Tag: Isaiah Wilson

Dolphins cut ties with former 1st-round tackle Isaiah Wilson

Dolphins cut ties with former 1st-round tackle Isaiah Wilson

The Miami Dolphins have shown over the course of the Chris Grier/Brian Flores era that they’re not afraid to take on a rehabilitation project from time to time for players who are troubled off the field. One such player, Mark Walton, lasted approximately half a season in 2019 before more off the field issues prompted the Dolphins to cut him midseason.

The Dolphins’ latest project didn’t even make it a week.

The Dolphins struck a verbal agreement with the Tennessee Titans at the beginning of the month to bring troubled offensive tackle Isaiah Wilson into the picture, a 2020 1st-round selection who very easily could have been a Dolphin through the draft process had the Titans not snagged him at the end of the 1st-round. The trade, which was made via a swap of 7th-round selections in 2021 (Miami’s) and 2022 (Tennessee’s), allowed Miami to take a low risk swing of the bat on a physically talented player who had ample issues off the field during his first career season in the NFL. The Dolphins and Titans formally processed the trade this week at the start of the league calendar year.

It may end up being his only season in the NFL — as reports have emerged that the Dolphins cut Wilson after a slew of missed commitments over the course of the last two weeks. The Miami Herald’s Adam Beasley had the initial report:

“Just in the short time since the Dolphins acquired him for late-round draft compensation, Wilson showed up late for his physical, late for his team orientation and skipped two optional workouts that he had committed to attend, the source said.” – Adam Beasley, Miami Herald

For the Dolphins, his departure will offer no ill effects other than having to wait a year for the return on the 7th-round selection they shipped to Tennessee as a part of acquiring Wilson’s potential. According to Beasley’s report, Wilson’s conduct in Tennessee throughout 2020 voided all guaranteed money in his rookie contract, meaning Miami will have no dead cap space as a result of the cut.

In all, this maneuver turned into a zero-risk roll of the dice for Miami — but it is clear that Wilson has other priorities than being a football player. The Dolphins seemed to be the only team willing to take the risk of absorbing his rookie deal to try to live up to his potential and it may be a very long time before we see Wilson back on the gridiron again, if ever.

Dolphins already set to cut ex-Titans OT Isaiah Wilson

Isaiah Wilson’s has already worn out his welcome with the Miami Dolphins.

After being traded to the Miami Dolphins from the Tennessee Titans in a deal that was made official on March 17, 2020 first-round pick and offensive tackle Isaiah Wilson is already being cut.

The news comes from the Miami Herald’s Adam H. Beasley, who reports that Wilson was late for his physical, late for team orientation and didn’t show up for a pair of optional workouts that he had previously said he would attend, leading to Miami’s decision to part ways.

If that wasn’t enough, this video of Wilson dancing on top of a car surfaced on Twitter, although the Dolphins were set on releasing him anyway even before that, per Beasley.

https://twitter.com/AustinStanley81/status/1373047226713444352

Beasley also notes an offer of support from the Dolphins to help Wilson was not accepted by the Georgia product.

We wish we could say we’re surprised that this is how it ended for Wilson in Miami, but we aren’t. While Wilson has shown a propensity to party, he has never shown a single shred of dedication to his NFL career.

Barring a complete 180, it’s hard to imagine any team will take another chance on him after this. His short-lived NFL career could very well be over, and he’ll go down as one of the biggest draft busts in league history.

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Titans currently among leaders in dead money for 2021

The Tennessee Titans are racking up dead money ahead of the 2021 season.

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The Tennessee Titans have made four significant moves so far this offseason that has the team among the leaders in dead money ahead of the 2021 season.

Those moves were the releases of safety Kenny Vaccaro, cornerback Malcolm Butler, wide receiver Adam Humphries, and the trade of 2020 first-round pick and offensive tackle, Isaiah Wilson, to the Miami Dolphins.

According to Over the Cap, Tennessee currently stands to pay out a total of $17.2 million in dead money in 2021, which ranks as the sixth-highest total in the NFL.

The five teams ahead of the Titans are the Philadelphia Eagles, Los Angeles Rams, Carolina Panthers, Detroit Lions and New Orleans Saints.

We are still early in the process, so that number could certainly go up, or other teams could pass the Titans with more cuts, but that’s a significant chunk of change no matter where Tennessee ultimately lands.

