Miami Dolphins need to open their trade talk phone lines
By Brian Miller
The Miami Dolphins need to start opening up the phone lines and start taking calls for their roster as cuts loom on the horizon.
For the rebuilding Miami Dolphins, winning in 2019 is not as important as winning in 2021 and beyond. The Dolphins want to win and will not “tank” but that doesn’t mean they can’t start trading some of the players that will not be on the roster next season.
To put it simply, if a player is not in the team’s long-term plans, they shouldn’t be on the roster for the immediate future. Finding trade partners may not be that easy but there are always teams that will make a play with the hopes to get better. If Miami could get more 2020 or even 2021 draft picks in return for players that will likely be cut next year, then do it. New England does it every year.
Kenny Stills is at the top of the list. This has nothing to do with his off-field stuff. Had nothing happened in the last two weeks, he would still top this list. Stills has value, less value than he had two weeks ago but value nonetheless.
There are plenty of teams in need of wide-receiver help and for the Dolphins, it is one of their deeper positions. A trade of Stills would save $8 million in cap space this year alone and while the Dolphins don’t need the space this year, it is still a good saving to carry over into 2020.
Stills production, despite his popularity, hasn’t been all that great. To be fair, he has Ryan Tannehill and Jay Cutler throwing to him but he has had mental lapses and even Brian Flores recently told him that he wasn’t happy with what he has seen from him in camp this year. That should be the bigger barometer of whether he should be traded.
Kiko Alonso has fallen out of the linebacker unit because of injury but in reality, the Dolphins are getting better at the position without him. Personally, I like Alonso’s physical style of play and Brian Flores may like that as well. A team like the Packers might have an interest in a tough linebacker but trade value wouldn’t be all that high, likely a late-round pick with potential conditions.
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With Jerome Baker and Sam Eguavoen making big strides this training camp, Baker emerging as the defensive leader, Alonso may only be a situational player in 2019 so why keep around?
Reshad Jones doesn’t have much trade value given his current contract but he does have value and maybe Miami can turn Jones into another offensive lineman that can compete for playing time. Jones, like the others, will not likely be around next season and earlier this year ruffled some feathers by opting to not participate in voluntary drills.
Jones has some years left in him but by the time the Dolphins roll around to being legit contenders, if that comes to fruition, Jones will have only been a roster body that stuck around to help build the team. Frankly, I’m not sure I would want Jones mentoring his replacement.
The good news for the youth-driven Dolphins is that all three players are not only replaceable but replaceable immediately. Miami doesn’t have to have them on the field to find success but by giving way to younger players it allows the team to develop those players quicker. Or at the very least evaluate them.
Chances are the Dolphins will not make any trades before final roster cuts and frankly, Kenny Stills would be a PR nightmare if he were traded. It wouldn’t, however, be a bad idea to let teams know they are available.