NFL insider throws cold water on the trade buzz around a pair of the Dolphins’ best players
You’ve got to build a roster somewhere, after all.
If the last Miami Dolphins rebuild taught us anything, it is that no one is safe.
Remember back in 2019 when the Dolphins stripped the roster down to the studs and, in the process, traded OT Laremy Tunsil in a blockbuster deal and shipped out then-second year safety Minkah Fitzpatrick for premiere draft capital? It was a seismic set of dominoes that had some in the national media calling for an intervention from the competition committee and expressing concerns about player safety from a roster ‘so bad’. That is, of course, not reality — that Miami team ended up winning five games and failed to secure a top-3 pick in the NFL Draft the following year. But with a new rebuild around the corner, speculation on an “everyone must go” philosophy is back. But according to one prominent NFL insider, the Dolphins would reportedly like to keep two of their best players this time around.
Dolphins would reportedly like to keep both WR Jaylen Waddle and RB De’Von Achane
“A lot of rival teams are eager to talk to the Dolphins in Indianapolis to see which players they are willing to trade. This is a team that is resetting towards youth. And so, of course, the Dolphins would love to trade Tua (Tagovailoa). There’s going to be some difficulties with the money there. Teams would love for them to trade Jaylen Waddle and De’Von Achane. I’m told, right now, they’re wanting to keep those guys as core players but one name that could create some interest is safety Minkah Fitzpatrick.”
— NFL Network’s Cameron Wolfe on Miami’s frame of mind entering the 2026 NFL Combine
This could break a number of different ways. This is probably a true, honest mindset that Miami has moving forward with the roster. After all, the team’s new leadership mentioned both as building blocks of the roster when general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan was introduced to the fanbase for the first time. So it is probably safe to assume that Miami does intend to use both players as building blocks.
But then again, the Dolphins reportedly wanted to keep Laremy Tunsil back in 2019, too.
Every player has a price. And, at a minimum this message into the football world underscores that the fire sale is over. If Miami’s going to ultimately end up moving either one of these building blocks, it is because the team is offered a premium price that simply cannot be denied. Will they get an offer like that on either one? Who knows. But it sounds like it’s going to take something special to shake Achane or Waddle loose from the tree.
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