One of the areas of emphasis for the Miami Dolphins this offseason was the linebacker room. The Dolphins would eventually spend significant money in adding LB Kyle Van Noy to the room from New England but the team also added veteran players like Elandon Roberts and Kamu Grugier-Hill to the mix as well, which will give Miami’s defense a completely different feel this season.
But a byproduct of all that investment would presumably be that the Dolphins aren’t satisfied with the young linebackers on the roster, especially LB Raekwon McMillan. McMillan saw his snaps cut significantly under the new coaching staff in an effort to keep him out of pass coverage situations — a method that works well but ultimately did leave the Dolphins susceptible to being predictable with McMillan in the fray. And, with the former Ohio State linebacker entering into a contract year, the Dolphins’ handling of the linebacker group didn’t seem to be a promising endorsement of long-term stability.
And now, according to the Sun Sentinel’s Omar Kelly, the Dolphins are reportedly shopping McMillan around, hoping to find a trade partner for the physical run-stuffer.
“The Miami Dolphins are shopping Raekwon McMillan, attempting to acquire a mid-round NFL draft pick for the team’s former starting inside linebacker.
A deal hasn’t been finalized as of Saturday morning, but a league source confirmed that the Dolphins are fielding trade offers for McMillan, a 2017 second-round pick who has started 28 of the 29 games he’s played the past two seasons, contributing 177 tackles, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery.” – Omar Kelly, Sun Sentinel
Reports earlier this summer indicated that McMillan may be in a fight for a starting job for the second consecutive year, but now it seems as though the Dolphins have seen enough to know it might be in the best interests of all involved to move on now — before McMillan’s contract expires and the team sees him depart in free agency.