Many called the New York Jets the winners of the NFL trade deadline.
The team shipped off superstars Sauce Gardner and Quinnen Williams and brought back three first-round picks, a second-round pick, and former second-round receiver Adonai Mitchell to help first-year head coach Aaron Glenn build a more competitive team next season.
With five first-rounders over the next two drafts, many expect the Jets to use those picks to draft a franchise quarterback, and given the caliber of QB play in the rest of the division, that leaves the Miami Dolphins as the odd team out.
Though Miami locked up QB Tua Tagovailoa to a four-year, $212 million extension last year, the 27-year-old signal-caller hasn’t played up to that massive deal this season. The Alabama alum has struggled, throwing for 1,779 yards, 15 touchdowns, and an NFL-high 11 interceptions, and his 87.6 passer rating is his lowest since his rookie year (87.1).
Tua Tagovailoa #1 of the Miami Dolphins stands on the field after an NFL football game against the Baltimore Ravens at Hard Rock Stadium on October 30…Read More
Because Tagovailoa appears to have regressed, ESPN’s Adam Schefter believes the Dolphins could position themselves to trade the former No. 5 overall pick, along with a few others like Bradley Chubb who didn’t get moved at the deadline, once the season ends to stockpile more picks to potentially draft their next QB of the future as well.
“Think about the Miami Dolphins here — Josh Allen is in Buffalo, Drake Maye is in New England, the New York Jets are going to be getting a high-profile quarterback in the next two years, whether it’s the draft class of 2026 or 27 or both,” Schefter said on the latest episode of “The Adam Schefter Podcast.”
“And Miami has Tua down there; at some point in time, we’ll expect them to be searching for a new quarterback. … [They’re situation] could lead in the offseason to the Dolphins being more aggressive and willing to listen to trades revolving around their players to get as much draft capital as a team like the New York Jets now has.”
It’s been speculated that Tagovailoa is one more bad performance away from being benched for either Zach Wilson or rookie Quinn Ewers. Both have played this season with Tagovailoa pulled in garbage time.
With the number of QBs expected to go in the first round of the 2026 draft — Alabama’s Ty Simpson, Oregon’s Dante Moore, South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers, Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza, LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier — it’s possible the Dolphins could stockpile enough ammunition to trade up to the No. 1 overall pick (they’re currently projected to draft fourth overall themselves) to ensure they get whichever QB they want.
