Miami Dolphins leadership is acing the game within the game as the 2026 NFL Draft approaches
The Miami Dolphins have enough draft capital to go up and down the board freely. But their ability to do so is secondary to their appetite to pick more (or less).
The amount of 2026 NFL Draft capital at the Miami Dolphins‘ disposal makes them one of the most fascinating teams in the entire league.
Will they move up? Slide down? Push out for future picks in 2027 and beyond? It’s all on the table. And it’s time to give credit where credit is due — Miami has done a wonderful job keeping us off their scent. Miami has been tied to rumors of both trading up and trading down in the past month. Then, assistant general manager Kyle Smith took a one-on-one interview with team media and suggested the team could move up. And now general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan has thrown us another off-speed pitch.
Jon-Eric Sullivan doesn’t sound too keen on the Miami Dolphins trading up on draft night
“I’m always going to pick up the phone. I think it probably is fair to say more likely to move back than move up. I mean, I think we need all 11 picks, but you never say never. I’m always, whether you’re talking about going up or down, I’m going to pick up the phone and listen to what’s being said on the other side of it.”
Dolphins GM Jon-ERic Sullivan
On the possibility of moving up or down in the 2026 NFL Draft
Now, let’s be fair. Sullivan does say ‘never say never’. But he also concedes that he thinks “we need all 11 picks”. Not exactly a ringing endorsement of the idea of getting aggressive. It flies in direct contrast to Kyle Smith’s recent quote.
“We have 11 going in, we might have less. Maybe we trade up and do all those things. Maybe we gather more (picks) for next year,” said Smith.
Does the conflicting chatter insinuate some potential trouble in paradise? Absolutely not. First of all, everyone involved is conceding that everything is on the table in the right situation. But it also highlights an element of the pre-draft process that some teams play better than others: the gamesmanship of intent.
Sullivan said the quiet part out loud when asked on Wednesday about what areas of the draft are strongest. He flashed a smile and politely declined to offer any observations of value.
“I’m going to be coy on the strengths of the draft. I’m super paranoid when we get this close that I don’t want to tip my hat to anything.”
The past month of whispers and rumors regarding Miami’s likely outcomes in the early picks could be classified as coy. So credit to the Miami Dolphins, intentionally or not, for their efforts to mask their intent. Logic dictates that they probably aren’t going to be team that aggressively leaping up the board with a big splash. It isn’t in line with their position as a franchise. But beyond that. Who knows? As the team brass has pointed out, everything is on the table.
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