However, all of the aforementioned moves were necessary ones, as the Titans didn’t start with much cap space and desperately needed to free up money in order to make improvements to their pass rush, among other areas.

We’ll see what general manager Jon Robinson does with his newly-found cap space once free agency begins next week.

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Grade for Titans trading Isaiah Wilson to Dolphins

The Titans were a winner in the Isaiah Wilson trade, but there are some warts that result from the deal.

Stuck in a relationship that was going nowhere and was too broken to fix, the Tennessee Titans decided to cut their losses and trade 2020 first-round pick Isaiah Wilson to the Miami Dolphins for basically no return.

Before we break down the actual trade itself that included a swap of seventh-round picks, we first have to separate this discussion from the actual decision to draft Wilson in the first place.

It was a terrible one by general manager Jon Robinson, and is not only his worst pick as Titans GM, but perhaps one of the worst first-round picks in NFL history. If there was a grade lower than a “F”, Robinson would get it.

However, when talking about this trade, we have to consider the current circumstances that led to it in order to properly evaluate how the Titans did with the deal itself.

The Titans were paying out millions of dollars for a failed draft pick who seemed more interested in partying than playing football. What’s worse is that Wilson was a major distraction for a normally lowkey franchise like Tennessee, and that’s never good for the locker room.

Based on his current trajectory, it’s surprising that the Titans were able to find any taker for Wilson’s contract, so forget about the measly return the team received.

The Titans are off the hook for Wilson’s base salary the next three seasons ($5.3 million in total), and will now save $3.1 million in 2022 and $3.6 million in 2023.

The immediate downside is that they have to pay out $4.4 million in dead money (his guaranteed bonus money) in 2021, which is $1.8 million more than they would have had to pay had Wilson stayed on the roster.

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That’s not great for a team like the Titans that already has limited money to work with, though it really had to be this way.

Had the Titans kept Wilson, he likely would have contributed nothing, and more than likely would have been cut at some point soon. In that scenario, Tennessee would have ended up paying him more over the long run.

The only counter to that is perhaps the Titans could have found a way to void at least some of Wilson’s money because of his antics, but there’s simply no telling if that would have happened.

Of course, it would have been more ideal to simply get a seventh for Wilson instead of swapping picks, and having less money to spend after this trade is definitely a negative, but at the end of the day this move had to be made.

Grade: A-

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Titans’ updated salary cap situation after trading Isaiah Wilson

What is the Titans’ current salary cap situation after trading Isaiah Wilson to the Dolphins?

The Tennessee Titans wanted to get rid of 2020 first-round pick and offensive tackle Isaiah Wilson so badly that they gave up cap space in 2021 to do it.

That’s right, a cash-strapped team like the Titans will now have a little less to spend after trading Wilson to the Miami Dolphins in a deal that also saw them swap seventh-round picks.

Tennessee was set to pay Wilson $2.6 million this season had he stayed, but will now have to pay out $4.4 million in dead money (his guaranteed bonus money), leaving the Titans with $1.8 million less to work with.

According to Over the Cap, if the 2021 NFL salary cap falls at $180.5 million, the Titans’ current cap space figure is nearly $4.7 million. It would appear that figure doesn’t include the cap carryover of $8 million the Titans have, so we have to factor that in, also.

The good news is that’s the end of what they have to pay him, as Miami is on the hook for Wilson’s base salary the next three seasons, which amounts to $5.3 million in total.

That means the Titans have opened up $3.1 million more in 2022 and $3.6 million more in 2023. That, along with not having to deal with Wilson’s antics, is your silver lining.

There really seemed to be no other way out. The relationship between Wilson and the Titans was simply too fractured to be fixed, and the next step was just to release him anyway.

Had the Titans done that, they actually would have had to pay Wilson more, assuming they couldn’t find a way to void some of his contract.

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What are financial implications of Dolphins’ trade for Isaiah Wilson?

What are financial implications of Dolphins’ trade for Isaiah Wilson?

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The week before free agency brought a fresh surprise for the Miami Dolphins — an unexpected trade was reported that will bring the No. 29 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, offensive tackle Isaiah Wilson, to South Florida. This isn’t the first time the Dolphins have rolled the dice on a “one and done” 1st-round NFL Draft selection under the direction of Chris Grier and Brian Flores, either. Remember, the Dolphins took a shot on quarterback Josh Rosen at the start of the team’s rebuilding effort in hopes of striking gold with the former No. 10 overall pick.

