Miami Dolphins won’t rule out trade up to No. 1 pick in 2020 NFL Draft

The Miami Dolphins own three first-round picks in the 2020 NFL Draft but could they use that ammo to trade up to No. 1? It’s not being ruled out at this point.

All part of the plan, the Miami Dolphins and general manager Chris Grier can do some serious damage in the rebuild in the 2020 NFL Draft. By way of the Laremy Tunsil and Minkah Fitzpatrick trades, among other deals, the Dolphins own three first-round picks and two second-round picks, all falling in the top 60 selections. Additionally, they have an extra first- and second-round selection in 2021.

No team in the NFL boasts the arsenal of draft capital that the Dolphins do and, for Miami’s sake, that’s a good thing. Not only does this team have a laundry list of holes to fill but they also are in need of a franchise quarterback to take over from veteran stopgap Ryan Fitzpatrick.

From the 2019 offseason when the rebuild began, the consensus has seemed to be that Miami would be locked in on Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, from when he was QB1 in the class and to now while he’s the QB2 on most boards. But with Tua’s injuries and possible concerns, his connection to the Dolphins has dwindled a bit. And at the NFL Combine, another possibility has emerged.

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Grier spoke to the media on Tuesday at the Scouting Combine and, when asked if he would rule out any trades or moves, including moving up to the No. 1 pick — presumably to take Joe Burrow out of LSU — he responded by saying the Dolphins were “wide open to everything”, per NFL.com.

Of course, Grier’s comments could be in reference to widespread speculation that the Dolphins may need to move up to stick with their long-presumed target, Tagovailoa. With other quarterback-needy teams immediately behind them, Miami may need to move up to protect themselves from getting jumped in the draft order. Thus, the GM could simply be talking about a move of that nature.

At the same time, Burrow’s Heisman-winning and National Championship-winning season with LSU has made him the clear-cut top quarterback in the 2020 NFL Draft. So if the Dolphins are clearly in need of a franchise quarterback, why not try and make a big play to trade with the Bengals and get the best player at the position?

What makes things interesting in that regard is that the Bengals aren’t in dire need of a quarterback, or at least as in dire of a need as other teams. Cincinnati still has Andy Dalton under contract and could roll with him for another year, acquiring draft capital to potentially make a change at the quarterback position in 2021. They don’t necessarily need to take Burrow, even if moving on from Dalton sooner rather than later is what many prefer.

Put simply, the Dolphins hold all of the cards in the 2020 NFL Draft with the capital they have to trade with. The fact that Grier is not ruling anything out, be it trades, Burrow, Tua or otherwise, only adds to the excitement of the two months leading up to the event in Las Vegas.