What to Make of Dolphins Trade Chatter

It's getting awfully close to that time for the Miami Dolphins.

Trading veterans time. Maybe even firesale time depending on how the Dolphins fare against the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday and in the next few games against the Cleveland Browns, Atlanta Falcons and Baltimore Ravens leading up to the NFL trade deadline Tuesday, November 4.

There already have been some in-season trades around the NFL, with the Cleveland Browns involved in two of them this past week alone when they sent QB Joe Flacco to the Cincinnati Bengals and Greg Newsome II to the Jacksonville Jaguars in a swap of starting cornerbacks.

With the Dolphins off to a 1-4 start in what GM Chris Grier terms a "reset" year, some of their players already have been mentioned as trade possibilities and we can only expect that to continue unless they start winning some games.

Between national media outlets ESPN and NFL.com, Dolphins players mentioned as potential trade candidates include edge defenders Bradley Chubb and Jaelan Phillips, as well as running back Jaylen Wright, and ESPN's Jeremy Fowler wrote this past week he would expect to call Grier about wide receiver Jaylen Waddle, though Grier likely wouldn't want to move Waddle with Tyreek Hill already lost for the season because of the major knee injury he sustained in the Monday night game against the New York Jets.

Shoot, even running back De'Von Achane's name has come up, even though he's been the focal point of the offense (certainly in terms of touches) the past two seasons.

EDGE MOVE THE MOST LIKELY

Of all the players mentioned, the ones that make the most sense are Chubb and Phillips because pass rushers always are in the demand, and along with San Francisco 49ers GM John Lynch already saying publicly his team needs help in that department after losing Nick Bosa, the Philadelphia Eagles and Detroit Lions also are teams that likely would be in the market.

Both Chubb and Phillips have interesting contract situations, with both likely to be free agents in 2026.

Phillips is playing on his fifth-year option, so any team trading for him would be paying the prorated portion of his $13.3 million salary but he also could wind up being a rental for the end of the 2025 season (though he could fetch a compensatory draft pick to any team losing him in free agency).

As for Chubb, he's signed through the 2027 season, but has no guaranteed money beyond this season and his cap number jumps to $31 million next year.

Statistically, Chubb would be the more appealing option of the two for a team looking for pass rushers considering he's got four sacks on the season compared to only one for Phillips, but Phillips has been by far the most effective pass rushers if we add QB hurries and knockdowns — Phillips has eight combined pressures to Chubb's four, per Pro Football Reference.

None of the Dolphins' four edge defenders, who were supposed to represent the strength of the team, has had a great season so far, though. Based on Pro Football Focus grades, Phillips is the highest-ranked among the 108 graded edge defenders around the NFL, but he comes in at only number 70, with Judon at 81, Chubb at 94 and Robinson at 107 (the second-lowest-graded in the NFL).

Chubb and Phillips both have durability concerns, but they also have a history of success, and proven pass rushers aren't necessarily that easy to come by.

So, yes, there should be a market for either or both, the question being what the Dolphins could fetch for either.

At this point, getting a second-day pick (second or third round), would seem pretty ambitious unless the Dolphins were willing to throw in a draft pick of their own in the deal.

Regardless, it certainly was interesting to see the Dolphins elevate edge defender Quinton Bell from the practice squad for the Chargers game, and maybe it's not a stretch to see this as some sort of an audition to give Miami a comfort level they could move one of their big-name players at the position.

THE RUNNING BACK QUESTION

The Dolphins have a weird situation at running back after spending a draft pick in each of the past three drafts, on Achane in 2023, Wright in 2024 and Gordon in 2025.

To get Wright in the fourth round in 2024, they sent a 2025 third-round pick to the Philadelphia Eagles, and it's really hard to envision the Dolphins giving up on him so quickly because they wouldn't be getting any return on their investment.

Of course, Wright has become an afterthought this season after sustaining a training camp knee injury, the low point coming last Sunday when he was a healthy scratch against the Carolina Panthers.

The idea of trading Achane seems ridiculous on one hand, but if the Dolphins are going to go into full rebuild mode, maybe they'll consider trading him when his value is at its highest if they decide they don't want to give him a new contract in the offseason.

THE DOLPHINS AT THE TRADE DEADLINE

The Dolphins were in kind of a similar situation at this time last year, but only as it pertained to veteran defensive lineman Calais Campbell.

There was interest around the league for Campbell, and he seemed on his way out after the Dolphins found themselves at 2-5 a week before the trading deadline, but they decided to hang on to him after a close loss at Buffalo believing they could make a second-half run for a playoff spot.

So maybe all this talk about potential Dolphins trades will amount to nothing again if Miami defeats the Chargers on Sunday and can position themselves to at least be able to think about a playoff push.

The last time the Dolphins moved a veteran of note around the trade deadline was 2019 when they sent running back Kenyan Drake to the Arizona Cardinals for a fifth-round pick. And we all know what that 2019 season was like. Before that, the Dolphins traded Jay Ajayi to the Eagles in 2017.

As we head into the Week 6 games, the Dolphins sure seem on track to be selling again.

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