That gamble did not work out in the Dolphins’ favor. Miami traded back in the 2nd-round of the 2019 NFL Draft and later shipped a late 2nd-rounder for Rosen, who lasted just one year with the team before being cut ahead of the start of the 2020 season. Rosen is now on his fourth NFL franchise in three seasons after spending time on the Tampa Bay practice squad before a transition west to San Francisco.

Miami will hope this move comes with more success.

But the Dolphins will already have one advantage over their last gamble on a 1st-round flop: the financials. Because Miami’s acquisition of Wilson brings a very easy to swallow financial impact, one that guarantees Wilson will at least be on the roster through this season. Wilson’s time in Miami comes with the following scheduled salaries according to Spotrac:

2021: $1,135,836
2022: $1,661,672
2023: $2,187,508

Of those salary cap hits, Wilson’s 2021 & 2022 salaries are fully guaranteed. $1.09M of his 2023 salary is also guaranteed; meaning Miami is on the hook for a grand total of $5,384,606 in salary over the next three years (with just under $4M of that as guaranteed money. That’s certainly not minimum salary, but it is an easy number for Miami to chew on given the marginal dollar amounts and Wilson’s mammoth upside as a run blocker.

If the Dolphins were to cut ties with Wilson, they’d owe zero against the cap in dead money in any trade scenario. If the Dolphins cut Wilson ahead of the 2021 season, they’d owe the full $5,384,606 in dead cap. Alternatively, if Wilson flops in Miami and the Dolphins part ways next offseason, the team would be responsible for $2,755,426 — a marginal figure in the grand scheme of things.

So expect Isaiah Wilson to be on the Dolphins’ roster in 2021 no matter what — that’s a cost the team signed up for by opting to trade for Wilson instead of hoping to secure him on the waiver wire or via free agency if the Titans opted to cut him. And with the cost of such business being financing a 7th-round draft selection for 12 months and less than $1.2M for the year, the Dolphins seem to be playing a sound risk versus reward proposition.

Titans will face Dolphins, Isaiah Wilson during 2021 season

The Dolphins are on the Titans’ 2021 schedule.

The Tennessee Titans rid themselves of Isaiah Wilson in a trade with the Miami Dolphins on Monday night that netted a return the equivalent of a ham sandwich.

The Titans swapped seventh-round picks with Miami in order to deal their 2020 first-round pick, with Tennessee getting a 2021 selection and the Dolphins receiving a 2022 pick.

What’s interesting here is that the Dolphins are actually on the list of the Titans’ 2021 opponents, with the contest set to happen in Nashville, so Tennessee could see Wilson as soon as this year.

However, there’s a few big ifs in there.

While we know the Dolphins will be there whenever the game happens (schedules haven’t been finalized yet), there’s no telling if Wilson will be.

That’s because the 22-year-old has a knack for getting himself into trouble, and with an already lengthy track record of issues, Wilson making it through an entire season without getting himself dumped is no certainty.

What’s worse for the Dolphins is that Wilson likes to party, as he’s shown time and time again, and now he’s going to South Beach to try and fix his career — good luck with that.

Even if he stays out of trouble and remains with the Dolphins, Wilson will also have to earn a starting job or get an opportunity to fill in because of injury if he’s going to take the field against his old mates.

For the sake of a great story line, and to hear the fans’ reaction in Nashville, we can only hope we get to see Wilson take the field versus the Titans in 2021.

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Isaiah Wilson trade extends Dolphins’ trends along offensive line

Isaiah Wilson trade extends Dolphins’ trends along offensive line

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It appears as though the Miami Dolphins have a type along the offensive line. Last May, after the 2020 NFL Draft, we took a look at some of the trends developed along the Dolphins’ offensive line under the direction of Chris Grier and Brian Flores — hoping to uncover some trends for what exactly the Dolphins seem to be looking for.

What we found was that the Dolphins covet two things from their offensive linemen: size & lower body explosiveness. Entering the 2020 season, Miami had brought seven prominent offensive linemen into the picture:

  • iOL Michael Deiter (2019 3rd-RD)
  • OT Austin Jackson (2020 1st-RD)
  • OL Robert Hunt (2020 2nd-RD)
  • iOL Solomon Kindley (2020 4th-RD)
  • OT Julien Davenport (2019 trade)
  • iOL Ted Karras (2020 free agency)
  • OL Ereck Flowers (2020 free agency)

And you can now add 2020 1st-round pick Isaiah Wilson to that list. The Dolphins are taking a low risk gamble to bring Wilson onto the roster; he’s struggled to stay out of trouble off the field and Tennessee appeared to be glad to get anything at all in return for the No. 29 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.

