For nine years, South Florida native Lamar Jackson has been throwing passes for the Baltimore Ravens. Now, Miami Dolphins fans are hearing his name getting louder once again.
The NFL trade deadline is a week away. Jackson is on IR. The Dolphins need a franchise-level quarterback. Jackson is from South Florida. This is one of those easy childhood connect-the-dots pictures. But it's not, and it's a road fans have been down before.
The media is having a field day with the Jackson-to-Miami talk, but it simply doesn't make any sense. The Dolphins are building for the future; Jackson is a "now" fix. The Dolphins aren't a win-now team, and they won't be for at least a couple more years.
Miami Dolphins should politely and loudly say no thank you to a Lamar Jackson trade
A trade for Jackson by the deadline isn't likely. He is on IR again for a broken thumb. More likely, the Dolphins would have interest in making a move during the offseason. For starters, they would have a lot more spending cash to throw at him.
Is Jackson good? Absolutely, at least when he is healthy. He hasn't been this year, wasn't all of last year, and let's face it: the Ravens haven't won a Super Bowl with him at the helm.
It's easy to see someone like Jackson and start drooling as a Dolphins fan who hasn't seen extended quality quarterback play since Dan Marino, but at what point do you weigh the cost of acquiring him against the impact on your rebuild?
Jackson will want an extension that pays him more than he makes now. More than $60 million per season. The Ravens won't simply give him away either. They will want at least a first-round pick and probably more. The Dolphins will likely hold a top-three pick in 2027, and sorry, I wouldn't spend that on Jackson at this stage of his career.
Fox Sports' Nick Wright said on The Herd with Colin Cowherd, “I think LamarJackson is the Week 1 starting quarterback next year for the Miami Dolphins.” That isn't a bold statement, but it simply goes against what the Dolphins are trying to build in Miami.
He isn't the only one. Hall of Fame WR and former Miami Hurricane Michael Irvin said on ESPN's First Take that in Miami, Jackson would be an "International icon."
“Lamar in Baltimore is an NFL superstar. Lamar in Miami is an international icon.”
— First Take (@FirstTake) November 2, 2026
—@michaelirvin88 on what Lamar Jackson’s future might look like 👀 pic.twitter.com/ZoxFzaUuZv
Irvin also points out that Jackson's body has a lot of wear and tear on it. That's a problem too. The Dolphins know what it's like to have a QB whose body is breaking down. They know about investing that kind of money in that type of player. It is not conducive to building a franchise. It's a win-now mentality and nothing more.
Jackson isn't going to guarantee the Dolphins a playoff win any more than he will guarantee them a trip to the Super Bowl. For all the talk of Lamar this and Jackson that, the Dolphins don't need to change their approach simply because there is a name that, in all honesty, may not even be available.
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