The good and bad of the Miami Dolphins trade of Laremy Tunsil
By Brian Miller
When the Miami Dolphins traded star left tackle Laremy Tunsil on Saturday, it sent shock waves through the fanbase. It will last a while.
The Miami Dolphins are now in the market for a left tackle. They will need to find a solution this year and they will need to spend draft capital next year to draft one. If they are lucky, a top tackle will show up on the free-agent list next March. Here is the rub though. Top talented tackles do not make it free agency. They are traded or they are re-signed.
Miami had a top left tackle, now the Texans have a top left tackle. While Tunsil did not make the Pro Bowl with the Dolphins, he will with the Texans. Playoff teams see their lineman rewarded like that.
This is one of those really tough trades because it makes a lot of sense for the Dolphins and doesn’t make much sense. Tunsil was by far the best offensive lineman on the team and the drop off from him to the next guy is so big that I don’t think you can actually say any of them are better than the others at this point.
The Dolphins want to get younger but Tunsil is still on his rookie contract and playing at a high level. He is rarely injured and when he is on the field, the left side of the line is really solid. Tunsil could easily become an annual Pro Bowl player and frankly, he has the look to become a potential Hall of Fame tackle. He won’t for the Dolphins.
All of that being said, the trade makes so much sense for a team that is desperately trying to change the narrative of their recent history. The Dolphins are a bad football team. They have been one for almost two decades. Tunsil doesn’t change that. He helps it but he doesn’t change it. While you can build around him, he can’t do it all himself and the Dolphins have issues all over the field.
Tunsil is one player but after this trade, the Dolphins will have turned Tunsil into three players. Two players that may be drafted in the first round and one player that may be drafted in the 2nd round provided the Dolphins don’t eventually move those draft picks.
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It was a big haul for a big player, a player that again, has been really good but so far has not been “great”. Not yet. This trade was the type of trade you see for a quarterback. A Nick Foles type. To see it for an LT is impressive. Consider that last year the Raiders traded Khalil Mack to the Bears.
Mack was one of the elite defensive players in the league. A game-changer. The Raiders received a first-round pick in 2019 and 2020. They also received a 6th round pick in 2019. The Raiders, however, gave up more than just Mack. They sent a 2020 2nd round pick to the Bears and a conditional 2020 5th round pick.
The Dolphins did a lot better even though they shipped off Kenny Stills with him.
Miami’s offensive line is considerably worse than it was a week ago but in reality, the Dolphins offensive line was still going to be one of the worst in the league, if not the worst.
Fans are not thrilled with the trade and while on paper it looks to be really good for Miami, the actual value of this deal will not be gauged until we see what the Dolphins do with the picks they acquired.