The Miami Dolphins are, generally speaking, very much in the thick of things in the AFC playoff race. At 3-3, Miami sits just a game out of the final wildcard spot in the conference and is a game and a half behind the Buffalo Bills for first place in the division. There’s no way this team is “selling” at the 2020 NFL trade deadline. But is there any players who aren’t being used prominently by this team who the team should consider moving on from if they’d be able to get something of value for them?
Absolutely. There is at least one player who simply isn’t getting reps in Miami who could be of value to someone else across the league. And if Miami can strike anything of substance for this player without disrupting the chemistry and rotation of the team, they should definitely give strong consideration to pulling the trigger.
Who might be on the trade block for the Dolphins despite their perception as being a fringe contender?
Veteran running back Jordan Howard.
The Dolphins inked Howard to a 2-year deal this past offseason and gave him nearly $10M to come play for the Dolphins. The results have been far from stellar — Howard has played just 29 snaps for Miami and has been a healthy scratch for the last two games. That’s not exactly the kind of endorsement you’re looking for in a notable free agent signing. Unfortunately, Miami’s strengths as a unit don’t align with the non-explosive back; often leaving Howard little to no room to run because he can’t get to holes quickly enough before they disappear.
To be fair to Howard, Miami’s offensive line is better at first contact than they are sustaining their blocks in the run game, so he’s running handcuffed on this offense.
Whether or not anyone would be receptive to giving something of value to Miami (even just a conditional late round pick) for Howard is a mystery at this point in time, but given Miami’s disinterest in even dressing him on game day the Dolphins should be more than ready to accept anything that would be offered to them in order to move on. Because this pairing clearly just isn’t working.