What to Make of the Lamar-Dolphins Chatter

Seven-plus years later, we're back to talking about the idea of Lamar Jackson playing quarterback for the Miami Dolphins.

The idea surfaced again this week as the result of a column in the Baltimore Sun suggesting there are issues between Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens, including head coach John Harbaugh. Included in the column by longtime journalist Mike Preston was the suggestion that Jackson "would love to play for the Dolphins."

Jackson, of course, was born in South Florida (Pompano Beach) and he said that, although he grew up a fan of the Dallas Cowboys, the Dolphins were his second-favorite team.

In the aftermath of the Baltimore Sun column, Harbaugh described his relationship with Jackson as "A-plus," and Ravens do have Jackson under contract for two more years, albeit at the prohibitive cap number of $74.5 million each of those two years.

Jackson also has a no-trade clause in his contract, which means he's going to have some say-so in the event the Ravens do want to move on from him, which seems hard to fathom in the first place considering he's a two-time MVP who easily could have been a three-time MVP based on his performance in 2024 when the award went to Josh Allen.

The Dolphins likely will be in the market for a new starting quarterback in 2026 after benching Tua Tagovailoa for the final three games of this season, but it's a stretch to suggest it's even remotely realistic to think they'll wind up with Jackson — no matter how enticing the idea might seem.

For one thing, exactly what would it cost in terms of trade compensation for the Ravens to trade Jackson to the Dolphins? And is that something the Dolphins would consider?

Is it something the Dolphins should consider?

Based on the 2025 season, it's going to be difficult for the Ravens to get full value for Jackson because he's battled injuries pretty much the whole way and hasn't quite looked like his old self when he's been in the lineup. Even when he threw four touchdown passes against the Dolphins in his return in Week 9, he still didn't look quite right — as silly as that might sound.

He's also now been in the league eight seasons and the concern over his ability and/or willingness to run in the open field could become a factor at some point, maybe sooner rather than later.

And the Dolphins really don't seem like the type of team that would want or should want to make a heavy investment in a quarterback where injuries could be an issue.

The Dolphins have been down this road before. They should focus on getting a quarterback with as high a probability to last as possible.

THE FIRST OPPORTUNITY

Now, the Dolphins making the move to get Jackson in 2018 when he was coming into the NFL would have made a lot of sense.

That was the year the Dolphins were picking 11th overall and owner Stephen Ross, as the story goes, suggested the idea of trading down and taking Jackson, but GM Chris Grier instead making the decision to select Minkah Fitzpatrick.

While Fitzpatrick has been a very good, maye even great, NFL player, he obviously hasn't had the impact that Jackson has had for the Ravens — despite those who want to fixate on Baltimore's lack of major postseason success with Jackson, lowlighted by their loss at home in the 2023 AFC Championship Game.

In retrospect, the Dolphins clearly should have taken Jackson in the first round in 2018. But that ship has sailed and while the idea of Jackson playing for Miami next season certainly is fun, it probably doesn't make a ton of sense in the big picture.