One of the Dolphins’ last remaining loose ends of the 2025 season has finally been tied up
We now know the formal cost of a three-month rental.
The loose ends are all coming together for the Miami Dolphins‘ resources this offseason. The Dolphins did the hard part already, which was securing a general manager to run the franchise into the future. Former Packers executive Jon-Eric Sullivan takes the helm of a franchise that has limited cap resources for 2026 but ample ability to create a healthy outlook and lots of spending power in 2027 — plus five picks currently scheduled in the top-100 of the 2026 NFL Draft to jumpstart the roster.
One of those primary assets came from his predecessors mid-season, as the Dolphins’ interim general manager Champ Kelly and former head coach Mike McDaniel were both a part of the decision to trade edge rusher Jaelan Phillips to the Philadelphia Eagles at the 2025 trade deadline. Miami got a third-round pick for its efforts. And now, thanks to this weekend’s results, we know exactly what the price of acquiring Phillips on a 10-week rental.
Jaelan Phillips trade terms finalized as Eagles are eliminated from postseason
The Dolphins have their own picks in the first three rounds of the 2026 NFL Draft, giving them the 11th, 43rd, and 75th overall sections. The pick from the Eagles in the Phillips deal will be the next in the queue — and it checks in 87th overall in the 2026 NFL Draft order. The Dolphins’ motivation to do that deal was straightforward, even if it was unpopular. Among Miami’s best assets, Phillips was the one playing on an expiring contract this offseason.
The price for Miami to say goodbye to Phillips proactively is a top-90 pick in the order and should give the Dolphins the chance to be creative moving up or down the board in April, or simply stacking another talent into their ranks as the team continues to focus on a youth movement.
Had the Dolphins not moved Phillips, they’d be faced with a different set of circumstances: Try to find a way to pay and extend him, franchise tag him for more than $27 million in 2026, or let him walk for nothing in free agency in March. I’ll tell you this — each and every one of those options is less attractive for a team hitting the reset button than having the 87th overall pick and 8 less games of Phillips in South Florida.
Jaelan Phillips’ Miami Dolphins career
- Drafted 18th overall in the 2021 NFL Draft out of the University of Miami
- 26 sacks in 55 games with the Dolphins
- Career-best 77 pressures in 2022
- Traded to Philadelphia for 87th overall pick at 2025 NFL trade deadline
It’s an unpleasant but necessary part of the business of football. And it’s played out in Miami’s favor.
The Eagles didn’t get the postseason run they were hoping for, but they did get good production out of Phillips. He logged 44 pressures for the Eagles down the back half of this season. He’ll now head into free agency coming off a full season sample size in which he posted 76 total pressures — one off his career best mark, which he set in Miami in 2022. He can cash in through free agency if the Eagles let him hit the market.
But Miami already has, courtesy of the Eagles’ third-round pick that will now go to Miami at 87th overall in the queue.
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