The long-lasting saga between the Washington Redskins and offensive tackle Trent Williams appears to be coming to a close. Williams held out in hopes of being traded for the majority of 2019 — before ultimately failing his physical upon his return in late October. That ended Williams’ season before it ever began and has seemingly drove a wedge between the two parties, even after owner Dan Snyder fired executive (and primary guilty party) Bruce Allen this winter.
New Washington head coach Ron Rivera seemed hopeful that Williams could return to the field for the team, but that appears to be an afterthought at this point — Williams’ agent has been given permission to pursue a trade.
Should the Dolphins be interested?
Of course. This isn’t a Jason Peters situation — Williams could feasibly have several years of stalwart play left in him. He’ll be 32-years old when the 2020 season opens and entering the final year of his contract, of which he’s owed $12.5M in base salary. It would be a fairly easy contract to absorb for about two thirds of the league’s salary cap situations. But the uneasiness for trading for Williams stems from the year of football he just missed and the prospect of tacking on a long-term contract to a trade. That’s almost assuredly in the cards.
It wasn’t too long ago that the Cleveland Browns were rumored to offer their 2020 1st-round pick for Williams — but Allen nixed that deal during the season and now Washington is probably left wishing someone else called that shot. It’s hard to imagine given the risk, age and lack of long-term control, that the market for Williams would include 1st-round selections. That plays into Miami’s hand if the team would like to make a play for Williams.
The Dolphins have a ton of draft picks — might the latter of the team’s two 2nd-round picks be enough to get a deal done? If it is, then the Dolphins should by all means make it happen. But if the asking price is a late 1 or early 2, Miami should say “thanks but no thanks”.
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