Dolphins rumors: Miami may not be done trading in 2021 NFL Draft

The Miami Dolphins already shook up the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft with two trades. They may not be done dealing just yet. 

At the end of this past season, the Miami Dolphins knew they’d be in a good spot in the 2021 NFL Draft. They finished just outside the playoffs, giving them the No. 18 pick, but also benefitted from the Texans’ abysmal season to earn the No. 3 overall pick. Of course, they’ve been trading their tails off since the end of the season.

Miami first dealt the third pick to the 49ers in exchange for the No. 12 pick and a host of other draft picks. They then used some of their abundant draft capital to trade back up to the No. 6 pick with the Eagles. That’s two big trades to shake up the first half of the first round in the 2021 NFL Draft. Yet, they may not be done.

According to a report from NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport, the Dolphins have received calls about trading back from the No. 6 pick. More importantly, this is a move that general manager Chris Grier and head coach Brian Flores is considering. Subsequently, we could see Miami make their third trade of the draft season at some point.

The Dolphins are setting themselves up for ideal positioning in the 2021 NFL Draft with trades.

Corroborating the report from Rapoport, Benjamin Allbright of Pro Football Network noted that the Dolphins are “fishing around” the idea of trading back a few picks because they believe their preferred top target early in the first round will still be there. Interestingly, he also noted that the franchise is looking to stockpile more draft capital in order to possibly trade up from the 18th pick if their second early target isn’t going to make it to them.

Whenever a franchise rebuilds by stockpiling draft picks as Miami has done in recent years, it’s obviously valuable to have multiple high-end selections. But equally as valuable is having the flexibility with those picks to make moves to get the players and prospects that the front office believes can take the team over the edge.

The Dolphins have put themselves in that situation. While it would be wild to see a team potentially make four trades in the first round in one draft cycle, this is a team in the right position to do exactly that. After all, they just narrowly missed the playoffs last season, have a young potential franchise quarterback in Tua Tagovailoa and could be realizing their vision for this rebuild.

Miami has executed their large-scale rebuild beautifully. Now is the time to make the aggressive moves to make sure the next steps are taken. With the trades they’ve already made and could make still, that’s exactly what the organization is doing.