The Miami Dolphins have torn it all down, stripped down the house to the bolts and screws. GM Jon-Eric Sullivan is remaking the roster to what he feels is a winning formula. WR Jaylen was traded this week to the Denver Broncos for 2 draft picks in the 2026 NFL Draft, RD 1 #30, RD 3 #94, and then the Dolphins swapped RD 4 #111 with the Broncos RD 3 #130, so we move back 19 picks in RD 4. I think that’s excellent value for a WR in today’s NFL, especially with what Waddle has done, mostly as the #2 option while WR Tyreek Hill was here. Forget about what the draft capital former GM Chris Grier used to acquire Waddle, RD 1 Pick #12, RD 4 Pick #123, and 2022 RD 1 #13. Waddle never really had a chance to to perform up to that kind of value, especially once Grier traded for Tyreek Hill. Before Hill arrived, Waddle was the #1 target, getting 140 targets for 104 receptions and 1015 yards in his rookie season. His best season was 2022, catching 75 passes for 1356 yards and 8 TD’s, with a fantastic 18.1 yards per catch average. Jaylen Waddle was a nice player for us, but never really a #1 alpha receiver, but more like Eagles WR DeVonta Smith, who has very similar numbers to Waddle. DeVonta Smith was drafted #10, no trade up for the Eagles.

So, the good news is, the Miami Dolphins go into the 2026 NFL Draft armed with 11 total picks, 7 of them in the top 94 picks,

RD1 #11, #30

RD2 #43

RD3 #75, #87, #90, #94

RD4 #130

RD5 #151

RD7 #227, #238

To be fair, the roster is pretty thin with top talent. On offense, it’s LT Patrick Paul, C Aaron Brewer and RB De’Von Achane. On defense, DT Zach Sieler and ILB Jordyn Brooks are the standouts. There’s potential for any number of players to step up, like EDGE Chop Robinson, or any of the 13 CB’s we have on the roster, or any of our young DL like Kenny Grant, Jordan Phillips and Zeke Biggers. Maybe S Dante Trader steps up this season, he may get a chance with Minkah Fitzpatrick gone. Sully has created competition at nearly every position save the QB position, where Malik Willis just got paid, so don’t even think that 2nd year QB Quinn Ewers has a chance to earn the job. If we somehow draft a QB in this draft, say Drew Allar, he will be a project and won’t be legitimately competing for a job until at best next season. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have picked up Willis, but you have to be realistic that we’re paying Willis $22.33M per year, there won’t be competition at QB, but there will everywhere else, including Long Snapper.

Personally, I’m thrilled with the trade, I’m thrilled to have all those picks, and I have some high hopes that this time we have the right man, along with his scouting staff to make some hay and really improve the roster in this draft. We all know too well we had a similar situation in 2020 with then GM Chris Grier, and boy did we ruin that opportunity. Some will say Tua was successful, but while OG Robert Hunt had a nice rookie contract for the Dolphins, Chris Grier failed to keep him in Miami, and really, he was the best of the draft picks year after year. RT Austin Jackson is still with the team, but he has had an uneven career, missing way too many games over 3 seasons with injuries. Jackson missed 15 games in 2022, 9 games in 2024, and 11 games in 2025, for a grand total of 35 games. Jackson has a tenuous hold on the RT position at the moment before the 2026 NFL draft. My guess is this his final year with the team. In other words, after the 2026 season, not ONE PLAYER from the infamous 2020 NFL Draft with eleven picks will be on our roster in 2027. We have exactly the same amount of picks in 2026, distributed quite differently I might add, we had three 1st RD picks, Tua, Jackson and Igbinoghene, and then RD 2 as I mentioned the star of the draft, Robert Hunt. Think of how things could have been different if we allocated the money to sign Robert Hunt instead of handing it over to QB Tua Tagovailoa. Haunting mistake, and probably one of the biggest contributors as to why Chris Grier is no longer here.

If you look at the mock drafts now, lazily most of them have us taking a WR with Pick #11. I won’t scream, but I would be shocked if we do. I do believe Sully will build the trenches, or the pass defense first, so that means EDGE or CB. We desperately need both, and if the departure of Waddle doesn’t show you what Sully’s priority is, then I can help you, it’s NOT Wide Receiver. We’ll take one or two, but not with those premium picks #11 or #30. We’ve been busy picking up inexpensive NFL vets like Jalen Tolbert and WR Tutu Atwell. We have young WR’s like slot WR Malik Washington and a guy who is developing WR Theo Wease. Rookie WR’s often struggle year 1, so Sully wisely picked up a couple of vets. Keep in mind we let OG James “Three snaps” Daniels go and we have OG Jonah “Two Picks” Savaiinaea who really needs to refurbish his image and his play to earn the trust of HC Jeff Hafley, so we may be looking at a couple of big interior linemen in this draft as well.

I am really looking forward to the 2026 NFL Draft, to most of us here, it’s something we look forward to each and every year just have our hopes and dreams dashed by poor choices. I think that will definitely change for the better, and I’m really optimistic that Sully and the GB way will do things the right way for a change. I know some of you will have your “Tradey-Pants” on, M, that means you. I KNOW you wanna trade up to get someone, you know it too. We have so many darn holes to fill, it wouldn’t surprise me if we do move anywhere, it will be back, not forward. Grier fell in love with certain players every year, and instead of letting the board come to him, he traded up out of fear of missing out on a certain player. What’s worse is all of those trade-ups ended being mistakes. We need HITS on so many of those 11 picks. Obviously, hitting on all of them or even most of them is unlikely, but we need I’d say 5-6 starters out of this draft, and hopefully 3-4 contributors. That might not be fair or accurate, but the state of the roster is such where we must upgrade in so many spots, namely EDGE, CB, OG, WR, TE, S, and potentially RB too if we don’t plan on giving RB De’Von Achane a big new contract. We can tag him next year to what would amount to about $15M for 2027, and it’s possible that’s what we will do, but De’Von Achane will not be happy if he doesn’t get a contract and there could be a holdout. Hopefully, De’Von doesn’t grab a bullhorn during training camp and say “Show me the money”.

GO DOLPHINS!!!