Tyreek Hill's name has been mentioned in one hypothetical trade after another this offseason, but there's another prominent Miami Dolphins player now getting that treatment.
In a unique mock draft where he suggested a trade at every slot in Round 1, Bill Barnwell of ESPN proposed the Miami Dolphins trade edge rusher Jaelan Phillips to the San Francisco 49ers, along with pick 13 for the 11th overall pick plus a fourth-round selection.
Even though Barnwell's exercise prompted this suggested deal, trade speculation about Phillips likely will pick up as he will likely play the 2025 season on his fifth-year option.
Phillips is also coming off two major season-ending injuries, a torn Achilles in 2023 and a torn ACL in 2024.
We examine the pros and cons of a potential Phillips trade and the potential thought process behind Barnwell’s proposal.
Pros of a Phillips Deal
The main pro for this potential Phillips trade is the Dolphins moving up in the first round of the upcoming draft. Barnwell cited the idea that the Dolphins should try to get in front of the Dallas Cowboys to select a defensive lineman.
This makes sense from the Dolphins’ perspective, as the team is incredibly thin on the defensive line, especially on the interior. Currently, the team has just two interior defensive linemen who are expected to play significant snaps next season.
Zach Sieler is a budding star, but Benito Jones is a limited role player who shouldn’t be expected to be highly productive.
Moving up from 13 to 11 to draft a player like Michigan’s Kenneth Grant could make sense for the Dolphins. Obviously, giving up Phillips to do it isn’t ideal, but the Dolphins have a lot more depth at edge rusher than on the interior.
Bradley Chubb is returning next season, and he’ll be paired with Chop Robinson after he had an excellent second half of the 2024 season. From a depth perspective, the Dolphins have Mohamed Kamara, William Bradley-King and Quinton Bell.
There’s a fair argument that the Dolphins need help at edge rusher, too, but they’re at least deeper at that spot.
The other pro of a potential Phillips trade is avoiding paying Phillips a significant long-term contract. As mentioned earlier, Phillips is slated to play on his fifth-year option this coming season, accounting for $13.3 million against the cap.
That’s a bargain if Phillips returns to his pre-injury levels, but that’s a tough bet to make. We know Phillips’ work ethic is incredible, but he’s played in just 12 games across the last two seasons.
It would be hard to blame to the Dolphins for not wanting to commit significant dollars to Phillips long-term. In Barnwell’s scenario, the Dolphins would get some value for Phillips without taking the risk that he would get hurt again in 2025.
Cons of a Phillips Trade
There are several issues with Barnwell’s proposal and the idea of trading Phillips in general.
For starters, merely netting a fourth-round pick and moving up two spots in the draft is not much value for a player with Phillips’ upside. Barnwell noted that Phillips’ value in the trade would be equivalent to the 91st pick in the draft.
Phillips’ numbers from last season aren’t great because he played in only four games, but he recorded 22 sacks in his first three seasons, including 6.5 before his Achilles injury eight games into the 2023 season.
A player with that caliber of pass-rush upside is worth much more than the 91st pick in the draft, even with Phillips’ recent struggles to stay on the field. Plus, the Dolphins already have five picks on Day 3 of the draft, so adding an additional fourth-rounder doesn’t make sense.
While Phillips’ value in a vacuum is subjective, his potential value to the Dolphins this season isn’t. Although Miami has some edge depth, Phillips is arguably the best player in that room.
Robinson had a nice end to his rookie season but is still a developing player. Chubb has his own injury concerns, and none of the other depth players have anything close to Phillips’ pedigree. Simply put, the Dolphins need Phillips to play well this season.
Head coach Mike McDaniel and General Manager Chris Grier are under a lot of pressure to win games this coming season. The chance that the Dolphins get a player with more talent than Phillips in the draft or at this point in free agency is pretty low.
Even if they chose to replace Phillips with another edge rusher in Barnwell’s hypothetical trade-up, they’d choose between players like Shemar Stewart, Mike Green, Mykel Williams and James Pearce.
Those are good players and wouldn’t be bad picks, but they’re entirely unproven. The Dolphins aren’t in a position to be cycling through talent — they need as much talent as possible all over the roster.
The Dolphins trading Phillips isn’t the worst idea, but moving him to jump up two spots and add a sixth Day 3 pick doesn’t make Miami better in 2025, which should be the team’s focus.
