You can’t say that Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel didn’t warn you about his team’s trade deadline plans.
Despite a rash of injuries — particularly to the offensive line — McDaniel told reporters last week that he’s “very, very comfortable with everybody on the roster” and that he’s “not really looking for anything at all” on the trade market.
At 6-2 and alone atop the AFC East, it’s hard to blame him.
But in the NFL, if you’re standing still, you’re moving backward, and on Tuesday, the Dolphins stood still as several other contenders for the Lombardi Trophy took a step forward.
Miami Dolphins Stand Pat on NFL Trade Deadline Day
The Dolphins are a game up in the division on the banged-up Buffalo Bills, who made a move. They traded a third-round pick for Green Bay Packers CB Rasul Douglas.
The Dolphins have the same record as the fellow AFC contender Jacksonville Jaguars, who beefed up their offensive line by acquiring Ezra Cleveland from the Minnesota Vikings. The cost? Just a sixth-round pick.
If the Dolphins return to the Super Bowl for the first time in four decades, they will have to beat a team like the San Francisco 49ers (who traded for EDGE Chase Young), the Seattle Seahawks (DL Leonard Williams), or the Detroit Lions (WR Donovan Peoples-Jones).
As for the Philadelphia Eagles, who are probably the best team in the NFL right now and one of only two teams to beat the Dolphins, they made their move ahead of the trade deadline by trading for Tennessee Titans safety Kevin Byard last week.
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Certainly, the Dolphins weren’t alone in holding the line. The Kansas City Chiefs, Dallas Cowboys, and Baltimore Ravens also did not make a trade.
It’s entirely possible that Miami GM Chris Grier worked the phones this week, but he couldn’t find the right player at the right value.
Still, Tuesday’s quietness wasn’t so much a mistake as it was a missed opportunity.
The Dolphins know that OL Isaiah Wynn won’t be back for weeks — if at all — so why not add an interior lineman? The Dolphins basically have one tight end, Durham Smythe, and he’s hurt. Another body at that position would have helped.
Perhaps they can still find that depth through the waiver wire. But by and large, the message the Dolphins sent Tuesday was the following: We think we currently have enough to win it all.
We’ll find out over the next three and a half months if they’re right.
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