The 2020 NFL Draft is tomorrow — marking a landmark influx of talent for the Miami Dolphins in their efforts to rebuild the roster. That is, of course, unless the team caves in the eleventh hour and coughs up a bunch of NFL Draft capital in an effort to jump up higher in the order to secure the rights to draft their quarterback of choice. That would be a disaster. The Dolphins, to their credit, have done so well all offseason to take what was presumed to be an obvious fit between them and QB Tua Tagovailoa and have turned the Dolphins’ QB search on its head.
One week it is Tagovailoa. The next week it is Justin Herbert. The week after that? Utah State’s Jordan Love. Miami has put on a clinic in keeping the opposition off balance as it pertains to one’s intentions in the NFL Draft. The objective there is obvious — a team won’t look to jump Miami if they, too, think they can get their desired target early without making a move. And by providing hope that other desirable quarterbacks might fall because of a decision Miami makes, it bottlenecks the trade market.
But those teams above the Dolphins aren’t going to go away quietly. Detroit, New York and Washington have all teased their interest in trading down and reports are starting to break out that teams are fielding calls.
The Dolphins still remain in the driver’s seat for QB2. Miami’s standing agreement with the three teams in front of them should be simple:
“Call us if you think you’ve got a deal elsewhere. If you’ve got a deal, we’ll beat it.”
And even then, Miami can “read the room” and decide for themselves if they want to pay the price necessary, if the team trading up in front of them is a threat to draft a quarterback and a slew of other variables. The top-5 in the NFL Draft order are looking to turn up the heat, but it is still Miami who has the high ground in negotiations. Their placement ahead of the other QB hungry teams and their high NFL Draft pick count help ensure them of that. So, as with most information this late in the game, the Dolphins would be smart to let it go in one ear and out the other.