The Miami Dolphins should explore trade option for Orlando Brown

March 17 at 4 p.m. is coming fast. That is the start of the NFL free agency period and Miami Dolphins trade rumors should be reaching a crescendo by then. This rumor is just a murmur now and it is an interesting one.

A few things of note: He is insistent on playing left tackle, which is the reasoning for him wanting a trade and a departure from the Baltimore Ravens who drafted him in the third round of the 2018 NFL Draft. The Ravens would be looking to recoup a lot more than where he was originally drafted and the Miami Dolphins 18th overall pick would look tempting to the Ravens.

Or a possible finagle move would be to offer a swap of the Ravens’ late first round 27th overall pick and the Dolphins early second round 36th overall pick on top of the 18th overall they would be getting to sweeten the deal for the Dolphins.

Interestingly enough there are exactly eight spots equally between the proposed draft trade swaps above, the late 1rst for the early second. Of course there is far move value in the first round. However, Brown is a talented tackle who brings his own value, which could make it a hard sale for the Ravens.

Expanding on the left tackle aspect: Brown had to fill in at LT and did well, although it was an 11 game stint. A small sample size for the big payday he is after. Why is he insistent at playing left tackle? Supposedly it was instilled in him by his father who also played for the Ravens and Browns and wanted his son to do even better. So this could be an old school (becoming outdated) view that the LT is the blind side tackle and more important.

Enter the possible conundrum should he play with the Miami Dolphins. Tua Tagovailoa is a left handed quarterback, which shifts that blind side accept to the right tackle. Would this have any impact on him, and possibly influencing him to play on that side?

There could be a big drawback if OT Orlando Brown refuses to play the right side

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If an injury happens on the right side at tackle he could be looked at to fill in. This could lead to a big problem if he remained instant at staying at LT.

Should the Miami Dolphins acquiesce? Brown would be coming on the cheap in the last year of his contract, and only owed $920k. Called a one year rental or a prove it deal. The Dolphins have good backups along the line, even outside, and they would probably be more apt to keep those players on the roster as an insurance policy while the prove it year played out.

Austin Jackson, playing LT now, and taken in the first round of last years draft wouldn’t just be cast aside like a card. He could be the starting candidate at right tackle, taking that spot from Robert Hunt. The way Jackson’s contract is structured with guarantees it would make it hard to move him.

This would create a logjam at the line, but if expanding backups is the correct action, there would be a low lineman on the totem pole to crave out.

Orlando Brown’s representatives have begun exploring trade possibilities

In those 11 starts at left tackle last season he didn’t give up a sack and allowed a total of 19 pressures, while committing only 3 penalties. I can see a strong runs on his left side paired with Ereck Flowers as Brown is said to be better with run plays, but he is still good on passing plays as well

This is a bit convoluted and would create a lot of movement and competition along the line, while finding and weeding out the low man, but it could work.

There have been times where a players demands have dissipated after a trade, when he is settled in with his team, and that could also be the case with the Miami Dolphins. It could also be used as a bargaining chip.