One recent NFL trade deadline deal offers the blueprint for what the Dolphins should demand if they’re serious about trading Jaelan Phillips
Those who know their history are empowered to repeat it.
The Miami Dolphins will have a busy office phone for the next three weeks. Miami, sitting at 1-5, is staring a rebuild in the face. And that means players on the payroll could be offered up as trade deadline fodder for teams that have bigger aspirations for the rest of this season in front of them.
Teams will rightfully call about offensive stars like RB De’Von Achane and WR Jaylen Waddle. Miami should listen — but it’s hard to imagine a deal coming through on either player that would justify Miami going in a different direction.
But in the team’s pass rush room? Miami is already out of kilter with their personnel — so much so that 2024 first-round pick Chop Robinson is not seeing the field more than 40% of the time. Bradley Chubb is an accomplished player, but his trade outlook is complicated.
Jaelan Phillips, the team’s other first-round draft pick on the edge? Well, that’s a player that’s likely going to have some interest. The rumors have already begun swirling. History, for the record, gives us the roadmap of what Miami should be asking for if the rumors are true.
One recent NFL trade deadline deal offers precedent for Miami’s ask for EDGE defender Jaelan Phillips
Hear me out, a former first-round pass rusher is on a struggling franchise and potentially available for a trade deadline deal. He’s still on his rookie contract and is in the final year of it. After a promising start to his career as a pro, which included a career-high in sacks during his rookie season, he’s struggled over the past two years with missed time. Those issues have been marred by a major injury. But the contract-year performance has been sturdy despite the unit’s struggles overall.
I’m talking about Jaelan Phillips, right?
No, try again. This is the journey of former 2020 first-round pass rusher Chase Young. The trade the Commanders consummated with the San Francisco 49ers in 2023 should serve as the blueprint for what the Dolphins ask in return for Phillips.
Details of the Chase Young trade at the 2023 NFL trade deadline
- Washington receives: A 2024 third-round compensatory pick
- San Francisco receives: EDGE defender Chase Young
- Trade completed on October 31, 2023
Young posted 7.5 sacks in his rookie season as a top-five draft choice, tore his ACL in November of his second season in the pros, and missed 22 games with his recovery. He logged just 1.5 sacks between his 2021 and 2022 seasons as a result, but was healthy enough to play in a contract year in 2023.
By November, Young was traded to San Francisco for a late third-round draft choice in the following spring’s NFL Draft.
That’s exactly where Miami should land with Phillips. And the argument is simple, beyond the precedent set by the Young deal. Suppose Miami retains Phillips and his demand stays high into free agency. In that case, he’d likely sign a contract that qualifies him for a fourth-round selection at worst, via the league’s compensatory pick formula. The Dolphins, amid their pending reset, should not be expected to be big spenders next spring in free agency as they reset their books.
You want Phillips? Make Miami an offer that incentivizes the team to take something better than the math says they’ll get if they simply let him walk. And that number just so happens to fall directly in line with what the Commanders got for Young — a third-round draft choice.
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