphins also never landed a starter beyond the first round except for David Woodley, who's the quarterback Marino replaced in 1983. Strock was a great backup for more than a decade.
First team: Jim Kiick, 1968, Round 5; Mercury Morris, 1969, Round 3
Second team: De'Von Achane, 2023, Round 3; Jay Ajayi, 2015, Round 5
Breakdown: The Dolphins Super Bowl backfield of the 1970s was built entirely through the draft, and while Larry Csonka may have been the best of the bunch, he also was the biggest slam dunk as the eighth overall pick in 1968. Achane followed up his tremendous rookie season of 2023 by becoming the focal point of the offense last season, though he still has some work left to catch up to Kiick or Morris.
First team: Mark Clayton, 1983, Round 8; Anthony Carter, 1983, Round 12
Second team: Jarvis Landry, 2014, Round 2; Nat Moore, 1974, Round 3
Breakdown: Clayton put up big numbers for the Dolphins as an eighth-round pick out of Louisville, and Landry and Moore also were highly productive receivers. Carter is included here based on the value of getting him in the 12th round as a USFL star, though one certainly could complain about the Dolphins kind of giving him away when he came to the NFL in 1985 when they traded him to Minnesota for linebacker Robin Sendlein and a second-round pick.
First team: Charles Clay, 2011, Round 6
Second team: Randy McMichael, 2002, Round 4
Breakdown: The Dolphins really haven't had a ton of success drafting tight ends through the years, but Clay became a solid contributor on offense after arriving as a multi-position players from Tulsa. McMichael was among the team's receiving leaders until he left for St. Louis as a free agent, though a case could have been for current Dolphins tight end Durham Smythe, also a fourth-round pick.
First team: Eric Laakso, 1978, Round 4; Jeff Dellenbach, 1985, Round 4
Second team: Mark Dennis, 1987, Round 8; Todd Wade, 2000, Round 2
Breakdown: The best Dolphins tackles either have come through early picks (Richmond Webb, Jake Long, Jon Giesler) or free agency (Terron Armstead). While "steal" might be a stretch for both Laakso and Dellenbach, they both started a lot of games for Miami and provided great value where they were drafted.
First team: Ed Newman, 1973, Round 6; Harry Galbreath, 1988, Round 8
Second team: Chris Gray, 1993, Round 5; Keith Sims, 1990, Round 2
Breakdown: Newman wrapped his Dolphins career by making the Pro Bowl each of his final four seasons before he eventually became a judge in South Florida. Galbreath also was a longtime starter. Sims provided the back end of a great 1-2 offensive line punch at the top of the 1990 draft with Richmond Webb and became a three-time Pro Bowl selection for the Dolphins. The only reason he's on this second team instead of first is because of Galbreath's 75 starts in five seasons with Miami as an eighth-round pick.
First team: Dwight Stephenson, 1980, Round 2
Second team: Jeff Uhlenhake, 1989, Round 5
Breakdown: Even though he was drafted relatively early for a center, Stephenson became arguably the best center in NFL history and one of the best players in franchise history regardless of position. Mike Pouncey deserves mention because he was very good for the Dolphins, but he also was the 15th overall selection in 2011, so he needed to be good to justify being taken that high as an interior offensive lineman.
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After a 13-year career with the New Orleans Saints, Seattle Seahawks, Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears, tight end Jimmy Graham is officially hanging up his cleats. Graham didn’t have a team for the second time in three seasons in 2024, and according to a beat writer for the team, he will retire as a Saint. Graham was drafted by the Saints out of Miami (FL.) in the 2010 NFL draft and by 2011 was a Pro Bowler and one of Drew Brees’ favorite targets. His best year came in 2013, when he caught 86 passes for 1,215 yards and an NFL-high 16 touchdowns en route to his only first-team All-Pro recognition. Which brings us to today’s quiz. Graham finished with 89 touchdowns in his NFL career, the 16th-most in the NFL’s Super Bowl era. With that being said, can you name every player to haul in at least 80 touchdown passes in their career? Good luck! Did you like this quiz? Are there any quizzes you’d like to see us make in the future? Let us know your thoughts at quizzes@yardbarker.com, and make sure to subscribe to our Quiz of the Day Newsletter for daily quizzes sent right to your email!
Throughout the season, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred visits all 30 team clubhouses in an attempt to strengthen his relationship with the players. But when Manfred visited the Philadelphia Phillies last week, he did anything but strengthen his relations, at least not with Phillies star Bryce Harper. As reported by ESPN's Jeff Passan, Harper wasn't a fan of a conversation that seemed to be heading toward the possibility of implementing a salary cap in the game. Harper stood nose to nose with Manfred, telling him, "If you want to speak about that, you can get the [expletive] out of our clubhouse." Passan's report says that Manfred reportedly responded that he was "not going to get the [expletive] out of here." Manfred's main source of argument comes from his view that it's an important issue to discuss and has a direct impact on the game of baseball. Nick Castellanos, who's been known to have a fiery side of personality himself, helped to mediate the situation by saying, "I have more questions" to Manfred. Because the meeting continued, things settled down, and eventually, Manfred and Harper shook hands. Though Harper did not answer phone calls from Manfred the next day. "It was pretty intense, definitely passionate. Both of 'em. The commissioner giving it back to Bryce and Bryce giving it back to the commissioner. That's Harp. He's been doing this since he was 15-years-old," Castellanos told ESPN. Both Harper and Manfred declined to comment to ESPN on the matter. Manfred is certainly in a difficult spot with players themselves against a salary cap, as well as the MLB Players Association, which is adamantly against it. But some team owners are for it, most notably Baltimore Orioles owner David Rubenstein, who purchased the club in August 2024. It's certainly worth noting that the 1994 players' strike was a result of the league's effort to move to a salary-cap system. That is the worst-case scenario for MLB. And it seems to stress out Manfred. "Rob seems to be in a pretty desperate place on how important it is to get this salary cap," Castellanos added in his comments to ESPN, "because he's floating the word lockout two years in advance of our collective bargaining agreement [expiration]. That's nothing to throw around. That's the same thing as me in a marriage saying, 'I think divorce is a possibility. It's probably going to happen.' You don't just say those things." It's also important to note that Harper is a client of baseball super agent Scott Boras, and Castellanos is a former Boras client who now represents himself. Boras is known for bargaining for a ton of money for his clients, so that may provide one explanation of many for why Harper would be so against the discussion. It seems the only thing all parties can agree on is that no one wants a work stoppage in Major League Baseball. But that might just be where the agreements end.
Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase has been placed on non-disciplinary administrative leave through Aug. 31 as part of Major League Baseball’s ongoing investigation into sports betting, per a league announcement. Clase’s teammate, Luis Ortiz, was the first (and thus far only other) player placed on leave under the ongoing investigation. Clase will continue to be paid while the league looks into any alleged wrongdoing. He will not count against the team’s 40-man roster while on leave. ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported that Clase was being placed on leave shortly prior to MLB’s formal announcement. “The Guardians have been notified by Major League Baseball that as part of their sports betting investigation Emmanuel Clase has been placed on non-disciplinary paid leave per an agreement with the Players Association,” the team said Monday in a statement, per Mike Axisa of CBS Sports. “We have been informed that no additional players or Club personnel are expected to be impacted. The Guardians are not permitted to comment further at this time, and will respect the league’s confidential investigative process as we continue to fully cooperate.” Clase’s name had surfaced as a potential trade candidate this summer, as several contenders around the league have been weighing a run at impact relievers with multiple years of club control remaining. A trade wasn’t seen as likely, given Clase’s below-market contract and general track record of excellence. The 27-year-old has pitched 47 1/3 innings of 3.23 ERA ball this year — a “down” season relative to his lofty standards. The right-hander boasts a superlative 1.84 ERA in 336 2/3 innings over the past five seasons. He’s saved 181 games, fanned just under one-quarter of his opponents, issued walks at a tiny 4.8 percent clip and piled up grounders at an elite 58.5 percent rate. Clase signed a five-year, $20M extension in April 2022. He’s being paid just $4.5M this year and has a $6M guarantee for the 2026 season. His extension included a pair of $10M club options for the 2027 and 2028 seasons, though he’s already maxed out a series of escalators that have pushed the value of each of those options up to $13M apiece. The news comes as a notable blow to the Guardians’ already-thin postseason hopes. Cleveland is eight games back of the division-leading Tigers and 3.5 games out of an AL wild-card spot (with three teams to leapfrog). They were already without Ortiz, their fourth starter, due to this ongoing investigation and had lost another rotation member, Ben Lively, to Tommy John surgery. Former AL Cy Young winner Shane Bieber was targeting a June return but has yet to pitch in the majors after a setback in recovery from his own Tommy John procedure — though he’s on a rehab assignment and on the cusp of a return to the majors. Clase’s bullpen-mate, Cade Smith, figures to take over closing duties for the time being. He’s arguably an even better reliever at this point than Clase is, and Smith himself has received plenty of attention on the summer trade market. As with Clase, a deal has been seen as unlikely, given the 26-year-old righty’s four-plus seasons of remaining club control. Depending on how one chooses to view the Clase suspension, it could make a Smith trade more or less likely. Smith now becomes even more of a focal point in the bullpen and all the more critical to whatever playoff hopes Cleveland has left. At the same time, losing Clase further dampens those postseason odds and could make the Guards more willing to turn the page on the 2025 season and focus on the future. Smith should be an integral part of that future, but he could also net a legitimate prospect haul if moved in the next three days, potentially adding multiple long-term contributors to the Guards in 2026 and beyond.
The Dallas Cowboys extended one of their stars Sunday, just not the one fans wanted them to pay. At Cowboys training camp Saturday, Dallas fans serenaded owner Jerry Jones with "Pay Micah [Parsons]" chants. The EDGE, of course, is set to play on the fifth-year option of his rookie contract this season. Jones must not have been listening. He gave tight end Jake Ferguson a new contract instead. Dallas and the 26-year-old pass-catcher agreed to a four-year, $52M contract extension, via NFL Media's Ian Rapoport. This move seems head-scratching. Parsons has won the 2021 Defensive Rookie of the Year and earned two first-team All-Pro nods since the Cowboys took him with pick No. 12 in the 2021 NFL Draft. The 26-year-old EDGE also finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting during the 2021 and 2022 seasons. Ferguson, meanwhile, is solid but not elite. In three seasons with the Cowboys, the 2022 fourth-round pick has made one Pro Bowl and has never finished with more than 761 receiving yards in a season. An extension for Parsons will devour future cap space. The Cowboys may be worried about that after giving quarterback Dak Prescott (four years, $240M) and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb (four years, $136M) long-term deals in 2024. Pittsburgh Steelers EDGE T.J. Watt signed a lucrative three-year, $123M extension on July 17, making him the league's highest-paid non-QB. Parsons could command a similar contract. If cap space is Dallas' primary concern, however, why would it extend Ferguson? He's now set to be the NFL's seventh-highest-paid TE. The Cowboys waited to extend Lamb and Prescott just before the start of the 2024 season. They may be doing the same with Parsons. The star defender has said, "Ownership is always gonna make [contract negotiations] drag out." Regardless, the Cowboys should've paid Parsons before Ferguson. That's a much bigger priority for the team.