Miami Dolphins
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A trade idea has Miami landing an earlier first round pick
The Miami Dolphins’ offseason has seen the team offload talent, prioritizing draft capital and improving their salary cap situation moving forward. Miami’s decision to release some of their aging stars like Tyreek Hill or Bradley Chubb was met with understanding by fans, media members and executives around the NFL.
Then, Miami took a more drastic approach as they traded 27-year-old Jaylen Waddle, who was projected to be the new Dolphins No. 1 wide receiver for Malik Willis. Despite acquiring a late first-round pick in the trade, some executives and media members felt Miami was setting Willis up to fail, by failing to support him with the appropriate talent around him. However, Miami felt the franchise was better with the trade package the Denver Broncos offered for Jaylen Waddle.
Now, a new trade idea has the Dolphins taking a similar approach to the Jaylen Waddle, as they trade one of their rising players in exchange for draft capital.
Miami Dolphins Predicted to Trade Former First-Round Pick
ESPN’s Bill Barnwell did a new mock draft, in which he did the exercise of realizing a trade for every draft pick. In his exercise, Barnwell predicted the Miami Dolphins trading up in the draft, landing the No. 14 pick in the first round while trading away young pass rusher Chop Robinson to the Baltimore Ravens.
Robinson was selected in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft. Regarding his play in his first two seasons, Barnwell wrote:
“Robinson looked like he was on a superstar track after his rookie season, when he generated quick pressures at the seventh-highest rate of any player in football, let alone among rookies, per NFL Next Gen Stats. He managed a relatively modest six sacks across 565 snaps, but that underlying performance hinted toward a budding star.
With high expectations in 2025, Robinson instead endured an utterly anonymous season. He spent the first few weeks of the year as the third edge in the Miami rotation behind Jaelan Phillips and Bradley Chubb. Robinson’s snap count increased after Phillips was dealt to the Eagles, but the 23-year-old finished the season with only three sacks and seven knockdowns. His quick pressure rate split in half, dropping from 7.4% to 3.7%, even while running a double-team rate just below league average for edge defenders.
It was a wildly disappointing sophomore campaign for a player with such promise, and when Jon-Eric Sullivan detailed his pillars for the organization moving forward, the new Miami general manager didn’t include Robinson.”
Dolphins Position on Robinson
As Barnwell mentioned, Sullivan did not include Robinson as one of his pillars for the organization. Instead, he mentioned De’Von Achane, Jordyn Brooks, Patrick Paul and Aaron Brewer. Heading into the 2025 season, it appears likely that any team would have seen Robinson as a building block, but questions have surfaced after his disappointing sophomore campaign.
When asked about Robinson,Sullivan said, “He has a responsibility, has to be intentional about his business… I have a lot of confidence in [coach Jeff Hafley] his staff and their ability to teach and develop young players. Chop has a lot of natural talent. We have a lot of really good coaches in the building. I think it will be a good marriage. We will get the most out of Chop.”
The comments indicate that Miami wants more out of Robinson than he has shown so far. Perhaps a premium draft pick would be something Miami considers in a trade offer for the young pass rusher.