But what is most interesting about this transaction isn’t the bet by Miami. It is that Wilson is a continuation of the same trends we found for the Dolphins in May, suggesting that we can eliminate potential offensive line candidates for the Dolphins based on meeting the thresholds that recent history has indicated is necessary to become a Dolphins investment along the line.

The average weight of the seven linemen added to the fray ahead of the 2020 season was 320.7 pounds. Wilson tips the scales at approximately 350 pounds, making him the biggest addition yet. But that size doesn’t come at the expense of lower body power. Each of the other new linemen added during the Dolphins regime tested in the 70th percentile or better in the standing broad jump. Wilson’s 110″ jump from the 2020 NFL Combine landed him in the 88th percentile of offensive tackle prospects.

So as you look for more offensive linemen to fit the bill for the Dolphins, start with those two benchmarks: size & lower body power. If prospects come up short in those areas, odds are pretty high they’re not going to move the needle very much for this Dolphins regime.

Twitter reacts to Titans trading Isaiah Wilson to Dolphins

Twitter had a strong reaction to the Titans trading Isaiah Wilson to the Dolphins.

The Isaiah Wilson saga in Nashville is over, as the Tennessee Titans have reportedly traded their failed 2020 first-round pick to the Miami Dolphins.

Tennessee will also send a 2022 seventh-round pick to Miami in exchange for its 2021 seventh-round pick, giving the Titans a ninth selection in the 2021 NFL draft when factoring in their projected compensatory pick.

Wilson’s lone season with the Titans was nothing short of a disaster. He ran into several issues, including an arrest for DUI, a suspension, and multiple trips to the COVID-19 list, and he played just four snaps

The writing was on the wall that he wasn’t long for Nashville after general manager Jon Robinson was blunt in his assessment of the Wilson situation back in February, which was followed by the Georgia product tweeting he was done with the Titans just days later.

For their troubles, the Titans will have wasted a first-round pick, millions of dollars and only have a measly seventh-round pick to show for it, on top of more dead money in an offseason in which they are strapped for cash. On the bright side, Tennessee won’t be on the hook for his base salary the next three seasons.

As far as Twitter is concerned, there was certainly relief that the head ache that was Wilson is gone, but it’s hard not to mention how badly general manager Jon Robinson botched his 2020 first-round selection.

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Report: Dolphins secure trade for 2020 first round pick Isaiah Wilson

Report: Dolphins secure trade for 2020 first round pick Isaiah Wilson

The Miami Dolphins aren’t quite finished with their efforts to upgrade the offensive line, which is news that shouldn’t come to the surprise of anyone who saw Miami’s trench play in 2020. But this is something of a surprise, even for a Dolphins team who is desperate to forge a firm identity up front. The Miami Dolphins, according to multiple reports, have secured a trade for 2020 1st-round offensive tackle Isaiah Wilson. Wilson, who was drafted by the Tennessee Titans with the No. 29 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, endured a trying rookie season in 2020 that saw him seemingly in constant conflict with the league’s COVID-19 protocols before eventually landing on the Non-Football Illness list.

The Dolphins will be enduring a small amount of risk with the move to bring Wilson into the picture, given that Wilson has struggled with off the field discipline throughout his rookie season — but the cost associated with this move is next to zero. The Dolphins will be sending a 2021 7th-round draft choice to Tennessee for Wilson and a 2022 7th-round draft choice from the Titans; meaning Miami is effectively financing a 7th-round draft choice for 12 months for the chance to have a breakthrough with Wilson, who is clearly physically talented and has the potential to be an absolute mauler up front.

Wilson, who played just four snaps as a rookie this past season, is formerly of the University of Georgia and paired Andrew Thomas to give the Bulldogs one of the best rushing attacks in all of college football.

It will now be up to Brian Flores and the rest of the Dolphins’ staff to connect with Wilson and help push him towards a more disciplined approach to the game. And if Miami can do that, then this will be a reward well worth the risk for the Miami Dolphins.